Change is afoot at the By Malene Birger company; Emilie Martinsen-Kønigsfeldt, the company owner, has assumed creative direction. The pre-fall and fall 2025 collections had already been designed when this decision was announced, making this the penultimate lineup by Maja Dixdotter. Having joined the company in 2020, the Swedish designer had asserted her vision and made BMB synonymous with a kind of bohemian minimalism. With hindsight you could say she was early on both the quiet-luxury and neo-boho trends—except that Dixdotter’s mind doesn’t work like that. The MBM aesthetic she championed was an extension of her own.
This season connected to those that came before like a pearl on a strand. Draping balanced by tailoring is the designer’s modus operandi, as is beautifully exemplified in the opening look, a fitted cardigan jacket and midi-length bubble-hemmed skirt styled with heart-adorned thong sandals. Drama is delivered via a camel car coat with faux-feather sleeves, but generally the mood here is dreamier. An embroidered pouch bag and an intarsia knit add a bucolic touch to the offering.
“I really try to not follow trends, hence my starting point is always very personal for me and depends on where I am in life,” said Dixdotter in a statement. “[When I was designing this collection I was also] planning my garden and dove into books of old French and British gardens. I wanted [the color scheme] to feel very fresh; I wanted the collection to feel fresh, somewhat wild and full of hope for what’s to come.”
This season the materials that some of the pieces were made in fell short of By Malene Birger’s sophisticated aesthetic. While the designer awaits the blooming of her hydrangeas, fashion awaits Martinsen-Kønigsfeldt’s next steps.
