Founded by Wessel & Vett Foundation, Magasin du Nord Fashion Prize is open to Danish brands who have produced at least one but no more than six ready-to-wear collections. Its scope is international, conceived to support young fashion designers to establish their brands and to promote them both at home and globally.
This year’s four finalists have been selected by a panel of experts, including Marimekko’s creative director Rebekka Bay; Cecilie Thorsmark, CEO of Copenhagen Fashion Week; Silas Oda Adler, founder and creative director of Soulland, and Nicolaj Reffstrup, co-founder of Ganni. They’ve assessed entries based on design talent, innovation, creativity, business entrepreneurship, and sustainability credentials.
The prize nominees are:
A Roege Hove. Conceptual knitwear brand founded in 2019 by Amalie Røge Hove, a graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Her intention is to challenge traditions with a modern artistic approach to craftsmanship and silhouettes that are both effortless and strikingly original.
Berner Kühl. Menswear brand established in Copenhagen in 2019, born out of a desire to redefine the codes and connotations of fashion. The brand is built on the examination of concepts such as utility, nature, and serenity, expressing a sense of emotion without being dramatic.
(di)vision. Copenhagen-based label founded in 2018 by the siblings Nanna and Simon Wick. Together the pair create unisex collections inspired by classic silhouettes with a conceptual and multifunctional DIY-aesthetic.
Louise Lyngh Bjerregard. The Paris-based atelier works across seasons and the boundaries between ready-to-wear and couture. Founder Lyngh Bjerregard has built her womenswear brand on a love of craftsmanship, textiles and a meticulous attention to details, unifying art, fashion, and subversion.
— What I love about this year’s finalists is how strikingly different they are as designers — all four of them display strong and unique signatures. I’m really looking forward to being in the jury room to discuss their work, debating our choices. What we will be looking for in the winner goes beyond design talent and ambition. To make it in the industry you need to balance creativity with a business strategy, budgeting, and sustainability, Rebekka Bay comments.
Each finalist will now present a collection and their business plans to the jury in Copenhagen on 28th October. The winner takes home an honorary grant of 300.000 DKK (approximately €40,000). This year also sees a new online, audience-voted award of 50.000 DKK to one designer.
— Denmark is an outward-facing country, and this prize has a global perspective. Our intention has always been to promote the originality and calibre of young Danish design globally, as well as to equip our newly established designers with the skills and support to build sustainable brands with a future. We are extremely proud to see past winners establish international reputations on the fashion scene, and I wish the same success to the 2021 winner, says Nina Wedell-Wedellsborg, founder of the prize event and board member of the Wessel & Vett Foundation.
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