Northern European fashion designers have long honed a reputation for clean lines, hardy craftsmanship and meticulous attention to fabrics. But perhaps nowhere today is this Nordic ethos more creatively applied than in the work of Henrik Vibskov, a Denmark native and Central Saint Martins alumnus, whose work is currently being celebrated in an exhibition at the Design Museum in Helsinki.
Vibskov’s contrarian nature and singular approach to design have helped him establish a creative practice that goes well beyond fashion. Beyond successful women’s and men’s collections, he also dabbles in visual arts – his pieces have graced the walls of his own runway shows – and was the one-time drummer of the band Trentemøller.
The exhibition, curated by Suvi Saloniemi, aims to offer the public a window onto his creative process – a process that can certainly seem opaque considering its often breathtaking final results. According to Saloniemi, the show’s goal was “to delve inside the head of this designer. Sometimes we display only the results of a designer’s work, but with Vibskov we will show the endless abundance of his ideas and the machinery of his creativity. The exhibition is above all a celebration of creativity and creative thinking.”
Vibskov himself once said, “creativity can not be forced or given boundaries.” And the show is, in a way, a tribute to this sort of openness of creative expression and covers the gamut of his current work: his latest collection will be on display (fresh off the Paris catwalk) alongside the more conceptual “Neck Plus Ultra,” which toured Europe earlier this year.
The show runs through 11 May 2014 at the Design Museum in Helsinki.
Francesca Crippa – Images courtesy of Design Museum
