Have you ever wondered who is actually behind Danefæ, and develops and produces the clothes we sell? In our new feature "get to know us" you get to know a lot about the people at Danefæ and get, so to speak, behind the scenes of our small company. You will, among other things, meet the founders of Danefæ, our dedicated employees at the offices in both Beder and Copenhagen, the skilled foreign agents and much more. In this blog post, you can read about one of the founders and owners of Danefæ, namely Christine, and her journey from a shared apartment in the Jutland town of Beder to her life in the South of France as co-founder of a Danish million-dollar company.
Who is Christine?
In the beautiful southern French surf town of Biarritz, Christine lives with her husband Eric and their two children together. Here they are both working on Danefæ's next collection; she as design manager, he as graphic designer. Between phone calls with producers abroad and employees back home in Denmark, Christine talks about her unconventional childhood in the Jutland village of Beder. The small suburb of Århus was, through the 70s and 80s, home to the community that Christine's parents had helped to create, and which formed the framework for her upbringing. Happy children, climate awareness and community were the cornerstones of the housing community, and Christine herself describes her childhood home as a place where creative and artistic expression was not only valued, but encouraged. In the safe environment of the community, she could immerse herself in her interest in theatre, costume production and sewing. When she wasn't experimenting with the composition of different colours, patterns and materials, she played with her friends Nina and Louise, with whom she would, many years later, found Danefæ.
The childhood friends followed each other through kindergarten, elementary school and high school, until the two sisters chose to pursue careers in law, and Christine took the leap and applied to the arts and crafts school in Kolding. It was at the arts and crafts school (now known as Kolding Design School) that she really opened her eyes to the functions of clothes: "The arts and crafts school was a very creative and individualistic school, with room for free space." She continues: “I was allowed to experiment with different materials, and I absolutely fell in love with the fact that the different items of clothing had a purpose. I love combining the beautiful and the functional in clothes.”
Through her education, she was offered an internship at the surf and snowboard giant Quiksilver in Biarritz, where she got the opportunity to get up close and personal with the design of functional lifestyle clothing for snow and sea. When the internship ended, she returned to Kolding to complete her education, but quickly realized that she would gain much more experience working for Quiksilver, and returned to Biarritz. After a few years, she was offered the job as design manager for the creative off-beat surf and snow brand Kanabeach, where she met her future husband, the designer Eric.
Christine in a beautiful Danefæ winter jacket.
Dane fæ comes into existence
The first, young sods for Danefæ were taken, completely by chance, in a conversation between Christine, Eric and childhood friends Nina and Louise. The conversation had fallen on the various souvenir shops in Copenhagen, and especially the depiction of the classic, Danish Viking. From Eric and Christine's point of view, the whole wild Danish Viking history lacked a loving treatment in the form of proud and courageous high-quality products that not only tourists, but also Danes, would use on a daily basis. Nina and Louise, who were tired of cycling to work in the rain, asked for a nice and functional raincoat designed specifically for the Danish weather and hardships. With these considerations in mind, the four friends created Danefæ's first collection, which was presented at the Formland fair in 2005. The idea of products that paid tribute to everyday Nordic life caused a great stir, and the collection became a hit with fashion stores, who loved the combination of colors, patterns , quality and function.
Since then, the four friends have continued to build on Danefæ and the concept, which now covers four large collections a year for men, women and children, as well as the sub-brand Dyr-Cph. Christine and Eric work from their home in Biarritz, and the two sisters are each responsible for their department in Copenhagen and Beder, respectively, where Danefæ currently has a warehouse. The association with Beder has been important for Christine, Nina and Louise, as they still see Danefæ as a company with roots in the local community and with a focus on familiarity and relationships - even though it has grown quite a bit since 2005.
