The Form and The Fluid: Henrik Vibskov Paris Menswear Collection Spring Summer 2015

Danish Designer Henrik Vibskov channels a singular aesthetic; a playful sense of fashion meshed with a strong nordic sensibility. His technical and graphic precision, and an eye to form defying structures, creates a potent brew, one that mixes the avant garde with realistically wearable garments for the modern environment.

Recently Henrik Vibskov designed the costumes for a production of Swan Lake for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet. Continuing this inspiring creative alliance Vibskov’s show began with a performance from the Norwegian National Ballet choreographed by Alexander Ekman, with dancers immersed in a shallow pool. The movement of figures in the water was not only a arresting and dynamic one, but articulates a central theme of the collection.

On to the collection itself and Henrik Vibskov’s “The Sticky Brick Fingers” is inspired by seemingly oppositional notions; the fluidity of water; gentle movements and sibilant form versus elements of building design and architectural construction; rotating cement mixers, the controlled chaos of construction sites, the unyielding nature of bricks. Thus in the beginning of the show we can see the figures interactions with water speaking to Vibskok’s interest in the fluid and the solid. Models wearing regal monk like headpieces march down the runway in his signature style. Amazing prints, for which he is justly famed, use brick motifs in a variety of graphic ways. 3-D forms looking like concrete faces loom out from oversized white jumpers, a true technical masterpiece. A white jacket seems to be studded with large oversized bricks like a fashion-forward Michelin Man. The oversized, exaggerated upper body pieces are mixed together with a variety of shorts and low crotch pants, often with a variety of etched panels and detailing. The result is a collection that affirms Vibskov’s abilities to create progressive, fashion forward collections, balancing exciting silhouettes with an expressive graphic appeal.