In the dynamic realm of Danish fashion, few names resonate as strongly as Saks Potts. Renowned for their distinct aesthetic and commitment to timeless designs, the brand has recently achieved the honor of being named a finalist for a prestigious fashion prize. In this exclusive interview, we delve into the personal and professional significance of this accolade with the founders, Barbara Potts and Cathrine Saks. From the delicate balance between affordability and high-quality craftsmanship to their unwavering dedication to sustainability, the duo shares insights into the ethos that defines Saks Potts. As pioneers in fostering a sense of community within the Danish fashion industry and advocates for responsible practices, they shed light on the unique attributes that set Danish designers apart and discuss their vision for the future of both aesthetics and ethical considerations in the world of fashion.
Could you tell us about what being the finalist of the Prize means to you personally and professionally?
It is a great honour being chosen as a nominee for the prize by such a talented board. Our brand has evolved a lot in the recent years and we are proud of being recognized for the hard work we put into our brand everyday. Saks Potts is a very personal brand and we design longlasting pieces that are responsibly made to last for many years. All materials we use for our collections are carefully chosen and we only use the best manufacturers to produce them. It is important to us that every piece in our collections is something that we would wear ourselves. While Saks Potts is in most ways the same as it’s always been, we have also been going in a new direction lately and it makes us very proud being recognized for that.
The Danish fashion industry is known for its value for money approach. How do you balance affordability with maintaining high quality design and craftsmanship?
We aspire to design products where the quality of them should be on par with the big luxury fashion houses. We are choosing only high end fabrics and trim, aiming to work with the best manufacturer within each product category. But at Saks Potts we have always been great negotiators to the bone making sure to get the best deal possible. We design smartly, focusing on the details where it’s necessary. Sustainability and responsible practices are increasingly important in the fashion industry.
How do you incorporate sustainability into your work, and what message do you hope to send to others in the industry in this regard?
Surely sustainability is constantly on our minds when designing our collections. We have worked intensely with sustainability experts to improve our business practices into becoming even better, almost all our fabrics have been certified, we are minimising waste and designing small capsule collections of accessories made from leftover fabrics instead of disposing it off.
But first and foremost designing for longevity is one of our key business strategy priorities. We truly believe that the consumer will start to consume differently in the coming years, and that the way of consuming fashion will begin to look like how we did in the 50’s where you were saving up and buying a few great pieces of clothing of high quality, caring for it and repairing it should the button fall of. How amazing would it be if our daughters (Barbara’s daughter is 2 and Cathrine’s is 1 years old) could inherit our clothing from today when they are old enough to wear it.
Denmark is known for its strong sense of community. How have you experienced or contributed to the development of a close-knit fashion community within Denmark?
We have built our brand on our community and travelled all over the world since the very beginning. Besides having shows in Copenhagen we have also done presentations in both Paris and New York during fashion week. Our international community is constantly expanding while many of the industry friends we have are long terms relations that we isn’t just business connections but close friends. We also sensed from the start that the Danish fashion industry is a community in itself supporting each other instead of competing against each other.
We just went out with one of our international models from our last show, who said that she was so amazed to be at a fashion week dinner in Copenhagen where all designers were gathered as a big family cheering for each other and that this would never happen in Paris, London or New York. We don’t know if it’s true that it couldn’t happen outside of Copenhagen, but what we do know is that community and common support comes very naturally here.
Danish fashion design is often celebrated for its uniqueness. Can you share your perspective on what sets Danish designers apart, particularly in terms of aesthetics and design philosophy?
For us being from Denmark is being true to yourself, dressing the way you want, dressing practically yet sophisticated, dressing for your own sake, not dressing up for a man, and just being true to who you are.
We have never thought about how we had to fit into a Danish design aesthetic, we’ve always thought about Saks Potts in an international context as Denmark is a small country and we dreamed of going further than that.
How do you see the future of Danish fashion design evolving, both in terms of aesthetics and ethical considerations? How – as a finalist of the Prize – can you contribute to it?
We are at Saks Potts proud to design and develop products that can last a lifetime, and eventually be passed on to our daughters, the next generation. We have and will always continue to design products that have been produced under the highest ethical standards with respect for the humans behind the production of our clothes, with all that this implies. Furthermore we are eager to create a top tier working environment. Everyone from our team should feel empowered and happy to work at Saks Potts.
We are proud to be a part of the Danish fashion scene, as we are in the forefront of making fashion more responsible. We strongly believe this will only improve even more in the coming years, and we can inspire the rest of the world’s fashion industry to move with us in this direction.
