It’s difficult to remember there ever being a time when Clueless-inspired fashion collections weren’t perpetually coming down many an international Fashion Week runway. And unfortunately, these collections are often, in Cher Horowitz’s (iconic if we do say so ourselves!) words, a full-on Monet: “From far away it’s okay, but up close it’s a big old mess.” But sporadically, there’ll be a designer who gets it right.
Meet the one-year-old Copenhagen-based label, Résumé, who recently presented their S/S 19 collection at Copenhagen Fashion Week. Founded by sisters Emma Lohmann and Anne Louise Faurholt, the collection was wild and colorful to the max — a pleasant, and rather punk-ass surprise considering the Scandi fashion tends to go the minimal, muted-colors route. Their Cher and Dion revamps were so on-point, and they nailed their remixed version of Cher’s memorable yellow plaid number. While the ‘90s vibe was definitely apparent, Résumé still found a way to make their looks stand out and feel fresh for today. It almost felt like Baby Spice decided to design her own collection. Yep, it was that good, and it indeed gave us what we really, really want — especially that black and white polka dotted silk dress number which had us totally buggin’! (Sorry, we couldn’t resist that reference.) We just had to chat with the sartorial-slaying sisters to learn what’s next from our new favorite label.COOLS: When and why did you start the line?
Anne: Résumé was founded in September 2016. After many years in the more commercial part of the fashion industry, we thought the time was right to work on a more high-end fashion brand. I needed some challenges as a designer and Emma was ready to do PR on a higher level. It only took us a bottle of wine and some high fives from friends to make the final decisions about starting up.
COOLS: How did you come up with the name Résumé?
Emma: As we got down to the bottom of the wine, we started talking about names. Both of us loved the word abstract, but we also agreed that it was too narrow. An abstract is sort of like a resume, but resume just sounds more feminine. And then we also avoided that we had to make “abstract” clothing when the whole point was to make a higher end commercial brand.
COOLS: I hear that “less is more” is the aesthetic for how most dress in Copenhagen, but that wasn’t the case for your colorful show! Is this a myth? Are locals brightening up their style?
Emma: The original Scandi girl definition has changed. It’s been a bubble up from street style girls that have influenced the colorful and playful direction that Scandi fashion has taken recently. The look is more “less is not more” than “less is more.” All elements of an outfit are crazy, down to the earrings, the shoes, etc.
Anne: After a long period with the normcore tendency and “less is more,” the fashionistas are back in an overload of colors and prints. Everything goes and we see a lot are mixing with both colors, prints, and trends. Our SS19 collection does not contain a single piece of black as we believe in the colorful expression, especially for a Spring/Summer collection.
COOLS: How would you describe the aesthetic of your label? Who is the Résumé woman?
Anne: A middle to high-end ready-to-wear fashion brand who dares to archive the trends, but still keeps the quality level. The Résumé woman and girl dares to follow the seasonal trends combined with the classic Scandinavian look. Everyday wear is the heart of the collections, but still with a playful and colorful attitude.
COOLS: A lot of designers are influenced by Clueless and the 90s in general. Since many have failed at reimagining Clueless and since the film has such a major fan base, did it make you nervous to do this?
Anne: No, none of us were ever nervous about this collection. We had a very good stomach feeling and knew how to add the right amount of girly pink attitude without compromising with our brand. Clueless has been the general inspiration for the SS19 collection, but it contains more than trends and looks from the movie. It still has the “Résumé handwriting.” When I made the collection, it was more a Clueless feeling and then added to contemporary fashion with the same feminine aesthetics that we see in our consumers.COOLS: What was the process like for creating this collection? Did you rewatch the movie a lot? What else inspired this collection?
Anne: The process started back in January. I only watched the movie a couple of times then, but it was still quite fresh in my memories — I have watched it several times in my teenage years!. The total process has been around 5 months, but only 2 weeks for the drawing part. Then came fitting, print artworks, approvals, and so on. What inspired me to go for Clueless was that we also see this kind of girl squads now — fashionistas who love to dress similar and who dare to dress up in the streets. These girls have also been a great inspiration.
COOLS: What was your favorite look from the collection?
Emma: It must be the heavy satin trousers in purple with our plastic belt and our dotted organza wrap-top. This outfit has the DNA of Résumé: it’s playful but simple.COOLS: What are some of the difficulties you’ve faced as an emerging designer?
Anne: Time! We are only 3 girls in the company which means a lot of different tasks for each of us. For me, it is not only the design process but also construction and buying. For Emma, it is PR but also sales and financial. But overall we have been really lucky with some good friends and suppliers who have been a great help. The Danish fashion industry — both influencers and magazines — have been really supportive.
COOLS: Fill in the blank. Every woman needs ___ in her closet.
Emma: Every woman needs extraordinary jackets. Colorful jackets or jackets with crazy surfaces, like our red shiny jacket from the SS19 collection. It can do everything for a woman’s outfit.
Anne: Every woman needs the pink bouclé blazer in her closet. Cute as a suit and cool with a pair of jeans.
COOLS: What public figure would you be thrilled to wear your designs?
Emma: Pandora Sykes. She has it all. She’s feminine, cool and bright. She manages to mix high-end fashion with commercial items. She always looks classy and girly but with a twist of sporty elements. She has the DNA of Résumé.
COOLS: What’s next for you? Where do you want to see the label in the future?
Emma: The international market! In the future, we believe in further development in capsule collections or brand exclusives in order to cater more customers profiles, like Net-a-Porter. Furthermore, we would love to make a global collab. We have lots of ideas.
Images by Elisabeth Eibye @elisabetheibye at Copenhagen Fashion Week