“I kind of see it as a book and I decided in 2026 I’m starting the first chapter of my sketchbook, called Northbound,“ said Christian Juul Nielsen, who authored his Aknvas collection alongside “The Snow Queen” by Hans Christian Andersen.
He unfolded his tale in three distinct acts, each expanding on his theme. Trained in Paris but Danish by origin, he continues to translate couture techniques into ready-to-wear, here with three types of corsetry and pannier shapes over bloomers in that cornerstone of American textiles, denim. “How can you make it more contemporary than doing it in denim?” he said, adding that he used zippers to add more modernity.
Wires were used to create what he deemed ice ballerinas with floating skirts, paired with chunky knits. More couture sleight of hand came from hand beading on tops, many encased in one of his faux furs.
“I’ve manipulated it the same way I did when I did real fur,” he explained of cutting the fabric, moving the hair direction so that it goes against itself, while using different lengths to make it as “real” as possible. It came on coats of all sizes and protruding hats in beige fox and black-and-white skunk prints.
Since introducing handbags, he pushed them forward with a collaboration with Okapa, a sustainable bottle company, with models caring several at a time by hand or with strap handbags he created for the water bottles. Menswear also made a quiet but clear reappearance, signaling the designer’s intention to reintroduce the category on his website. It folded naturally into the broader world he’s building with his boys in oversize pants and large big flowers and swans (a Danish staple and his unofficial mascot) on taffeta shirting.
Off the runway, he got serious about business. A new New York studio now accommodates private clients, and several of the final looks — hand-draped and more dramatic in scale — hinted at bespoke offerings for that clientele. “Those are couture,” he said. “They’re not contemporary.”
Wholesale relationships, he reported, are strong and his website drives sales with outerwear, bloomer shorts and denim. Juul Nielsen is expanding his fantastical universe, even as accessible pricing remains central to the brand’s steady expansion.