90’ies / PARIS TRAINING /

Born and raised in Denmark, Jens Laugesen moved to Paris in 1987, where he worked as a stylist and right-hand assistant to visionary photographer Gunnar Larsen, founder of GUNNAR International. This introduction to the world of high fashion encouraged Jens to study Haute Couture design at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.

He graduated as the top student in 1991, which resulted in him undertaking prestigious internships in the couture studios of Paco Rabanne and Hubert De Givenchy. Subsequently, Jens worked as a fashion journalist for the Scandinavian press before returning to education to take a Master’s Degree in Fashion Management at the INSTITUT FRANÇAIS DE LA MODE Paris in 1994.

Following his graduation, Laugesen spent the following six years working as a collection designer, design studio manager and head of collection for internationally renowned design houses in Paris and Germany at both Haute Couture and Ready-to-Wear level.

00s / LONDON FASHION WEEK /

In 2000 Jens relocated to London, where he joined the prestigious MA Fashion womenswear course at CENTRAL SAINT MARTIN’s. Graduating with a distinction in February 2002, his acclaimed graduate collection was selected by Maria Luisa to be exhibited in the boutique’s windows during Paris Haute Couture week. He was subsequently invited to present his collection at London Fashion Week’s talent spotting FASHION EAST show.

Heralded by Observer Magazine as “London’s answer to Helmut Lang”, Jens was awarded the British Fashion Council’s NEW GENERATION award for two consecutive seasons, confirming his position in London Fashion Week.

The first on-schedule show was an immediate success, and he was named “the next big thing” by fashion industry figurehead Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune, who described his collection as having “a sluttish elegance”.

The eponymous brand was stocked in more than 65 high profile stores worldwide, including Doverstreet Market and Selfridges (London), Maria Luisa (Paris), Lazzari (Treviso, Italy), Andreas Murkodis (Berlin), UK Style (Moscow), Susan of Burlingame and Opening Ceremonie (New York), IT and Shine (Hong Kong), Loveless, Adelaide and Beams International (Tokyo). 

2006 / LVMH X ANDAM AWARD PARIS /

In 2006, Jens Laugesen became the first London designer to be awarded the French ANDAM FASHION AWARD, with financial support by LVMH GROUP and L’OREAL. The prestigious award allowed him to present his AW0708 collection in Paris with an individual exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in the Louvre. The following season he returned to the London schedule, with a collection described by Vogue.com as ‘one of the most beautiful shows of London Fashion Week’.

Other awards included the British Fashion Council’s FASHION FORWARD award and ‘Designer of the Year’ in March 2008 in his native Denmark. Jens designed in all 12 collections (four trilogies) with his eponymous brand.

As a ‘nordic/conceptual designer he became know for his hybrid design thinking and ‘utilitarian’ approach to clothing architecture. Developing a personal design philosophy named ‘Hybrid Reconstruction’, his work was also featured in various style reference books, including FASHION NOW 01 for ID and SAMPLE 100 with work selected by Alexander Mcqueen.

DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION /

He has since 2008 worked as Creative Director and Design Advisor for international Luxury RTW clients such as NET-A-PORTER, CALVIN KLEIN, J MENDEL, BESSINI Textile Group, and LG Fashion Corp in South Korea, where he was creative director for the MOGG luxury collection and Strategic advisor to the management team.

Since 2018, Jens Laugesen received the Danish Arts Foundation for 3 consecutive years. The bursary allowed him to relaunch his brand and showcase the ‘EDEN The Woman who fell to Earth\ film in London Fashion Week, starting a new design trilogy. He showcased HYRECON 02 in Copenhagen Fashion Week in January 2019 with an immersive installation showcasing a new fashion film PERSONA DOUBLE created by Thurstan Redding and Anders Sølvsten Thomsen for RE-EDITION magazine.

A collaboration with S.N.S. HERNING launched a new womenswear capsule collection for the Danish heritage knitwear brand. He was also awarded the IDA Designer of the Year award in Fashion and first prize in Avant-garde in 2018 and silver prize in the Ready to Wear category in 2019.

”   He settled on several pieces: a tuxedo jacket, athletic leggings, deconstructed sweaters, and shirts. Laugesen’s trademark tux jacket gained acute angular cut-outs at the back, like tailored wings; the knits acquired greater tactility through a raised wool weave; shirts had prominent pie-crust collars and extra-long sleeves, and leggings earned a set of racing stripes in neutral colors  “

DESIGN COLLABS /

His design has been showcased in museums such as the V&A,  UCAD MUSEE DE LA MODE at LE LOUVRE, MUSEUM OF FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, DANISH DESIGN CENTER and DESIGN MUSEUM DANMARK. Collaborations include capsule collections designed for ATELIER SWAROVSKI, TOPSHOP, KOPENHAGEN FUR, COTTON USA, SPIEWAK and TOPSHOP. He did also collaborate with LINDA FARROW VINTAGE to launch the brands’ first “hybrid” sunglasses, cross breading the brand’s glamorous origins with a 70’s unisex aviator.

Jens has also taught the MA Fashion course at CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS alongside Professor Louise Wilson. He has also been instrumental in modernising the design education at Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne as the main design tutor of the 4th year Masters leading to the recent fusion with INSTITUT FRANCAIS DE LA MODE.

2020 / FAITH IN CHAOS /

During the lockdown of covid-19, Jens Laugesen felt the need to turn negative into positive and re-baptise the self-isolation to self-retreat. Inspired by the Faith in Chaos mantra he had developed when collaborating with photographer Nick Knight, he launched together with ARTSTHREAD the first-ever Global Design Graduate Show 2020 in collaboration with i-D Magazine and GUCCI.

Foreseeing the need for the industry to adopt the transformative times, he has also used the pandemic to reposition and relaunch his creative consulting career once again in 2021 with a new holistic, collaborative design advisory named KONSENS X.

Most recently he has done a new film project named GENERICSENS 2.0. The project is revisiting the hybrid design archive with a glitch inpsired collaboration with key members of the London LGTBQ+ club scene to be featured in an immersive online showcase.

HYBRID

RECONSTRUCTION /

Jens Laugesen created for his eponymous brand 12 collections, divided into four different design trilogies. The brand concept is based on a personal design philosophy named “hybrid reconstruction” that he developed during his MA research at Central Saint Martins. 

His creative research concentrated on “what would be in fashion after de-construction”. It resulted in a vision of hybrid designs, re-constructing or mixing garment fragments and concepts seamlessly.

Evolving from a street credible urban collection that epitomised “de-construction” of the ’90s, his brand grew to become a strong statement for the 21st century ‘conceptual Luxury’, combining ‘high concept’ with the traditional craftsmanship of the Luxury market in a seamless finished manner.

http://hybridreconstruction.com/Manifest/

AWARDS / HONORS / 

2023 / IDA AWARDS – FASHION DESIGNER OF THE YEAR / 

2022 / DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION / Creative work bursary + Exhibition / 

2021 / DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION / Project bursary for LFW Exhibition /  

2019 / DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION / Creative work bursary + Exhibition /

IDA AWARDS – SILVER Prize in PAP / BRONZE Prize in Avant-garde / 

2018 / DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION / Creative work bursary / Exhibition /  

IDA AWARDS / FASHION DESIGNER OF THE YEAR / Gold prize in Avant-garde /

2008 / DESIGNER OF THE YEAR Award / DANSK Fashion Awards / Copenhagen /

2007 / BFC FASHION FORWARD Award / London / Westfield London /

2006 / BFC FASHION FORWARD Award / London / Westfield London /

2006 / ANDAM FASHION AWARD / Paris / LVMH GROUP & L’OREAL award /

2005 / CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS / Designer in residence award /

2004 / BFC NEW GENERATION Award / Supported by TOPSHOP /

2003 / BFC NEW GENERATION Award supported by TOPSHOP /

2002 /  FASHION EAST AWARD sponsored by CHANNEL 4 TV for AW0203

FILM / EXHIBITIONS / 

2022 / 

INRECON / SOLARIS / Film launch during Paris Fashion Week /

INRECON / SOLARIS @ LA JOLLA Fashion Film Festival / 4 nominations /

2021 /

GENERICSENS 2.0 /  Virtual photo / film exhibition / LFW digital presentation /

GENESIS / SIRIN Gallery / film exhibition / Copenhagen /

GENESIS shortlisted for ASVOFF 12 /

2019 /

COPENHAGEN FASHION FILM FESTIVAL / EDEN shortlisted for Best Int. Film /

PERSONA DOUBLE / London, Copenhagen, Paris / Film exhibitions /

PERSONA DOUBLE / ASVOFF 11 Film Festival /

ANDAM 30 Years Exhibition Book / Galleries Lafayette / Paris /

2018 /

EDEN The Woman who fell to Earth / Film exhibition London /

EDEN @ LA JOLLA Fashion Film Festival / 4 nominations /

2009 /  

GOTICH COUTURE / FIT Museum, New York / Curated by Valerie Steele /

2007 /  

INTERIØR 01 / UCAD Musee de la MODE / Le Louvre / Paris /

ANDAM AWARD Individual exhibition / Paris Fashion Week /

DESIGN BIENNALE / Koldinghus Museum / Denmark /

2006  /

MAJ / EURO RSCG Gallery / Exhibition with SHOWstudio / PFW /

24 HOURS WHITE / Milan Fashion Week / Film installation /

COPENHAGEN FASHION WEEK / Catwalk + Exhibition /

2005 /

FRIDAY 13th / Berlin Fashion Week / Film installation /

ANNA PIAGGI FASHION-IOLOGY / V&A / London / Coat selected by Anna Piaggi /

2004 /

UNIK DANISH FASHION / Gewerbemuseum / Switzerland /    

UNIK DANISH FASHION / Nordic Cultural House / Berlin /

HYBRID RECONSTRUCTION / Danish Design Center / DK /

UNIK DANISH FASHION / Danish Design Centre / Copenhagen /

BUSAN Fashion Week / South Korea / Catwalk + Exhibition /

2003 /

FAITH IN CHAOS / SHOWstudio / Film collaboration with Nick Knight /

FAITH IN CHAOS / Film exhibition / Addition Adelaide / Tokyo /

GROUND ZERO 00 / SELFRIDGES exhibition during London Fashion Week /

BUSAN Fashion Week / South Korea / Catwalk + Exhibition /

DAZED & CONFUSED X SPIEWAK collaboration / Exhibition /

2002 / 

GROUND ZERO 00 / MARIA LUISA / Exhibition during Paris HC Fashion Week /

PUBLICATIONS / 

2020 /       

i-D Magazine / FAITH IN CHAOS article for GDGS competition /

RE-EDITION Magazine / GENESIS article /

2019 /       

FASHION: CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS / Thames & Hudson /

ANDAM 30 Years Exhibition Book / Galleries Lafayette / Paris /

i-D Magazine / The 00’ies hottest designer is doing a comeback / 

2018 /      

MODELEKSIKON / Denmark / Fashion dictionary /

2017 /       

LONDON FASHION WEEK 1984-2017 / Mina Wakatski /Japan /

2014 /      

DEVELOPING A COLLECTION /  Elinor & Colin Renfrew / Bloomsbury /

2012 /     

DESIGN BY RESEARCH / Thames and Hudson Publication /

2010 /

ANDAM FASHION AWARDS 1989-2009 / Florence Müller /

DEVELOPING A COLLECTION / Elinor Renfrew / AVA Academia /

2009 /       

100 Contemporary Fashion Designers/ Hywel Davies / Laurence King /

ATLAS FOR FASHION DESIGNERS / Maomao Publications /

YOUNG FASHION DESIGNERS  /  Fusion Publishing /

FASHION ILLUSTRATIONS / Laird Borelli / Thames & Hudson /

2007 /       

FUTURE CLASSICS / Iain R Webb / THE INDEPENDENT /

A NEW LUXURY THEORY / Marco Cortese / Fashion MFF /

FASHION NOW 02 / Taschen / Selected by Terry Jones @ I-D Magazine /

2005 /

SAMPLE 100 Fashion Designers / Phaidon / Selected by Alexander McQueen / 

2004/

UNIK: DANISH FASHION / Dansk Design Center / Copenhagen /

2003 /

OBSERVER MAGAZINE / ‘London’s Answer to Helmut Lang’ / Tamsin Blanchard /