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Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, supermodel Helena Christiansen and Lego toy building blocks aren’t the only international sensations to hail from Denmark. Already a success in Paris and Berlin, Danish label Bibi Chemnitz is rapidly gaining popularity among cult fashion followers. Greenlandic Bibi Chemintz and her partner, Danish David Rogilds, started the line in 2006, combining Chemnitz’s tailoring background with Rogilds’ graphic design experience to produce pieces with “street couture” flair. With hoodies as the focal point in the team’s simplistic-yet-chic earlier collections, subsequent collections have shifted toward a more versatile “mature” look, with the incorporation of silk and satin in the women’s line, and organic t-shirts in the men’s.

During a pow-wow with David, he shared with me the differences in Danish and American fashion, how he and Bibi came to mix business and pleasure and when we can expect to see Bibi Chemnitz stateside.

Q: What is the essence of the Bibi Chemnitz line?

A: Clean Scandinavian lines and raw, unspoiled Greenlandic elements used in a creative and functional way. We really try to make clothes that we love ourselves and are usable for both work and clubbing. We try, with every new collection, to make something that we think is missing in fashion, and we also try to take on new challenges to expand our collection.

Q: How did you and Bibi team up to create Bibi Chemnitz?

A: We started dating, and it became more serious–both personally and professionally. During Bibi’s studies as a clothing manufacturer, we decided to start the brand, and my part in the company became larger and larger every time we got a little bigger.

Q: In what ways has your line grown since its inception in 2006?

A: First of all, our collection has a lot more styles than the first collection, and the look is more mature. Now, I would say that our main “audience” is between 18- and 35-years-old. For our first collection we made the choice to keep it really simple, with only a few styles. We decided to do mainly unisex hoodies, but to make them better then everybody else. For each collection, we’ve added new styles–so now we are pretty much making complete collections.

Q: How would you describe your AW09 collection?

A: The collection was inspired by the forest animals of the north, so it is very raw and savage-like. The collection is all about autumn and winter and keeping warm and comfortable. There are also references to Greenland in the collection, with print versions of the Greenlandic pearl sting ring, as seen on the national clothe from Greenland.

Q: How does fashion in Denmark compare to that in the States?

A: I might be a bit on foreign ground here, as I only know U.S. fashion from TV and magazines. I think design, when it comes to fashion, furniture, art, etc., in Denmark is about clean lines–and the saying “less is more” really is the focus. Instead of making 20 crazy details in an item, we try to make that one detail that really makes it all stand out; that goes for both form and color. I think that the States have a lot more influences from France and Italy.

Q: How would you describe your design style?

A: Raw, Nordic, recognizable, functional and usually very comfortable.

Q: What designers do you love?

A: I am not that fanatic in following designers, but Henrik Vibskov does a good job.

Q: Who or what inspires you when designing?

A: Bibi and I inspire each other a lot by ping-ponging ideas back and forth. We also get inspired a lot from the people around us in our city, where a lot of our friends are photographers, artists and event-makers.

Q: Is there one design you haven’t yet created, but would like to?

A: Hmmm…yes. We haven’t really done classic suits or gala dresses; or maybe the cotton coat. But I think it will be a while before we do that. Hey, who knows…

Q: What’s in the future plans for Bibi Chemnitz?

A: The future is to keep getting better on every level of this business, and maybe start to co-design with others brands on special projects.

Q: Are there plans to branch out into the American market?

A: Yes, sure, if the right contacts come up; America is a huge market. It has always been very important for us to do it by ourselves, but we are starting to get agents on in countries that are hard for us to reach. We see a lot of really good American web shops that we are very interested in selling in.

Q: Any parting words for us stateside fashionistas?

A: Yeah, stay tuned to Bibi Chemnitz; we will try to hit the American market as soon as possible.

-Racquel Russell

Images via BibiChemnitz.com