We can’t seem to stay away from what’s happening in Copenhagen. We’ve mentioned Danish designers Spon Diogo and Diana Brinks in archived blogs and now we have found another great label, Won Hundred, who have a very conceptual approach to design. Today, the team from Won Hundred work with the mantra passion, awareness, reaction and fascination.
CANVAS: An initial ambition of Won Hundred was to challenge the way fashion is perceived in Denmark. Do you think that you are changing the landscape, or have already achieved that ambition?
Our initial ambition was, as you said, to change the landscape, and how people look at Danish fashion. There has been a change from a very feminine look to a more clean and sophisticated look, and we believe that we have been part of this change. But change is still going on, and we all leave our marks on Danish fashion. Won Hundred hasn’t reached that ambition yet, [but] we will always strive to change the landscape…
Won Hundred began with a singular vision from Nikolaj Nielsen. How large has the Won Hundred team become and how has each member influenced Nikolaj’s vision?
The Won Hundred team seems to grow, and more people join the company. At the moment we have 12 people [in the company]. Everybody in the company has an influence on Nikolaj and thus Won Hundred, but his vision will always stay the same.
Your collections have strong cultural connections, through music, art and cinema. Are your influences confined to your immediate geographical surroundings, or is it more of a global influence?
We get our inspiration from many different things and places as you mentioned, we can’t confine it to only our surroundings or even something global. It’s a mixture of both…. from everything, everywhere, everyday. In these times, [when everyone is so connected] there’s is no getting away from the fact that you are influenced from all over the world. But of course we are very much inspired of our close surroundings and that shows in our collections. As much as it has to look fantastic, it has to be practical too. You should be able to go to work in our clothes, and afterwards out in the night.
The collections seem to buck the traditional (stereotypical?) ideas of Scandanavian fashions. No knits, no cute motifs, just simple, clean, sophisticated lines. How would you describe Won Hundred’s aesthetic?
Won hundred strive to make clean, raw, cool clothes. Our pillar has always been, and is still the jeans, in spite of the fact that we have a whole collection besides the jeans. Keep it simple, and use beautiful colours.
Won Hundred look books have won design awards - my understanding is that they’re not the typical product-focused layout. Does the idea for the look book feed off the ideas for the collection? Or does it work the other way around; do the ideas influence each season, so that the look book is almost the starting point for how the range will unfold?
The collection is always the centre of it all. The inspiration themes and ideas that are used in the collection each season is also used in our look books, as it all works together. We are very lucky to be working with a cool and interesting Danish team of two girls called Femme Regionales, together with them we do our lookbook.
