Five Minutes With Trine Lindegaard

When it comes to producing bold colour emanating from culture and experience, Trine Lindegaard knows all about that! A few weeks ago, I sat down for a quick chat with the Denmark native to talk about her men’s fashion brand. 

The Royal College of Art alumna produces a vibrantly artful collection of garments, some of which are varied with patterns or textures of solid hues, whilst others are uniquely embellished. Vogue.com has even tagged the menswear designer as “ones to watch,” and for good reason. 

Her intimate embrace with diverse traditions, particularly from Ghana, was just the fuel she needed to explore and showcase her passion of handwork used throughout her collections. 

The initial design process is all about the fabrics, the gathering of materials and concepts, and eventually transforming them into wearable visuals. However, location does also play a huge role as the brainwave of insight for releasing such meaningful work. 

“I’m very much inspired by where I live in London, being so close to the African market,” Lindegaard said.

Her Spring Summer 2014 collection was one that was generated from her collaborative work with UK prisoners—their touching story and their own art is what also triggered the theme and influence for the line, which was freedom.

 "All of the textiles are quite inspired by the word, ‘freedom,’ but what it means to them, and how the people that I worked with expressed it, and of course the guys in prison haven’t got much freedom at all,” the designer said.

“I think it’s important to help them maybe find another way in … In a place like London, where you have such big differences and social statuses, not everyone has the chance to go to university. That’s why this subject is so important to me, where as in Denmark everything is a lot more equal. The social system here, I guess is very different to home. It wouldn’t be as important for me to do a project like this in Denmark,” Lindegaard said.

Working together with local weavers during her journey in Ghana was more than edifying. “I think my biggest lesson is to make things easier. I’m always doing things that are too hard to manufacture. That’s my problem right now. There are certain [design] elements that if they can’t do, then I have to do it afterwards, which means it’s too time consuming. ” Lindegaard confessed.  

Well, the journey appears to have been worth it, resulting in men’s garments with a lively vibe. The bracing influence is bold and deeply embedded in the seams. Make way for playful menswear with colour intensity and an almost cautiously animated twist. The attention to detail, the inventive textile techniques, and unique adornments provide only a few reasons to be inspired and intrigued by Lindegaard’s works. 

So, who exactly is the man wearing these threads? It might be anyone. Your neighbour, a friend, or the gent at your local fair trade café because the men buying her garments cannot be summed up in one genre. They like it, they buy it, and wear it proudly! 

“I think it’s any type of guy at the moment. (The target customer) is actually changing quite a bit,” Lindegaard said.

Take a look for yourself! What do you think of Lindegaard’s menswear?

Photos: Courtesy of Trine Lindegaard, edited by Ladyofashion.

View more work from Lindegarrd at www.trinelindegaard.com.