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Men's File on HANSEN Garments


We had the privilege of being featured in Men's File Magazine Issue 21 and we would like to share with you a sneak peek via this email.
Photography and words written by Nick Clements, Men's Files Editor-in-Chief and Photographer.

Aase Hansen and Per Chrois are the team that constitute Hansen Garments of Copenhagen. Their stated aim is to create classic ‘timeless’ menswear in fine fabrics (Aase is wearing the men’s collection in XS). Yes, but don’t they all want to do that? Why is this label any different? To explain, you have to get down to real details and if you are serious about style, it’s only details that matter, so read on.

To unpack the Hansen philosophy in design we should look at the overall silhouette, construction, trouser shape, lapel size and textile. Firstly, the outline of the garments ranges from over-sized outer-wear, such as the overcoats shown here, to a more fitted cut of the suit jackets, also pictured. Trousers come in two shapes, narrow and a much wider classic. To be clear, jackets are not ‘tight’ fitting like so much that has been on the market for the past 10+ years, but similar to an early 1960s fit and often unlined or half-lined.

Looking at the full-length shot of Per Chrois wearing a black suit with looser pants, single-breasted jacket and narrow (vintage) tie you get the impression of the New Wave Punk scene of the mid-to-late 1970s. If you also note that he is shod in currently available George Cox creepers, that impression is doubly confirmed.

 

Most fabrics are either from Japan or Italy and tend to stand out as being of exceptional quality; important if the palette is often monochrome in blues, greys and black. The simplicity of the designs is also reminiscent of much Japanese designs from the mid-1980s, that often referenced the British and American New Wave that came 10 years before. However, Ms Hansen states quite clearly that her inspiration is ‘grounded in Nordic traditions’.

 

Apart from the Hansen Garments collection their Copenhagen store also sells the avant-garde Japanese brand Kapital alongside Merz b. Schwanen, Solovair, Heschung, George Cox, Moon Star and William Lennon.

 

Written by Nick Clements
Men's Files Issue 21