Henrik Vibskov: Going the 'wrong' way

Idiosyncratic Danish fashion designer Henrik Vibskov talks about how making mistakes taught him to look at a project from a different perspective.

Henrik Vibskov is no ordinary fashion designer; he's the creator of twisted and tantalising universes that accompany each of his collections. The Danish designer is known for integrating music, exhibitions and artistic performances into his runway shows, making them extraordinary and uniquely captivating. In this exclusive interview he tells us about the necessity of mistakes for designers and the creative process as a whole.

Mistakes and faults are really important for the human mind to be creative, Vibskov says. In fact, mistakes that arise during a designer’s process are often the very thing that make the project a success.

"If you are just going from A to B, you will become a bit too computerised," he adds.

Creative genius actually comes from wrong thoughts and going the wrong way when designing, Vibskov explains.

Case in point: For a fashion collection referencing mother nature, sexuality and culture, Vibskov's initial vision included unveiling the clothing using models lying on a mountain of breast-like inflated balloons. However, 24 hours before the models were due to take to the runway he had not been able to manufacture enough balloons. Instead, he placed each "breast" on a stick and had models lying underneath them to create a Garden of Eden-like installation. "It turned out to be one of my strongest projects," he says.

Furthermore, the fashion designer speaks about why he chose fashion as a career path. For Vibskov clothing is one of the fastest communicators allowing people to express their individual thinking without actually talking.

It’s a tricky business in general being creative. You have to trust in yourself and use the things you have learnt in other ways. 

Watch the Talk with Henrik Vibskov, Nille Juul-Sørensen, Vinay Venkatraman, Mikal Hallstrup