Weaving machines, a rainbow of spools, swatches of fabric pinned to the wall, annotated sketches of precise measurements: Amalie Roege Hove’s small workshop in central Copenhagen is unlike the pared-down studios in which creators are used to receiving their visitors. Because the 31-year-old Dane does not just throw sketches at fashion designers, she makes all the prototypes herself.
At Copenhagen Fashion Week, held from 1er as of February 4, the runway show for her brand, A. Roege Hove (founded in 2019), was a cut above the rest. The 27 silhouettes presented only one type of product, knits, which could take the form of dresses, trousers, cardigans, T-shirts. “What interests me is working with the body, seeing how it transforms clothing”, explains Amalie Roege Hove. Its knit, which only mixes two fibers, cotton and nylon, adapts to different morphologies. The pieces are flexible enough to be produced in only two sizes which cover a spectrum from XXS to XXL. On the fleshiest bodies, the tissue loosens, allowing more epidermis to be seen. At the show, the same brown dress was worn by four models with different skin colors, each time with a unique, very beautiful rendering. “It’s a permanent dialogue between the body and the fabric”, summarizes Amalie Roege Hove.
“Don’t waste fabric”
The young woman trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, but she did not keep an imperishable memory of it, because “you learn to be good at everything and that’s not how you develop the best products”. Her stint with Cecilie Bahnsen, a recognized Danish designer who parades at Paris fashion week, was more formative. As well as a six-month stay in Shanghai to learn how to use seamless weaving machines. “It changed my relationship to the factories in Italy and Ireland, where I produce my collections. I can chat with them, show them techniques to be more precise in the cuts and not waste fabric. »
Amalie Roege Hove, which is now distributed in 35 outlets around the world and employs six people, has no intention of opening a store or expanding at full speed. “Growth is not an end in itself, she says. My mission is to show that we can create a brand based on a single know-how. Become an expert rather than participate in overproduction. »