It’s been 10 years since Astrid Andersen launched her namesake label; in the time since, the menswear landscape has undergone an unrecognizable shift. And while Andersen’s luxurious vision of streetwear may have filtered its way up to the biggest houses in Paris, in response, she’s spent the past few seasons moving away from her earlier, flashier instincts and into increasingly personal territory.
Last season, that meant a modest showroom in New York, where her signature oversized hoodies and graphic tracksuits were re-created in meticulously handcrafted layers of organza. This time around, returning to her usual base in London, she went (very literally) closer to home. Looking back to her mother’s ’70s rose-print sofa, Andersen noted that for her, it represents a specific moment of liberal upswell in her native country of Denmark.
The print came filtered through a psychedelic lens, reworked and ready for a second summer (or, in this case, fall) of love. Other nods to the ’70s came by way of tasseled ponchos and flares, interpolated with her usual riffs on sportswear staples. The soundtrack, meanwhile, zigzagged between hip-hop and Pink Floyd—the overall vibe was a kind of hypebeast Woodstock.
Despite it being one of Andersen’s signatures, a jarring note came via the collection’s heavy use of fur. Andersen has noted in the past, as she did again this season, that real fur is more sustainable than faux. But floor-length fur coats are hardly a menswear staple—surely the easy answer would be just not to use it at all?
Where Andersen felt more in sync with her peers was in the overall spirit of the collection, which was shot through with a sense of optimism. In place of her previous affinity for flamboyance and bombast, the attitude here felt looser, and more free-spirited. After a decade in the business, the opening of a new chapter feels perfectly timed.
