A deep immersion in the Costume Institute’s “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” exhibition has this editor following his thread to locations far from Fifth Avenue, such as Baum und Pferdgarten’s 2025 resort collection, which blooms with black roses, just like part of the new Met show.
Rikke Baumgarten and Helle Hestehave are celebrating the brand’s 25th anniversary this year. During the trade fair in January, the emphasis was on the friendship between the business partners; Because this resort collection is delivered to stores during the holidays, the focus is on togetherness. They even named it after the Prince song, “Party Like It’s ’99.”
“When Helle and I were younger, we would go to all these parties – often they were in private apartments – and we would just go back to that mood and try to figure out what we would look like if it were today. The campaign was shot on a chessboard floor, which I had in my kitchen as a child and on which we danced many evenings.”
Most of the collection followed this tonal scheme, and the play of contrasts continued in the combination of lace with a sartorial pinstripe and the styling of a tweed coat over a semi-sheer sequined midi in glossy caviar black. A rumpled taupe slip dress with asymmetrical seams had more of a ’90s vibe than the looks that emerged from their popular separates. “It’s been super hard to sell dresses post-Covid,” Baumgarten noted, “and we’re trying to reinvent what a Baum dress is. [in order] to reinvent this Scandinavian wave of women on bikes in dresses.”
A navy blue pinstripe suit looked stunning here, and the idea of updating a roomy suit with a vintage-looking hat is one that can easily translate into real life. This kind of style guidance could be part of what brands do more directly in the future. “The fashion industry cannot continue to produce the way we do today,” Baumgarten mused, “so fashion companies need to look at services other than just making clothes. I’m not just talking about a sustainable way of producing, but we could be helping people with how to wear it [things] and when and with what.”
This is a nostalgic year for the brand and the designers are not only revising existing patterns but also reviving and sharing happy times. It reminds us that fashion memories are connected to lived experiences.
