Baum und Pferdgarten - AW23

Wes Anderson's universe has always been an orchestra of whimsy and distinctive colour – along with a razor sharp attention to detail. And for Baum und Pferdgarten’s autumn/winter 2023 collection, which took inspiration from the film great – namely his 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums – this show was no different. It was in all the details, right down to the tent-like draping which encased today’s runway at Nikolaj Kunsthal. “His very aesthetic films and fantastic gallery of people are very close to us,” explains co-founders and creative directors, Helle Hestehave and Rikke Baumgarten. “For our autumn/winter 2023 collection, we have worked with the personal gallery of The Royal Tenenbaum. How would the characters dress if the film was made today, 20 years later.”

Fun and light-hearted humour was the real driving force behind the brand's The Royal Baumgartens collection; today’s offering showed us that the best sort of fashion often doesn’t take itself too seriously – it is witty and joyful. Presenting the whole gallery of characters, cacophony of quirks and all, the film’s cast was given a contemporary treatment by the two designers. “In The Royal Tenenbaums, they wear the same thing throughout the whole film, so it has been fun to think how they would dress in other situations,” they noted.

There was the reimagined Margot Tenenbaum with her characteristic side parting paired with heavy kohl liner and decked out in Baum und Pferdgarten’s brown faux shearling jacket – a nod to the character’s signature mink. Meanwhile, Chas Tenenbaum’s memorable red tracksuit is transformed and reinterpreted for today’s crowd in the form of a blue and white pinstripe set, embroidered with a racket emblem.

Brightly coloured outwear and jewel-toned suits brought the collection to a riotous high. Whether a magenta puffer jacket or pink corduroy blazer, this is dopamine dressing at its best. After all: “We must remember that fashion must be fun and we must have fun putting on clothes,” says Hestehave and Baumgarten. An additional, meticulous layer of playfulness arrived in the form of branded headbands and a bedazzled tennis ball-shaped evening bag too. Game, set and match indeed.