On a sunny Thursday morning, warm drink in hand and wearing a white cotton vest, Henrik Vibskov’s head is moving across my screen, thanks to the latest developments in computer technology. The 35 year-old Dane –who says half-jokingly he might retire from fashion at the age of fourty– just presented his mens and womens Winter lines in Copenhagen, after showing the mens collection in Paris. This year, Henrik will be touring with some of the bands he has been playing with for years, even though he makes sure that his passion for music never collides with his busy fashion schedule. Henrik is like a bizarre supernova of untamed creativity and a self-proclaimed “country boy” who is rather funny and unpretentious. Alter seeing his Big Wet Shiny Boobies installation at the Arnhem Biennale last year –where Magritte, like abstract breasts lined the floor like curvy sculptures– I did imagine I World meet a life-affirming and optimistic person. And Henrik is exactly that.
Not a big fan of the fashion system, he nevertheless admits he has met generous and inspiring people in the business, going back to his student days in London. “Louise Wilson, one of my professors at Central Saint Martins, taught us that you had to create a complete universe behind the clothes, that you needed to build a visual World around them.” Working on installations therefore seemed like a logical step for Vibskov, who has also directed films and worked on fine arts projects. His creative “routine” seems to stem from the urgent need to constantly go from one field to another, finding his own creative balance in a mix of activities and disciplines. “I could never do fashion the whole time, it would kill me. I love music and have been playing drums since I was 10. In a certain way, staging a fashion show is similar to playing a concert. You get the adrenaline, the excitement and expectations are high. But music has a more immediate, intense feel. It gives you instant gratification.”
Vibskov is part of a new generation of creative minds that do not work within boundaries and are truly comfortable with different techniques. In his fashion work, he has freely placed with tailoring, sportswear, prints, shapes and textures, as well as cultural stereotypes. His mens Summer collection is an odd juxtaposition of cropped, tartan harem pants, grandad cardigans and computerised prints, but the overall feeling is happy, not tortured. Henrik’s sense of the absurd and tongue in cheek view of the fashion world is undeniably British, while his casual, wearable sensibility is very Scandinavian. His clothes are not only affordable, they are also easy to mix and democratic. Even though his shows are like mini-performances that go beyond the items they promote, Vibskov has his feet firmly on the ground and a healthy business, too.
The fact that he has kept a close-knit team around him and that he still lives and works in Copenhagen is hardly surprising: Vibskov has a somewhat distanced and critical attitude towards the industry and is not lured by big, wet, shiny bucks or illusions of fame. “In a way, I like living here, because it is far from the other fashion capitals and is not too big a city. Sometimes it can make things a bit more difficult, and people have often not understood why I do not want to move somewhere else. The thing is, nature is really important to me and Copenhagen has that. I think it is good to keep that distance and be critical. Now it’s all about constant branding and marketing, I get all these companies calling me all the time to do collaborations, but I always turn them down. They just want to use you and sell your name along theirs.”
