‘The instinct to empower is the same’ : Astrid Andersen on her return to fashion

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For 11 years until 2021 Astrid Andersen carved a pioneering path in contemporary fashion by integrating tropes of sensual femininity into the conventionally testosterone defined milieu of sportswear-genus menswear. Hers was a marquee name at London Collections: Men, and her garments were worn by influential fans including Nas, A$AP Nast, A$AP Ferg, and Noomi Rapace.

Now — following three years away to focus on raising her two young children alongside marinating plans for her next move — Andersen is back. The designer will reveal “Collection 01” of her new label Stel (which means “body” in Danish) at Copenhagen Fashion Week, on Wednesday 7 August. The see-now-buy-now event will be a presentation rather than a runway show and might well, you’d guess, reflect her elevator pitch for the new line: “This is tailoring you can skate in, denim you can dance in, shirting you can travel in,” she says over Zoom. Buyers will also be able to preview “Collection 02” by appointment, as the designer and her backers look to garner wholesale interest from markets including the UK and US.

Andersen, who also turns 40 next month, laughs as she concedes that Stel’s aesthetic is dramatically different from that of the brand she started shortly after graduation from the Royal College of Art back in 2010. “Life changes, you know? You become different, although you still have all your original reference points and the instinct to empower is the same — so it feels right for this 2.0 to be a little bit more about me.”