The Royal Danish Academy class of 2021 doesn’t really go by fixed rules

That might not be a deliberate choice. Some of the students might have even been frustrated with the lack of available it-models in their northern town, or grown tired of the surrounding nature, craving Berlin raves, London department stores, or exhibitions in Paris instead. But nevertheless, the distance between these students and the cradles of convention ‒ amplified by travel restrictions ‒ positively impacted both their work and the skills they had to develop in order to get there. It’s tangible in the casting of their lookbook models, the themes they reference, and the words they use to describe their work. Where else could you “eat lunch outside and then jump in the canal, before going back in and working on our projects,” as Agnes Thomsen shared?

Independence never led to individualism, though, as students were encouraged to share their work and learned to give feedback to others in an environment that wasn’t competitive.

Over the past year, the school has undergone an internal reformation that wasn’t without difficulties, deciding on a sudden switch from arts and crafts to technology and sustainability, which led to students feeling uninformed about the process. Nevertheless, the class managed to make lemonade and learned a lot from the freedom given to them by the school. “The best thing about our education is the creative freedom we were given. In both developing and presenting projects there has been a certain amount of independence that has turned out to be in an amazing ‘trust your own intuition’ training,” explained Asier Quintana. Students felt left to their own devices, which can be both positive and negative. “I’ve been at once both better at asking for help and at the same time becoming more self-sufficient and independent,” added Nina Balstrup.

That independence never led to individualism, though, as students were encouraged to share their work and learned to give feedback to others in an environment that wasn’t competitive. “I remember I felt very insecure and nervous about sharing my creative writing and poems for the first time with my classmates and teachers, but the way they received my presentation makes it one the fondest memory,” wrote Caroline Hundsholt. “We shared a very special and emotional moment. I was so relieved and touched by the experience, and this was actually the beginning of a new creative path for me where I felt brave enough to use my poems in my design processes.”

Surrounded by cold water and raw nature, somewhat detached from regular fashion calendars, schools like the Royal Academy might hold part of the solutions our industry needs: “The importance of community.” replied Andri Annarson when asked about what he learned. “A family of fashion designers loving, supporting and taking care of each other seemed like a utopia given how competitive and capitalistic our field is. But now I believe it is the future.”

Maria Bilkiewicz

“During the first lockdown, I dealt with the feeling of disconnect by looking at old photo albums. I wanted to work with the aspect of luxury, or more generally the value of things and how we perceive items depending on the context they are placed in. This idea of luxury was then distorted and heavily influenced by the aesthetics of Camp. I tried to draw a line between the absurdity of Communist Poland reality and the exaggeration of Camp sensibility, almost reaching the edge of bad taste.

Through this project I tried to reconnect with my past and get to know my grandma I have never met, having her as a muse for my project and taking an example of her hacking the system and making her own clothes that would resemble the Western, out-of-reach and forbidden ideals.”

Frederik Taus

“The collection and most of my work are rooted in queer culture and celebrate femininity as an empowering value beyond gender norms. My style is unapologetically flamboyant.

The project is a tribute to the struggles of being a minority, as well as a celebration of fashion as a communicative medium. The project is based on a written manifesto that gathers my views on aesthetics, ethics, sustainability, and activism. The central theme aims to break with gender norms, challenge the patriarchy as well as make fun of rich culture, all in a strange world of odd shoulders, big collars, safety pins, and slogan t-shirts, with references to fashion history, classic pieces of clothing such as tuxedo shirts and dollar bills.”

Caroline Hundsholt

“Graduating during a pandemic was very challenging in many ways and I had to find a way to take ownership of the situation and feel in charge. I decided to do a Covid-19 manifesto with all of the involuntary dogmas that the pandemic forced upon my project, such as working from home, not being able to go to physical stores or use a fitting model, etc. It became important to me to find solutions to these limitations in a way that would empower my project and not take away value from it. For example, I didn’t have a dummy at home, we weren’t allowed to meet with a fitting model, so I created the method of draping on a metal wire grid that I found in my attic to develop my silhouettes. The grid drapings became very characteristic for my project with a humoristic approach and the feeling of working alone at home, but still trying to create these bodyless characters with the sense of having the company of a friend.”

Nina Balstrup

“My graduate collection explores the archetype of wicked stepmums. I decided on the topic when I watched “The Sound of Music” protagonist Maria outcompete Baronesse Elsa Schräeder in the battle of Captain Von Trapp’s Heart. A few questions sprang to mind: Why are female villains always the best-dressed characters in films? What even makes Elsa Schräeder such an “evil” character? Stepmothers symbolise a general problem with how media and culture narrate women. The goal became to legitimize Wicked Stepmothers, in order to legitimize women in general, embracing them as nuanced and multifaceted, more than just “good” or “bad”. It meant that my project became a mix of recognizable fairytale references, feministic influences, and humorous commentary on some of the Wicked Stepmothers that we know. My collection became this amalgamation of reinterpreted vintage apron styles, erotic garments, historical silhouettes, and some direct references to stepmother characters, real and fictional.”

Sarah Sølver

“My graduate collection is an exploration of how the generations before us have left their mark on us today, and how their heritage is visible both materialistic and mentally in terms of values and a sense of belonging. I wanted to explore if it is possible to create a stronger bond to clothes so that they remind us of the important things we want to preserve.

When creating the collection, I incorporated and perfected some of the skills my mother taught me like handknitting as well as wickerwork, which my great grandmother used to do. With these handmade pieces and accessories, I incorporated the values of slow fashion, making it more obvious to the consumer how much work has been put into each piece.

I was lucky enough to find a large number of old clothes, fabrics, and homeware in my childhood home, that wasn’t being used anymore, and I could therefore upcycle them into new garments in the collection – seven of the pieces in the collection are made entirely from the fabrics from my childhood and family home.”

Emilie Axters

“I never spent as much time in my home as I did the past year. It led me to see my surroundings differently and acknowledge my belongings more. I realize that they are what give me comfort, especially in these unstable times. They evoke positive emotions when I look at them. I wondered ‒ How can I explore these relations and how can I make it visible? What if it was possible to wear this special feeling of comfort?  Is it possible to channel the energies of the different objects? I want to explore this further and put this rather abstract and intangible thought into a different context: my work within fashion. To help me along the way I have found guidance and inspiration in several theoretical works, including working methods from Surrealism and theories of the anthropologist Daniel Miller.”

Agnes Saaby Thomsen

“The title of my graduate collection is from an essay by feminist philosopher Iris Marion Young, describing pregnancy as a phenomenological experience and how it affects the pregnant subject. I found out I was pregnant the week before starting my MA and the transformation of the body and mind through that time was a huge inspiration for my graduate collection.

I worked with the circle as a central shape in my final collection, both as layers of fabric and as cut-outs. I also worked with oversizeness as a symbol of the body’s rapid growth during pregnancy. I work a lot with my materials so a lot of my design process is experimenting with textiles techniques and then combining them with scaled-up patterns like the shirt or t-shirt.

I decided to work with 3D collages and to invite in some outside forces in the creation process, symbolising the new other that emerges through pregnancy, working with my mom Tina Saaby (who is an architect) and my mentor and visual artist Charlotte Østergaard.”

Rikke Krogsgaard Mikkelsen

“My graduate collection is a study of the female shape with inspiration in the universe of shapewear. Based on both historical and contemporary references from the aesthetically and functional universe of shapewear, the collection unfolds how the female body and interpretation can be reconfigured through clothing while exploring the relation between shapewear and garments.

Shapewear, in its historical as well as present forms, has always been a controversial garment category, met by opponents claiming them to be destructive to the perception of the female shape. On the other hand, the liberated female body is often dedicated to the illusion of nature, i.e. the body which isn’t dominated by idealistic norms. My collection is based on my belief, that a liberated female body, is a body that is whatever you, yourself, want it to be, letting you be the writer of your own body.

By merging shapewear and garments, historical and contemporary references, the collection challenge the format of modern shapewear with the purpose of empowering the liberated female shape and the ability to sculpt the body the way you want it to be.”

Álla Sinkevich

“The project is titled after the film by Andrei Tarkovsky and focuses on the sustainable life cycle of biodegradable textiles. It was a slow and difficult process to identify what is important for me as a designer and maker. What would I like to communicate with the project and what impact would I like to leave with it?

It became clear that I want to design a collection that will speak to value and longevity, expresses the personal aesthetic vision, and evokes complex feelings in the consumers and observers.

In the process, it was important to test the danger of working with asymmetrical shapes, in a less structured, intuitive, and non-linear way which is different from my usual approach. I aimed to create wearable pieces in handcrafted textiles that promote a sensuous experience, where touch is enjoyable and comforting.”

Andri Unnarson

“My graduation project is a play on gender and identity politics. Each outfit scrutinizes a different aspect of my own masculinity and brings to life satirical reflections on male domination. Comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.

Using myself as inspiration was truly liberating. Whether it was focusing my experiences with topics like hyper- or toxic masculinity into leather and denim, or manifesting my femininity into crochet. I’ve never had such a sense of honesty towards my work.

My conceptual process was constantly accompanied by my experiments with textiles and eventually inspired some upcycling techniques used in the collection. This taught me how the dynamics of concept and craftsmanship can come together and elevate each other. And how upcycling can be utilized not only for sustainability but for provocation, creating our narratives and showcasing our intentions.”

Cengiz Güdücü

“This project is a retrospective journey spanning the last five years of fashion education and a testament to the multimedia aspect of my work. It is also a personal journey and rediscovery of the love and happiness I find in my work, which had been set aside for a relationship that is no more. The project has been made in an intuitive manner, where the aesthetic aspect is based on prior work that has been cultivated to grow and evolve naturally during the process of making the project. Furthermore, the project in its entirety is worked out in a way that is to be exhibited all together as a multimedia exhibition in a gallery setting, spending the various media of garments, mounted art pieces, poetry, photography, videography, and sculpture.”

Asier Quintana

“The inspiration for this project came from an interest in merging performance art and fashion. The project ended up being an interpretation of five emotions associated with the bedroom (logela is the Basque term for bedroom). I made a questionnaire on Instagram asking people what concepts would come to their mind when thinking of their bedroom, and it resulted in these five concepts: fear, roots, refuge, creativity, and self-discovery. These concepts are interpreted as ‘tales’ in this project and for my graduation project, I decided to work with fear and self-discovery. Each piece explores different areas of this artistic expression, after having studied the cases of Yoko Ono, The Gutai, Pina Bausch, and Marina Abramovic.”

Milan Florián Flíček

“In 1969 Czech student Jan Palach burned himself in Prague in protest against the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact armies / Soviet Union. In the 21st century, the fashion industry globally burns 94 million tons of clothes every year. This collection serves as my first activist act to stop this horror, in order to F*CKING STOP BURNING CLOTHES.

The collection is activistic and provocative, as it is inspired Soviet Brutalism, but its colours invite further debate. I use a technique that I created and named the “Fire Piping” technique. It applies piping to connect residual fabrics. Then it is creating the impression and shapes of fire. Special attention is paid to the quality of the materials and the high-end tailoring process with an emphasis on long-lasting details, fabrics, and patterns. Additionally, 75% of the fabrics used in the collection are deadstock materials from larger companies.”

Jeppe Juel

“My collection is about the connection between the body and our clothes. It is about the body-transformative power of fashion. Clothes as an extension of the body, physically and metaphorically, a second skin to our own. To be amorphous means to not have a definable shape. Fashion and our bodies change all the time, our bodies are reinvented through fashion.

I would dive into processes of digital manipulation of the body, as well as sculpting and casting of the body in real life. I gave myself a lot of creative freedom, to get a very direct approach to working with the body, exploring it as a mendable object, almost as a material of its own. The project would center around exaggerating and showing the link between body and clothes, how they mirror as well as transform each other.

We might not just always think about clothes that way in our everyday life, how profound and rich this relationship between body and clothes is.”