Keld Mikkelsen and I – However, my dress is not by ‘Day Birger et Mikkelsen’

I still remember the white tunica I bought at the end of the 90s in a boutique in Hamburg: rich embroiderie, a bit ethnic and by the Danish label ‘Day Birger et Mikkelsen’. One of my absolute favorites, which I wore with jeans, in the office or at partys and which accompanied me for many years. Don’t you have a retro piece like that in your closet too?

Here we go! The new spring-summer collection 2016

I therefore looked forward to my interview with founder Keld Mikkelsen even more. Meanwhile there is a whole lifestyle concept behind his brand: Dress like ‘Day Birger et Mikkelsen’ and live like ‘Day Birger et Mikkelsen’ – they have a home collection as well, designed my Marianne Brandi, Kelds partner. And there is also a second line, called ‘2nd Day’, plus an accessory collection. Keld and Marianne travel between St. Barth, Lugano and Copenhagen. What still drives someone like him after all those years in the fashion industry?

Keld Mikkelsen: “St. Barth is more a holiday thing for us, never a working area.”

MyStylery: Why don’t you just spend your days relaxing on the beautiful beaches of St. Barth, Keld?
Keld Mikkelsen: That would be too boring for me, not inspiring enough. St. Barth is rather for holidays, I don’t work there, I’d rather relax there.
MS: Is it your first time in Berlin?
KM: No, I visited Berlin already 4 or 5 times, coming in and out, mostly for ‘Premium’, the fashion-fair, even though I don’t like fairs very much.
MS: Why don’t you like fairs?
KM: (laughs) Too many people, too noisy, too packed and too exhausting.

Girls, don’t look so serious! After all you are wearing fancy clothes by ‘Day Birger et Mikkelsen’!

MS: You’ve lived a long time in Asia and describe yourself as nomad and cosmopolitan. What fascinates you about the Far Eastern culture?
KM: In India, I met inspiring people and an impressive culture full of diversity. I love the traditional saris with all the embroidery and the craftsmanship. The world is my muse.
MS: What is the new collection about?
KM: It’s retro yet modern, sharp yet soft, Scandinavian yet ethnical. We want to create an effortless sophisticated look. That’s why we call our new collection the New Bohemian.

One of my favorite pieces – casual and elegant

MS: The collection was designed in the design centre in Lugano, right?
KM: We had to make a decision and we wanted to survive, that’s why we moved our design centre with the brand management and creative part to Lugano, but we are still a Danish brand with our complete logistics and our Showroom in Copenhagen. I am proud to have this kind of organization in a small way, we aren’t a huge company.

Retro yet modern? Yeppp!

MS: How did you get into the fashion business?
KM: My first job was at a gas station. Later I worked at a music store, before I was offered a job for the fashion label Vero Moda. There was no fashion industry in Denmark 20 years ago, so this was a challenge and luckily became a bestseller. When we started our own brand in the 90s the US Vogue wrote that Day Birger et Mikkelsen is so different. Day was a niche, we are very big in Scandinavia and England. We follow our heart and we still love what we do.

I am absolutely addicted to shoes: I can’t have enough – and yes, these ones must be in my collection!

MS: You started the business together with Malene Birger …
KM: Malene was my first designer and I loved the idea that people thought we are a family. We had the vision to create fashion which one can use. For example brands like Yamamoto or Dries van Noten are not suitable for everyday use. Our style was always relaxed – and still is today.
MS: Don’t you fear running out of ideas?
KM: I don’t run out of ideas. Travelling around the world is my inspiration. I work a lot although I am 57 now and sometimes I get sick of people not listening to me when I try to make clear where we want to go.

Keld Mikkelsen: “The typical ‚Day‘-woman mixes and matches the brands.”

MS: Together with Marianne Brandi you have started the ‘Day home collection’.
KM: Right. We started with pillows. My wife is the creative designer who has the ideas and inspirations. The interior industry is very different to the fashion business.

Keld Mikkelsen: “We have established as retailers with our online-shops for the new generation.”

MS: Where do you see yourself in ten years?
KM: (laughs) In ten years? I hope my daughter is overtaking and being a partner of the business.
MS: Do you have any advices for her?
KM: You can sell everything everywhere, but you have to tell a story so that people know you and the collection. The consumer must always be sure that there are people behind ‘Day’ who love their jobs. And you have to be alert every day that the business can kill you. BvH

A perfect dress for my next holidays: It works on the beach and in the evening, an important aspect when packing my suitcase

The little black dress with valance: girly and sexy

Chic layering in pastel! Spring, when are you coming?

Contact:

www.day.dk

The post Keld Mikkelsen: “Be alert that the business can kill you.” appeared first on My Stylery.

Typical space-staging by designer Abigail Ahern*

When I recently strolled through my fav interior exhibition ‘Maison et Objet’ in Paris I spotted a booth with an amazing interior collection, which I would love to introduce to you. Abigail Ahern is one of the most influential interior designers and tastemakers. Whether she is pioneering faux flowers or dark, inky color palettes, Abigail is consistently ahead of the design trail. She started her career in interior design in the United States, where she designed residential properties and chic hotels.

Furs and thick carpets make our homes well prepared for the upcoming season*

Beside her retail and product designs the Brit Abigail Ahern is also a best-selling author of interior books and runs an interior-blog and international design masterclasses. Her advice: Be fearless, when decorating. If you ever have the opportunity to visit her shop in London, go – it is worth it!  BvH

The new tablelamps of the fall-winter-collection – cosy!*

The brass ‘Brewer Trolley’ in the 50s look is a must-have*

These mirrors are new items of the latest collection*

Abigail Ahern’s top 10 tips on how to color boost your home

1. Start by picking a color for your biggest room – say your living room or kitchen.
Choose a hue that feels beautiful and inspiring, and true to what you love. Build on this to create a limited palette of colors for your entire home, using different combinations of those colors in each room.
2. Use an existing feature in your pad to inspire the basis of your color scheme.
This could be a view from the window, a work of art or any favourite item you own.
3. Think about what you want from your home to communicate to the outside world.
No one will be talking about your beige-on-beige home, so go a little crazy. Be reckless, I say! The more your confidence grows, the more you’ll feel like experimenting with colour.

At the exhibition ‘Maison et Objet’ in Paris Abigail Ahern presented an ambience in which I would move in immediately

4. Be brave!
To start with, decorating with color can seem like a daunting task.
Color behaves differently according to where you put it. The effect changes again once you add lighting, pattern, texture and greenery into the mix. I think this is why people favour whites over any other color group, as they distort less when other elements are thrown into the mix. However, to me, this is a bit like decorating by numbers. Too easy!
Bold hues, on the other hand, make everything on display feel grander, cooler, more intense, with beautiful undertones subtly changing in the daylight. You’ll never look back!
5. Remember, there are no no-nos. Well almost none.
Pastels are one grouping I never want to work with. But then plop me in Miami and I’m sure I’d be instantly seduced!

The greenery in the background is deceptively authentic. Abigail Ahern loves this retro scenarios with cactus-landscapes

6. Use color in unexpected places
Behind closed doors, inside kitchen cupboards, bedroom wardrobes, the loo – all those tucked away places that surprise the minute you enter.
7. Remember the small stuff
Introduce color through cushions, vases, bowls, fruit, greenery – you name it. There should be splashes everywhere for your eye to alight on!
8. All color schemes are improved by accents:
the final touches of color that add an element of surprise, and bring rooms to life.
There are no fixed rules when it comes to choosing these; just take care with the amount of color you use and where you use it. As fab as that bright orange might look on a pillow, it may not feel quite so amazing on four walls because the impact will be so much stronger.

The ‘Wild Bill Sofa’ is as cozy as it looks!

9. Patterns provide necessary punctuation; don’t neglect them …
… They anchor a space like nothing else I know.
10. Create the illusion of space by blurring the boundaries between walls and ceilings.
Paint them all out the same color and suddenly you’ve made your space a zillion times bigger. Promise!

Please have a seat: The ‘Saloon Barrel Chair’ is MyStylery’s favorite chair

Contact:

Abigail Ahern
137 Upper Street
London N1 1QP
www.abigailahern.com

**Abigail Ahern: Colour – Quadrille publishing house
* Featured pic and pics marked* by Abigail Ahern

The post Interior Designer Abigail Ahern: Be Brave! appeared first on My Stylery.