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When Rikke Baumgarten and Helle Hestehave began designing their collections as newly graduated designers, they did so in the diverse and pulsating part of Copenhagen called Nørrebro. Ever since the brand was founded in January 1999 this has been the physical base for the growing team behind the small fashion house.

Currently Baum und Pferdgarten is available in more than 20 countries worldwide and leading boutiques and department stores offer the collections to women in metropolitans as Copenhagen, London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.

The creative manifest of Baum und Pferdgarten is to differ from the masses both in design and in process. The designer duo is known for not compromising on quality or esthetics - the high quality is reflected in both the choice of fabrics  as well as the attention to detail and craftsmanship in the manufacturing.

The collections from Baum und Pferdgarten give women an opportunity to express themselves individually by offering a combination of a classic styles and avant-garde pieces which can be mixed accordingly to the individual taste or occasion. Rikke Baumgarten and Helle Hestehave like to approach their designs with a touch of irony and humour - and hence their signature is somewhere in between harmony and quirky playfulness.

Through the years Baum und Pferdgarten have received numerous awards and been exhibited in various cities as a sign of recognition for their innovative design.

Autumn/Winter 2008 Collection

“The Silent Escape From Time and Space”

This season Baum und Pferdgarten explore the elegance of simplicity. The Autumn/Winter 2008 Collection visualises the contemporary woman as being always in tune with her current context. She devotes herself to whichever time and space she finds herself in. She moves easily and comfortably between various situations and locations. Therefore she needs her wardrobe to be versatile and wearable. She approaches life in an intellectual manner while having a clean and fresh air of purity about her.

The collection emphasizes the silhouette – and there is a wish to express the original idea of each garment by getting as close to a pure and clean shape as possible. The silhouettes are soft and wrap smoothly around the body. In order to enhance the softness most garments have a round simple neckline, lowered shoulders and a bell-shape which bends in towards the hemline. The hemlines are above the knee which evokes a self-assured sensuality while some of the trousers have a rather androgynous silhouette allowing the woman to redefine her own gender.

In the search for purity and simplicity the collection is made from very classical fabrics which accentuate the shape of the garments by being light or heavy – soft or stiff. The collection offers a range of silk, wool, and cashmere where the most simple and fundamental fabric of all times, cotton is ever-present. The natural feel gets a luxurious touch by pieces in supple leather, fox and swakara fur while the look is kept modern by a contrasting use of a few manmade fabrics in jackets and coats.

The collection presents the possibility to change the look through the individual manner of combining and mixing diverse pieces. The austere garments allow for an easy way to dress up or down through layering or accessorising. The knit pieces are key elements to changing a look completely; light and chic knits in silk and cashmere can make the look feminine and dressy whereas cosy knits in wool can make it informal. Knit is also very present in the accessories such as the fox-trimmed beanie, heavy scarves and delicate stockings.

The only embellishment is the owl embroidered in gold; an ancient symbol of natural knowledge and wisdom which encompasses at the same time something very familiar and calming as well as something secret and dark. In the Baum und Pferdgarten-version the owl has been given a humoristic twist as the squinting eye makes it very unpretentious. Still the golden colour keeps this majestic animal in tune with its symbolic status. Like the modern woman the owl moves silently yet rapidly through the air and leaves behind a feeling that time is standing still for a short while.

The colour scheme is very neutral and gentle. The basic colour of the collection is grey in any possible shade from very light and crisp to dark and deep. The greys are accompanied by natural shades like autumn green, chocolate brown, navy blue, beige, camel, and burned curry. The muted shades are highlighted by splashes of vibrant purple and a bright white.

For this collection Baum und Pferdgarten has created 2 new prints; one is a reinterpretation of an antique Parisian print – the other is a graphic print which resembles the geometrics of a landscape as one views it from an aeroplane when flying from one position to another.