At the launch of Astrid Andersen’s new line Stel, a presentation held outside on a pier, The Street’s 2002 song “Turn the Page” was blasting out of the sound system. It was a star-aligned, symbolic moment, because the London-trained designer is starting a new chapter in her fashion life, this time centering the work around herself.
Andersen’s much admired namesake menswear brand was focused, colorful, and streetwise. With Stel, she explained in a pre-show interview, “I have to sit comfortably at the center of it; perhaps even more this time because now it’s a women’s wear brand, and it is actually more about me and my personal references.” Stel also reflects Andersen’s evolution as a person. After stopping her line, the designer moved back home to Jutland in the North of Denmark and had two children. She’s not the person she was back then.
Shifting gears in fashion is not easy to do. Brands seem to take on lives of their own, and it’s easy to be pigeon-holed. Stel breaks with some of fashion’s conventions. The label will show in-season, so what is presented will be available for purchase. At the same time, seasonality is less important in the Stel equation than relevance. Collections will be identified by number (01, 02, and 03 were shown in Copenhagen), the concept being that you can intermingle pieces across “seasons” both in your wardrobe and on the selling floor. Andersen sees no need for a well thought-out garment to be abandoned just because the calendar pages flip. “The direct translation of stel is body,” she said, but it [refers more to] a foundational structure in a sort of industrial way; it [also describes] a set of collectibles—when you talk about a tea set, you would call it a stel. For me, that was quite an interesting starting point in terms of the idea of creating both collectibles, but also something that’s a new foundation.”
Having models pose on scaffolding was fortuitous as it suggests several metaphors. There’s construction, which relates to building a new brand, and the notion of support relates to her belief that clothes should work for you. Stel is, in essence, a kind of modular offering, but not one with the angularity of something like Legos or stacked Mærsk shipping containers. Movement, agency, and empowerment are part of Andersen’s plan. “When I talk about the brand, I have this tagline: tailoring that you can skate in, denim you can dance in, shirting you can travel in.” Freedom, joy, motion.