LONDON — Martin Asbjørn, the creative director of the Danish label Remain, is parting ways with the business.
“After much thought, Remain Birger Christensen and I have made the difficult decision to part ways due to differing perspectives on the brand’s future design direction. I truly appreciate the experiences we’ve had together and am excited for what lies ahead,” he said in a statement posted on Instagram.
According to market sources, a successor will not be named.
Remain is part of the Birger Christensen Collective, the parent company run by chief executive officer Denise Christensen. The popular partywear brand Rotate is also part of the group.
Asbjørn joined the business in August 2023, taking over from Christensen, who was heading up the brand’s creative.
The pair codesigned Remain’s spring 2024 collection.
Asbjørn’s first collection for the brand was pre-fall 2024 in January followed by his runway debut later that month during Copenhagen Fashion Week.
At Remain, his collections have taken on everyday classics with a sharper edge with fewer ubiquitous blazers that are often found on a typical Danish runway.
He dared to play with sexier silhouettes and color palettes, which in Copenhagen could feel out of place when the city’s fashion scene is very much focused on practicality and commerciality.
In the lead up to his Remain show, he told WWD that he was “very excited and also very nervous. I’m also working in a big company now where there’s a lot of opinions. I feel like what we are presenting is something that is very new for Scandinavia. When I look at the pieces we received so far, it doesn’t resemble anything else coming out of Scandinavia and that excites me.”
Remain fall 2024
“I still see Remain as a very contemporary brand, but you have got to offer something [new] because the market is so tough right now. For me, I’m talking to a more grown-up audience and talking about sexiness, which is very new for Remain, even using that word. I cannot sign anything without having an element of sexiness because I feel like women of all ages can be sexy in different ways,” he added.
Before heading up the Danish brand, the designer had his own eponymous menswear label that he ran for seven years. He graduated from the Design and Technical Tailoring Academy a decade ago.
His appointment at Remain was meant to solidify the brand’s voice and message. A task that will have to be reapproached once again.
In August, Christensen told WWD that despite the luxury slowdown in fashion, Remain in 2024 “has still expanded the number of retail partners to 120 partners in total. Whilst we do not currently have plans to open a permanent retail space, this is certainly something we look towards in the future.”
Rotate during Copenhagen Fashion Week.
Getty Images
In May 2023, Birger Christensen Collective reported a 28 percent growth in gross profit to 8.4 million euros and a turnover of more than 27 million euros for 2022.
The company had a 16 percent increase in revenue compared to 2021 according to their annual report.
In 2023, the company reported 70 full-time employees between the head office in Copenhagen and others in London and Milan. Fifty percent of the employees identify as female with 81 percent women at executive level.
As Remain undergoes changes, Rotate remains the jewel of the collective for its flirty and fun collections.
