Fashion, Anime, And A Hopeful Future: In Conversation With MARC C. MØLLERSKOV Of FINE CHAOS

Those within the anime realm, have experienced the safety mechanism that the genre has created. Those within the fashion world, have understood the liberation that style can guarantee. But within the intersection of these two groups, lies FINE CHAOS.

Geographically situated within the world of Scandinavian minimalism, FINE CHAOS is anything short of the aesthetic. But with conscientious design and rebellious energy at its core, FINE CHAOS is adopting a new vision of its birthplace, reshaping and innovating the fashion landscape.

With FINE CHAOS’ AW24 collection ‘Here, After, Eternity: Netherworld’ arriving at HBX, we spoke to the brand’s creative director, Marc C. Møllerskov about his influences, creative vision – and of course – good anime.

An excerpt from the interview can be found below. Read the interview in its entirety over at HBX Journal now.

Since your last interview with HBX, how do you feel that FINE CHAOS has grown? 

A lot has happened, especially a lot of milestones. We’ve done an amazing job, like hosting our biggest runway show with 700-800 attendees. It was super nice to see that we could progress into being a bigger brand. The team has almost doubled as well. We might just be lucky, but I think it’s because we are a very atypical Danish brand. We don’t really have that like Scandi minimalism, that Scandinavia is known for. But [for FINE CHAOS] our storytelling, and the collections itself, they’re very voluminous and maximalist.

Do you find it challenging being based in Copenhagen, being surrounded by all of this minimalism, to stay consistent with your vision?

I feel like maybe we can be like pioneers, not to put a halo on top of our heads or anything. But I would say it’s nice to break the norms. We’re very much like that as people. But then again, I also want to say that the same people who are very different from us, still compliment us for what we’re doing, so it’s not that we’re enemies or anything. Although sometimes I like to pretend that, because it can be motivating, but that’s just fun and games.

So how do you as a Creative Director stay creative?

I watch a sh** ton of anime. (laughs)

I’m also very political, so I would say every morning and evening, I listen to a lot of what is going on around the world because that fuels a lot of the storytelling in the collections. The political landscape is definitely very important for inspiration in general. Clothes should be human.

Your most recent collection is entitled ‘Here, After, Eternity: Netherworld.’ Can you explain a little bit about the design elements of this collection?

It builds a lot on this utilitarian vibe. There’s an almost exaggerated amount of detailing and commander-esque styles. For example, the jacket with all the cargo pockets on the sleeves where the hood is inspired by an old WWII jacket. There’s also a hand-knitted vest which is like an interpretation of resources being scarce in the [FINE CHAOS] story, where people living in the outer world make clothing from what is to be found.

In terms of your creative process, does that mean your story comes first before the clothing design?

Yeah, I write a manuscript every time I start a collection. It’s like a continuous one. Now we’re on our eighth installment and we’ve gone through four seasons now. Every time we start a new season, I just sit down and write like 20 to 30 pages and I try to write like a little story.

So would you say that more of your inspiration comes from other sources, people, and cultures outside of yours? 

100%. Yeah, 110% for actually. I think we also dare to take some inspiration from some topics that might be a little bit out there, in a sense. But as a designer, I feel like that’s also the way you can create authentic stuff.

So when you work through these really difficult topics, do you find that it’s cathartic for you to process it through clothes?

Yeah, that’s a good way to put it. I was speaking with my mom about this some time ago, which is kind of funny. Whenever she hears about the inspiration, she’s like, “How do you store all that stuff in your brain?” And I’m like, “I don’t, I put it out there in the collections.” And that’s how it’s therapeutic for me.

That’s a really interesting way to look at it, that it goes outside of your head.

I think that’s also the way you spark a dialogue, right? If I voice an opinion or portray a scenario, you as the viewer have to make your own opinion on what you’re seeing in interpretation. And the more diverse like interpretations, the better, basically.

We have a discord that is English-speaking, so it’s not Danish and we have a lot of international people. The discord is meant for people to just connect – we have people who are musicians and then we have some people who are producers, and then the musicians and producers, they come together and they create music. I want FINE CHAOS to be a platform for that kind of stuff.

Shop FINE CHAOS on HBX now. Read the full interview on HBX Journal now.