Wackerhaus

...effeminate tailoring

Wackerhaus was founded in 2003 by the designer Trine Wackerhausen. She lives and works in Copenhagen. She talks us through her work here: To me fashion is art but it is also important that my designs are wearable and practical...of course with a strong dash of refined and feminine elegance. The Wackerhaus look combines a sharp effeminate tailored silhouette with lightweight materials and carefully placed ruffles and graphical details. My fascination with structure and contrast is an ongoing theme in every Wackerhaus collection. Despite complementary materials and a versatile approach to sculpting silhouettes, Wackerhaus aims to deliver a clean cut and cohesive look, which on one hand expresses strength and on the other the rather fragile and feminine side of contemporary women's design. The collections are built around a dark and subtle colour palette which collides elegantly with the idea of a timeless, modest and flawless style, and at the same time serves as a lovely canvas for colourful excesses. My work can best be seen as a delicate balance of playful extravaganza, soft femininity and strict simplicity. I strive towards making clothes that are both luxurious and comfortable. The result - pleasing both the precise and classic minimalist as well as those driving a more gentle feminine allure.

Nothing inspires me like...
People, I just love watching them interacting, exercising, dressing up, acting wonderfully, happy, cool, annoyed, or feeling miserable. All human aspects touch me and make my head spin with ideas and scenarios that I will create and build my collections around.

I hope...
That love is here to stay and that my boyfriend will marry me the 42nd of January as we scheduled. Strangely I haven’t been able to add it to my calendar yet...

Cultural influences...
Are required to keep our heads alive.

I got where I am...
Because I have a good imagination and not least because I’ve worked like a madman, building my company. It’s the only way to keep building. Talent should be mandatory in fashion, but I actually believe that hard work takes you the longest miles.

Fashion can sometimes...
Seem a bit cold and shallow, that’s why I insist on creating my own diffused stories in the collections, so the concept at least makes sense to me, in order to spend so much time on it.

I sense...
Sometimes too much. That is both good and bad – but mostly good I presume.

I scream when...
My vocabulary is no longer sufficient. Mostly it is my fellow road users who get the pleasure of hearing me scream. It actually happens regularly, as I am quite ill-tempered when on my bike during Copenhagen rush hour.

I dance like...
A robot on acid. I’m not a grinder, I’m too self-aware for that, but I love to dance so I’ll just jump and move my hips moderately. Though not at the same time.

Faith in...
Yourself and the people you love will take you far.

Cake makes me...
Smile. I love everything about cake: the taste, the smell, the look, the instant happy fix you get when it meets your mouth. When I travel I always bring home cake from my trips, it’s the greatest souvenir ever.

Creativity comes from...
Emotions. Either good or sad, it doesn’t really matter, but you need to be touched somehow to feel the urge to create.

Love is...
A word that always attracts my attention. It’s the only thing I really need.

NYC/London/Paris/Milan is...
Always wonderful - but please go to Copenhagen sometime. We have a really interesting Fashion Week and it’s a lovely city to visit during the summer. And a little bonus info for the singles: there are so many pretty girls and guys here!

I get bored easily...
But then I turn to my crosswords. Crosswords can really glue me to the chair for some hours. I prefer the super tough ones that require both an encyclopaedia and a crossword dictionary.

I love getting older...
Is both true and false. There is something extremely wonderful and relieving about it, but then again all the young ones seem to have so much fun!

Wackerhaus on NJAL