Cecilie Bahnsen is soft-spoken and sweetly shy, and her designs are delicate and almost childlike. So it was surprising to learn that for Fall 2019, Bahnsen was eager to “let a little darkness in.” She said she wanted the collection to feel somewhat more mysterious, like a David Lynch film or a photograph taken by William Eggleston. Bahnsen, who was a finalist for the 2017 LVMH Prize, doesn’t veer far off her own aesthetic course from season to season, but her aim for Fall was to “unravel” herself just a bit, to give up some of her internal control and design a collection that felt undone.
This she did, but those looser, unhinged guidelines Bahnsen prescribed for herself were blink-and-you-might-miss-it subtle. They were expressed through DIY-esque patchwork on one of her voluminous baby doll dresses and new, rougher textures like crochet and ribbing for knitwear. She also added constraint-like details, such as a crisscrossed bodice wrap top to one dress and high, sharp necklines on a few of the tops.
To add to the broody nature of her agenda this season, she had the models stomp out and march around the square show space like a stirring army of dressed up G.I. Janes. Her version of going dark wasn’t exactly obvious, but it was pleasing to see her move, however slightly, in a strong new direction.
