To be clear, Sigurd Bank was never into goth; he says he likes his music more “energetic.” Yet when trawling through his youthful memories in advance of designing Mfpen’s spring collection, the designer was drawn to the DIY aesthetic of mall goths of the ’90s. Their post-grunge look, he observed, took the come-as-you-are vibe “in a much more clowny [direction]—if you can say that—with the stripes and with the layering…. I think that style is quite amazing, how everything was somehow gender fluid with spikes and ripped clothing. Even though it was off and dark, there was a lot of playfulness, and so I imagined people who were like that grown up. Now they are dressing corporate, but then they try to bend the rules of corporate attire.”
Disrupting the stuffiness and traditions of tailoring is Mfpen’s mission, even as it marks its first decade in business with a finalist nod from the 2025 LVMH Prize. Spring 2026 finds Bank tweaking his successful formula. He does this by adding an unexpected touch of sex via lace hosiery popping out of the top of trousers, instead of boxers, and slashing leggings. The team also played more with his/her dichotomies. In look 19, a woman’s shirt becomes a crop top on a male model. He wears this with a pair of carpenter pants that feature floral rivets, “to make them more romantic.” (Silver floral jewelry complements this hardware.) The fit of the jacket in look 29 is created by taking in and creating a waist on a man-sized blazer using inverted darts.
For women there’s a sort-of wrap vest top (look 24) that opens in the back “like a leaf,” and shorts and skirts with exposed linings. A cotton canvas topper with a wide placket iterated on firemen’s gear. The “wash” on khakis and denim was achieved by using a laser. From Bank’s perspective it’s a win-win situation, not only is the laser technique more responsible than using water (in addition, Mfpen collections are made using deadstock materials), but it allows him to achieve “the used look that we like, because we don’t want things to look too new.” To his credit, no one would ever think these were mall-bought pieces.