Cecilie Bahnsen Fall 2025 Ready-to-Wear

It felt like spring on the streets of Paris and at Cecile Bahnsen’s blooming, fall show, Untitled Flowers. The name was borrowed from a 2020 silver and black drawing by Danish artist Tal R, which decorated the set and the show notes. A live guitar performance by Yuki Tsujii had a spontaneity that mirrored that of the drawing, which Bahnsen described as having a graffiti-like scratchiness. “It was something so feminine, but so rough at the same time,” she said, “and I think there is this femininity and something dark and unhinged in this collection; it’s like a quiet rebellion.” Unhinged might be overstating things, as prettiness prevailed as usual chez Bahnsen, but there was a sense of giddy abandon in the flirtatious up-and-down motion of bustle-back skirts composed of petal-like layers of fabric, and in the weightless airiness of short, horsehair hoop skirts. This collection was largely a study of opposites; the “release” of those looks was balanced by the control allowed by lacing and belting. Inspired by the running vests she sees being worn by joggers in Copenhagen, Bahnsen created a kind of gilet/corset hybrid. The gentle binding of the torso elongated the silhouette so that skirts petalled out from lower waists. This was an effective, and much needed, evolution of the silhouette. Similarly attractive were narrow to the knee or just above the ankle skirts shown with streamered tops. Think of them as the stems to the more voluminous petaled designs.