News feed
The grandiosity of ornate hotels has always served as a perpetual source of creative inspiration.
In the bar of DUKES London Mayfair, Ian Fleming conceived the character of suave secret agent James Bond, all while sipping on one of the hotel’s famed ice-cold martinis. Duke Ellington composed some of his jazz sonatas roaming the hallways of Los Angeles’ Chateau Marmont. Coco Chanel even took residence in the Ritz Paris for 34 years, with the ornate luxury lodging embedded into the fabric of the French Maison.
It’s this intrinsic sense of elegance that served as inspiration for Danish occasion wear brand, ROTATE, and their chintzy Spring/Summer 2024 season of Copenhagen Fashion Week.
It was the second last show of the season, closing out the 2023 edition of CPHFW and the energy was palpable. Guests were charged with a contagious zest, a buzz for the penultimate proceedings.
The location was Hotel d’Angleterre, an 18th Century five-star hotel founded in 1755, making it not only making it the oldest deluxe hotel in Copenhagen, but one of the most historic in the world.
I had arrived at the hotel by chauffeur service, courtesy of Danish jeweller Pandora, after finding a writing reprieve in the nearby town square, Kongens Nytorv.
My affinity for hotels has always come from the rich glamour embedded into the fabric of these buildings and the transformative possibilities of whom you could pretend to be when checking in (an heiress, a fashion designer, or just myself, a simple writer). The ambience of ROTATE’s Hotel d’Angleterre was no different.
I weaved the extravagant hallways of the hotel, winding my way to the dead centre of the building before arriving at the palatial Palm Court, the biggest ballroom in Copenhagen.
Flanked by an intricate glass mosaic roof, mirrored walls and marble columns, I took my seat between “bourgeoning” model Alana Hadid (yes, Gigi and Bella’s sister) and fashion-focused content creator Grece Ghanem and absorbed my surroundings.
While lost in thought about who the ROTATE-adorned woman would embody when during her hotel stays, a remix of Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman” erupted over the speakers. “Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.”
Perhaps a nod to the 1990 cult-classic romantic comedy, which was of course predominantly set in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, or to sartorially answer this prompt, ROTATE provided 31 rebelliously slinky silhouettes.
“The inspiration originally came whilst we were in Paris together,” ROTATE’s creative directors, Jeanette Madsen and Thora Vadimar, exclusively explained to GRAZIA.
“The inspiration originally came whilst we were in Paris together. Sitting in one of our favourite hotels, we were inspired by the rich luxuriousness and ornate detailing. The sense of tradition is yet disruptive. It also caused us to reflect on London Fashion in the late 80s and 90s, this idea of punk rebelliousness coupled with elegance.
“This collection plays with both concepts, presenting simple forms, and un-complicated fabrics with a focus on tassels, corsetry, drapery and many more intimate details.”
These hidden elements take the shape of studded grommets speckled into leather, corseted PVC, nipple pasties adorned with fringed tassels, unexpected boning and reimagined tailoring.
“I particularly love the suiting from this collection,” explained Madsen “There is one series of tailored looks, in grey checked stretchy fabric, that are perfect.
“We have taken the classic suit style and created a super flattering and sexy silhouette – the jacket has bold shoulder pads and a form-fitting body, and the pants are high-waisted and slim cut with a long leg. Taking a traditional masculine form and transforming it into something inherently empowering for the female body.”
Vadimar noted that not only were these counter-culture meets high glamour motifs essential for the collection’s aesthetic, but they also underpinned the fluidity of the range. Movement was necessary here, given these pieces will soon-to-be a mainstay within the revolving doors of the world’s most luxe hotels.
“We wanted to create a sense of movement and tactility in this collection, specifically, the effect of feathers,” Vadimar added. “However, since we do not use such products in our collections, we had to get creative with alternative solutions like the closing dress made from tulle. We have layered and draped the fabric to create the illusion of soft, fluffy feathers. It is beautiful to look at and feel!”
An array of statement outerwear and evening wear played against more everyday pieces like classic white button-down shirts. One moment of stellar styling came in the form of a white ribbed tank top, embellished underwear and a gigantic floppy tulle-as-feather hat.
This look subverted the classic hotel room uniform, the relaxed fits you might wear to eat room service in from your plush bedding. But don’t get me wrong, there was nothing understated about this collection, especially when presented in a space as captivating as this.
“The show acts as a stage for the collection, creating a space for our attendees to immerse themselves in the ROTATE universe, but the collections are always created with the show in mind,” the co-creative directors told me.
“The show universe is created to accentuate the collection and communicate a story to the guests, whilst the collection is designed with the runway in mind – each piece must have catwalk ready wow factor, and look beautiful on our models.
This season we sought inspiration from the beauty of grand hotels in the concept of our collection, and we are delighted to be showing at the renowned Copenhagen landmark Hotel D’Angleterre.
Given that the concept for this collection was initiated at a hotel, it feels like the perfect compliment and story telling moment.”
If ‘Eloise at the Plaza’ grew up, she’d no doubt be wearing this ROTATE collection in her fictional universe. Same for Serena Van Der Woodsen during her stint at The Plaza in Gossip Girl season one.
So, to the hotel managers a la Ralph Fiennes’ M. Gustav from Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, prepare to see a lot of yellow vinyl, cream tulle, black leather and checkered suiting come the collection’s launch. Have the dirty martinis and caviar bumps waiting, ROTATE’s girls are coming.
