Holzweiler dived deep in a show that explored the beauty of the sea

Holzweiler, Thursdag 2. February 2023 at 15.00

Last year was quite a big one for the Norwegian brand Holzweiler. After dropping back into the Copenhagen Fashion Week calendar (almost literally… parachutes were involved) they sold a controlling share of the company to Sequoia Capital China, heralding the partnership as the start of strategic global expansion. Then in September, they opened their first store outside Norway – again choosing Copenhagen as the location. So, entering the vast Plant warehouse space in a windswept corner of the city to view their presentation, expectations were high.

When it came to their AW23 collection, it looked like Copenhagen also found its way onto the design room mood board – or at least the city’s famous Little Mermaid did. Entitled Deep Sea, the show was a love letter to the ocean with huge coral-like boulders and sand scattered across the set. Models with wet look hair and sea-sprayed faces wandered around like fashion mermaids and mermen wearing oversized puffa jackets and huge quilted scarves that looked like they would easily work as life rafts if need be.

Distressed denim coats and skirts looked like they’d survived a storm at sea and had a beautiful, rather melancholy, air that was part goth and part Ancient Mariner. Latter-day Ariels in sinewy fluid knit dresses clutched bags that had long curled ribbons falling from them giving serious octopus tentacle vibes.

There were a couple of suits and blazers that hung rather awkwardly within the aquatic theme (very nice though they were) but it was the knits that were the real highlight. Shipwreck-tattered cable knits in pale pink and lemon yellow were delicately beautiful whilst loose-knit fishnet pants and long-line dresses had a sexy edge. Oversized mohair cardigans in cloudy grey had a soft brushed surface that look like it had been washed by salt water and an intarsia jumper was decorated with an amoebic design in shades of blue.  In the final passage, a liquid silk black dress ran like an oil slick down the model’s body and a huge black quilted coat swept shark-like along the runway hinting at a darker side to the ocean’s depths. But the real test of the collection is that the pieces can be removed from the themed presentation and work beautifully in real life. For sure this was a Holzweiler collection that swam rather than sank.

See the entire collection here