by Omi
Copenhagen Fashion Week has been a little underwhelming due to the scarcity of shows and a lack of a center as the reorganization within the industry takes place. So it would be perfectly fine to expect less-than-stellar logistical details affecting the mood of the showgoers. Well if the preconceived expectation is the dragon that burns even the most promising of shows (there have been a few), then Henrik Vibskov is St. George (a reference that has nothing to do with Dragons from Game of Thrones).
Henrik's second iteration of "The Great Chain of Sleepers" (the first was at a show in Paris) had the surrealist tendencies that have made him the most recognizable six-foot-something artist from Denmark. While his height and lankiness have remained consistent, his stature is always on the rise and this iteration was nothing short of a proper account of who Henrik is as an artist.
The show's DNA is rather amusingly based on an anecdote of a performer falling asleep at his previous show. If that seemed like an unlikely point to start it becomes a far more whimsical proposition as that singular event, which would otherwise be an inside joke gave birth to the current collection. And there lies the beauty of Henrik's work. It is intricate enough to be viewed as art, it is funny enough to be not taken too seriously, and it is commercially viable to be a serious contender. To tiptoe between those three elements of fashion (which by nature is frivolous and important at the same time) for this long with this much clarity requires a mind (and a team) that border on genius and functions at a higher consciousness than most within the industry.
Philosophy aside, the current collection is another foundational piece of Henrik's masterpiece which he has been working on like a diligent renaissance master building something that would outlive us all. The geometric stripes, the whimsical makeup, the duo-tone boots, elaborate headgear were all present to provide credence to an idea that is as much as a transition from one subconscious to the other. By deconstructing the role of sleep, Henrik's team also deconstructs the elevated sense of our reality and the doors that hide them from our subconscious and vice versa. The product is a seamless, moving treatise on the role of our incremental understanding of our own predicament between being awake and being asleep. The binary exposition of that thought process is evident double stripped pants with duality provided with singular color. It is a steady feast for eye wide open and a sure fire remedy to eyes wide shut.
Henrik Vibskov has become the flag bearer for Danish fashion and while other stalwarts exist, if this was a pay-per-view boxing match, Henrik would be the only one left standing, wide awake in Denmark.
