by Lotus Ladegaard
Nicholas Nybro made a name for himself in Denmark when the highly appraised Danish actor Ghita Nørby wore one of his creations to the Queen’s Ball for Artists in 2015. The same year, he was also nominated for the Danish Design Talent Award and mentored by Danish design staple Bitte Kai Rand. He has consistently challenged the runway ideal and instead had models with body shapes and sizes that are closer to the general population than models. Whether you are a Nicholas Nybro fan or not, his showmanship and point of view always make for an interesting show. Nicholas Nybro’s SS18 collection is a celebration of the human body of all shapes, sizes, and ages. His tribute even included naked men and women walking the runway in between the models. As icing on the cake, Nicholas himself chose to walk the entire runway naked, much to the delight of the crowd. The collection itself ranged from the avant-garde to Athleisure and evening wear, some more wearable than others. The color palette ranged from pale blue-ish tones through nuances of beige to the warm chocolate brown. Every single piece was an aesthetic interpretation of a body; older saggy skin became beautifully draped pieces, full figured became avant-garde oversized jackets and skirts, while the actual full figured models walked the runway as Greek Goddesses. Some of the draped pieces really stood out and moved beautifully down the runway that was set in the old brewery of King Christian IV. Also, the athleisure separates stood out like the beige dress with attached cape and the beige crop top shown with slacks with a single ruffle down each side. Nicholas Nybro's SS18 collection, which will be his last, at least for now, will certainly be a talking point. We are all bound to have an opinion when it comes to body ideals and that is exactly what the collection was all about. Nicholas Nybro's message was loud and clear: "It’s tiresome to say that fashion only presents itself nicely on tall, skinny models – if that’s the case then isn’t something very wrong with the clothes?"
Whether or not that is enough to change the beauty standards collectively, is anybody's guess.
