“This time it’s personal.” That famous movie line describes Malene Malling’s approach to , the clothing brand she started about three years ago. Sproing 2025 is the first season the label has been on the Copenhagen Fashion Week calendar, and Malling has magicked up a ready-for-nowc collection (see it below) consisting of precious textiles, some vintage, in a fruity palette of “raspberry and cherry” with touches of gold inspired by late summer wheat fields.
Sounds dreamy, right? It is, especially if you’re looking for something that feels one-of-a-kind, and local, and more classical than directional. It’s hard to describe La Bagatelle as a brand, because it wasn’t conceived that way and has its own way of existing in the fashion landscape. In part that’s because Malling comes at it from a journalistic perspective.
“I never wanted to be a designer,” she says, “but I’ve always loved clothes more than anything else.” Born in Denmark, she moved to London as a teenager and studied there, taking a Master’s degree in fashion history. “I was always fascinated by the stories you could tell with clothing,” she notes.
Malling has spun those tales from various vantage points, having been a reporter covering the shows and the editor-in-chief of both the short-lived Denmark and Bonnier’s magazine for Bonnier Publications, and done a stint as the creative director for fast fashion company Vero Moda. The owner of an advertising agency, Malling is best kno.