Martin Asbjørn: Redefining Gender-Neutral Clothing Through a Sustainable Lens

Fashion denizens will look to New York, Milan, and Paris for the latest trends during fashion month, but has Copenhagen already kicked off the Fall/Winter 2022 season. Influencers like Pernille Teisbaek put the Danish capital on the map a few years ago, and thanks to talent like Cecile Bahnsen and the poppy label Ganni, the city has stayed at the forefront of the fashion week merry-go-round. 

There is something singularly different about Copenhagen Fashion Week, and it is mostly due to the Danish fashion community's commitment to the environment (although the perpetually happy, helpful Danes do stand out for their kindness and their warm welcome). Like many fellow designers concerned about excess waste, Martin Asbjørn has worked with surplus stock fabric since his brand’s launch. Born in Freetown Christiania, Asbjørn graduated from the prestigious Design and Technical Tailoring Academy in 2014. Two years later, he opened up shop with an offering of beautiful tailoring that played with the notion of masculinity and melded traditional suiting with sporty luxury. 

While in lockdown and closed off to much of the world, the designer noticed that he had found a burgeoning fanbase of customers identifying as women. Rather than introduce a women’s line for Fall/Winter 2022, which would have been the obvious choice for many others, Asbjørn instead created a gender-neutral collection that anyone could wear, by focusing upon core shapes and styles cut to fit and flatter each body, regardless of shape or gender. Dubbed the “Progressive Mix” the collection does not sacrifice wearability nor quality.

In addition to celebrating individuals for who they are, the choice to create a gender-neutral collection was also a technical one. According to Asbjørn’s team, while the goal is always to use surplus fabrics from a select group of tailors and producers, there is so much waste in creating clothes that are distinctly for one gender vs. another. All these little idiosyncrasies of buttonhole and zip fly placements lead to an abundance of waste that can be avoided.

Asbjørn was excited to return to the fashion calendar this season, though it was not without a handful of hurdles. One hurdle presented itself on the eve of his show, as his stylist was unable to travel due to COVID-19. Despite the odds, Asbjørn presented a new collection featuring a chic and refined earthy palette. The elegantly distressed leather pieces (this time in a bike jacket silhouette and a knee-length collared coat) were obvious crowd-pleasers. Tailored looks were either layered up to the hilt—trench over blazer over pant, with a bit of midriff peaking out—or, gently un-tailored, with silk lining escaping from a sleeve. Asbjørn can’t help but add a healthy dose of sex to his collections, and this season it manifested itself in a sheer sequin tank, paired with cotton briefs. No matter how we identify, we will all want that sequin party piece in our closets.