Vogue Germany Series x CPHFW x Creative Denmark: Mark Kenly Domino Tan

Mark kenly domino tan vogue germany cphfw

As part of a four part series with Vogue Germany and Creative Denmark, Mark Kenly Domino Tan takes Copenhagen Fashion Week on a tour of the studio.

Copenhagen Fashion Week has partnered up with Vogue Germany and Creative Denmark to create a four part video series celebrating the creative design talent that make up the Copenhagen Fashion Week schedule, and explore how craft, sustainability and collaboration are key tenets to their practice.


When did you start your label and how?
It actually started by a coincidence. I have a background as a trained tailor, developing my craft at Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and Sonia Rykielbefore returning to Denmark in 2012. I thought something was missing at the Danish market-I couldn’t find a brand that specialized in tailored pieces, so I launched my own in 2012. It started out with tailored Atelier collections, made in our adjacent design studio in Copenhagen, and has now developed into two annual ready to wear collections along with some design collaborations and co-creation art projects.

What is your signature style?
I never thought about a signature style, but we always focus on creating what I see as the ideal wardrobe, which in my mind includes a neatly tailored suit.

What is Scandinavian about your label?
“What you see is what you get”.We value an honest and respectful approach to the fabric. Just as the principles of the Danish furniture design tradition.

What is special about Copenhagen Fashion Week?
I think that the atmosphere is quite unique-there’s a type of intimacy and ”warmth”, that I don’t experience in the same way at other International fashion weeks. Copenhagen is quite small, so you can stroll around, exploring the different areas of the city.

To what extent do you work sustainably?
We have always valued longevity and a consciousness of the fabrics we are working with. We focus a lot on care and maintenance, and on how we can educate ourselves and our clients in product care. Later this year we will launch a new care and mending service -“Refresh, repair, renew”. We would like our clients to treasure their best-loved pieces for a long time, so we are encouraging them to rediscover their wardrobe and take care of their items, whether sending them in to either refresh, repair or renew. Our mission is to have them repair their favourite items instead of replacing them.

What does the fashion industry need to address next in terms of sustainability?
I would like to see more transparency and traceability in the industry-that is something we are continuously working on ourselves. Not because it hasn’t been adressed, it has, but it is still an immense challenge.

If you were not a designer, what would you have become?
Archaeologist.. or marine biologist! As a child, I had one favorite book: Antarctica. I guess it’s actually a very common childhood dream to be curious about the unknown, the undiscovered.