The By Malene Birger show wasn’t a show at all. After walking into the gargantuan space listed on the invitation, the crowd was seated stadium style in front of an also gargantuan panoramic screen. Ominous music began to play and so did a film. On the screen were models dressed in Mathilde Torp Mader’s debut collection as head designer of the brand. It lasted for about seven minutes and acted as a sort of commercial—models walking in and out of the frame, standing still on a rotating pedestal together, that sort of thing. It was an interesting approach, for sure, but overall it was quite difficult to get a sense of what the clothes actually looked like and felt like IRL. Even though we largely consume fashion on our mobile and computer screens these days, there remains much value in seeing a live show and it would have been nice to get a more visceral understanding of how Mader works and how she’ll evolve the label.
Some pieces that you could definitely make out were the nicely tailored suits and a cool mint green long-sleeved dress that moved well. Knitwear was notable, too, especially the creatively layered tan turtlenecks that bunched up just below the chin. Mader is undoubtedly talented and an aesthetic fit for the brand, and she certainly gets points for risk-taking. But By Malene Birger is an already established label with a loyal following. If she goes too far with show concepts and the clothes, those fans might not wait for the film credits to roll.
