The Tools Taught by Experienced Teachers at Design School Kolding are in Daily Use
I have always known I wanted to be a designer – even before I knew what design was. I was accepted to Design School Kolding the first time I applied, in 1985. It was great to be surrounded by other creative talents, and one of the best parts of the education was that we were a large group of young people in Kolding, virtually all newcomers without any network. On one hand our work ethics were high and on the other hand important friendships were forged there. I have always been lucky enough to have a job, but I readily admit that I got all my jobs through my network from my time at the school. And even today my very best friends are my fellow students from Kolding.
After I graduated I got a job at Levi’s which at that time had design departments scattered all over Europe. My friend, Peter Ingwersen, who was a couple of years senior to me, landed an internship at their Scandinavian headquarters. Rather than finishing school, he stayed on at Levi’s, and he managed to hire the greatest talents from his class once they finished. They in turn grabbed hold of a few graduates from my class when we finished, and that pattern repeated itself again and again, so that for many years a motley crew of designers from Kolding were influential at Levi’s.
I spent 11 wonderful years at Levi’s. I learnt a lot, and the job took me far and wide and gave me the most insane experiences!
At the beginning of the 2000s I moved back home and joined the Copenhagen fashion world. I guess we were a dozen small brands who had all started at around the same time, were approximately the same size, but we each had a very distinct profile. We all knew each other, and I remember a collective feeling that we helped to build up something great, contributed to putting Copenhagen on the fashion map. Of course we were competitors, but I felt we were colleagues first and foremost who wanted the best for each other. We attended each other’s shows, partied together and saw each other privately in different contexts.
I used to work for Day and for By Malene Birger, and for many years now I have been employed by Mads Nørgaard. We first met at my examination in 1989 when he was my external examiner. I graduated in menswear, and he had just opened the smartest menswear shop in the country! Today I literally sit on top of the shop, in the middle of Strøget (the main pedestrian street in Copenhagen) and design his menswear feeling that I am where I want to be. Here I have the space to do what I do best: design clothes. I am very happy working with Mads. He represents the company to the outside, he has a hand in the collections, and conversely he is good at giving me space and letting me work in peace. One of the main pleasures of designing menswear is that there are actually some rules. There are basic principles and a reason why the clothes look the way they do. In my daily work I use the tools that experienced teachers such as Jette With and Elise Steffensen taught us.
I am proud of many things I have done, but one garment stands out. The assignment was: How can we rejuvenate our classic navy sweater with a zipper so that it becomes significantly different and at the same time does not increase the production cost? I introduced the neon-coloured zipper… I am sure I have made smarter clothes than that, but I was satisfied with how I solved that problem!
Design School Kolding has invited me back as an external examiner several times, and thus my life has come full circle, in the most beautiful manner. I love visiting the school, and time and time again I am blown away by the talent and creativity displayed by the students of the school.
