Good things come to those who wait—at least in the case of Danish label Mfpen. Sigurd Bank plays its own slow game, doesn’t advertise, and doesn’t hold fashion shows (with rare exceptions). But this isn’t a conscious strategy; it’s simply the way Bank does business, and it’s worked so well that using the adjective “cult” to describe the brand feels appropriate.
Mfpen’s vibe is low-key, its colors muted and its silhouettes a variation on the classics: men’s suits that don’t connote “office” and loafers with safety pins instead of pennies. Its USP is that everything is made from deadstock fabrics, which means production is limited. Last year, Bank launched a women’s line that stays true to its men’s line, and now the brand’s first store is opening at Block Party during Copenhagen Fashion Week.
Previously, Mfpen sold out of a now-closed apartment storefront, in a room just around the corner from the design studio. The transition from that informal format to a proper storefront hadn’t been planned for very long. “We were headhunted[for the space],” Bank explains. “The answer to the question, ‘Have you always dreamed of having a store?’ is yes. We’ve been wanting to have a storefront for at least the last six months.” The store is located in a colonnade of shops that’s centrally located but, as Bank puts it, “off the main road, so you have to find it,” and neighbors include Another Aspect, Roe Studio, and Tekla Fabrics, with Toteme due to move in soon.
The space is industrial, yet warm, bright, airy, and… loved. “We hadn’t planned on opening a store at this point, but this space is so us… it’s so beautiful,” enthuses Bank. “It just felt right. It was a perfect fit.” Indeed, the store expresses some of the brand’s tenets in evocative ways. Much of the décor is vintage, with a centerpiece being a restored 1950s art cabinet, originally made for a model-making workshop at the Technical University of Berlin, acquired by object designer Anton Defant on eBay. The rectangular ceiling light once sat above a business desk and in a riding school.
Like the brand’s suits, it’s a twist on stuffy, impersonal corporate culture. The clothing racks on trolley wheels, handcrafted from stainless steel, are inspired by carts used to transport glass and art. The mirrors are framed in aluminium, and in keeping with the metallic theme, the curtains separating the fitting rooms from the sales floor are made from a silvery thermo fabric usually used in construction work. (All the metalwork is by Wendelin Kammermeyer.)
“What we do with Mpfen is always very simple,” Blank muses. “It’s not necessarily the clothes, it’s the atmosphere. I think the atmosphere depends on the model, the lighting and all that, but we want the clothes to speak for themselves. It’s the same with this space. We want it to be very simple, nicely furnished, but at the same time we want anonymity.” There’s very little superfluous, but the space isn’t perfect. It’s intentional. For example, galvanized steel shelves, the kind you’d find in a garage or gallery, are filled with plastic boxes whose contents are visible. Giving it a softness is the oak stool. It’s by Ulmer Hocker, a woodworker who uses surplus materials to create Bauhaus pieces based on original patterns. The wooden art crate/sculpture has provenance and was used for delivery to the German Pavilion at the 2021 Architecture Biennale.
More than visual art, music is the soul of Mfpen. For evidence, consider the following: When asked what the acoustic equivalent of the shop is, Bank immediately answers playlists, but then adds: “The exhibition-style space and workshop-like interior, with very few materials, reminds me of Michael Rother (e.g. NEU!) and the krautrock sound of Grauzone… This very monotonous beat and slightly progressive ambient style is simple and square, but still has an art sound and a lot of attitude.”
Mfpen’s new store is certainly turning up the volume on this up-and-coming brand. “I don’t think things have changed, I think they’ve just evolved and progressed,” says Bank. “I don’t mind people getting to know us, but at the same time, I don’t mind us staying in the shadows. We’re not pushing an agenda, we don’t do any social media advertising or anything like that, but it’s still nice to be known in some way.”
The Mfpen store at Møntergade 3C will officially open for business on Wednesday, August 7. Opening hours are 12:00-18:00 on weekdays and 11:00-17:00 on Saturdays.
