Copenhagen Fashion Week: Louise Amstrup

Despite the financial crisis, the number of fashion weeks organised nowadays all over the world has become almost ridiculous. Following them all is humanely and physically impossible as two fashion events often take place at the same time in two corners of the world very far one from the other, or one event relentlessly succeeds the other without a proper break in between.

It can be a fashion overdose of the worst kind: few events have enough sponsors and funds to be able to provide a perfect organisation, besides the number of designers showing their collections seems to grow on a daily basis, forming a chaotic mare magnum in which fashion critics, their minds visually overloaded by the various catwalks, easily drown.

Yet it’s sometimes at the less media mobbed fashion weeks that you get to see the best things and that’s maybe why these events are the ones we should keep an eye on. The first Copenhagen Fashion Week (CFW) kicked off for example yesterday with a catwalk by Danish-born but London based designer Louise Amstrup.

Graduating six years ago from Düsseldorf’s Akademie Mode Design, Amstrup trained with various designers such as Alexander McQueen, Sophia Kokosalaki and Jonathan Saunders before starting her own label in 2006. From her first collection Amstrup developed her own style which can be defined as based on different dichotomies.

Take her Autumn/Winter 09 collection she presented yesterday at CFW: the lines and silhouettes of her black or grey jackets looked rather rigid, perfect for a business woman, but they also hid some surreal details like peaked shoulders or triangular shaped motifs jutting out at pocket-level, while skirts had sculpted built-in arches; dresses gently flowed on the body, yet they were characterised by rigidly geometrical motifs while fluffy ruffles applied on hips or on voluminous tops created contrasts with the simple lines of the dresses or with tailored trousers.

A touch of luxury was added with scarves with long soft grey and acid yellow fur fringes that swung gently as the models moved. The prevalently dark palette was broken by bright splashes of yellow or by burnt orange (imagine the orange palette used in some Hieronymus Bosch's paintings and you get an idea).

Amstrup wisely employed draping techniques in her skirts and in one column-like evening gown that looked classic in its silhouette, but very modern in its printed motifs and therefore perfect for bringing a bit of quirkiness and much-needed modernity on the red carpet.