This season marks the 20th anniversary of Baum und Pferdgarten. Creative directors and founders Rikke Baumgarten and Helle Hestehave launched their label more than a decade before Instagram overtook the Copenhagen fashion scene, but they’ve certainly used the platform to their advantage. The designers’ clothes are aimed at social media stars and young women who love them. Their collections are loaded with trends, like logos, pastel-hued floral dresses, and clashing prints. They’re smart to stick with this formula, as its proven to grow their business both locally and abroad (though the Baum und Pferdgarten fan base does seem to adore them for their quirkiness, too).
For Fall 2019, they went a little deeper into their own narrative, focusing on the idea of family rather than some larger pop-culture moment or specific era, as they’ve tended to do in recent seasons. Baumgarten and Hestehave wanted to highlight their own family at Baum und Pferdgarten, and the bond that has grown between the two of them and their larger team over the last 20 years. They did so with a collection that was specifically inspired by a family vacation to the wilderness.
The scenario was apparent in the chunky, cozy knitwear and in the landscapes photo-printed onto pretty silk shirtdresses and skirts. It was in the quilted outerwear and the durable black leather boots, too. Where the notion fell away was in the quirkier, more dressed-up pieces, like a pair of patchwork trousers paired with a cropped blazer or the range of sheer, balloon-sleeved baby doll dresses. That being said, one has to appreciate the fact that Baum und Pferdgarten seems to relish the act of going a bit off-script. That’s one of the traits that has helped keep their business growing for the last 20 years.
