The Boy and the Bubble: Nicklas Skovgaard Wins Danish Fashion’s Biggest Prize

Skovgaard has attracted attention from all corners since launching his line in 2020. A fashion-obsessed boy who grew up in a small and remote town, he started a fashion blog and had The September Issue and Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette on repeat. A Brio children’s loom was the starting point for his brand. Once he had mastered the art of weaving he started to construct garments from the materials he made. Gradually he added ready-made fabrics and continued experimenting until he came upon his signature silhouette, a dramatic bubble shape that’s nostalgic of the ’80s—a decade this 31-year-old, born in 1994, accessed through photos of his mother when she was in her aerobics phase long before he was born.

The designer debuted at Copenhagen Fashion Week with a performance piece, starring Britt Liberg, and within a short time his shows became a major draw, with throngs of people hoping to get in. Speaking to the jury, Skovgaard described his world as being nostalgic and having an “awkward sophistication.” Though he has high-flying dreams, his immediate goals are more down-to-earth. “I actually feel like my creativity feels quite different now just from two years ago,” he said. “I felt like back then it was more wild; I feel in some ways more restrained now because my focus is also on the sales, which I know that we need to make happen in order to survive every season.” Skovgaard hopes to find someone to help grow the brand and its sales so he can spend less time with Excel sheets and, he said, “keep my hands doing what I started doing, keep creating.”