# Anne Sofie Madsen

Anne Sofie Madsen (born 1979) is a Danish illustrator and avant-garde fashion designer who grew up on the island of Funen. She first developed her talents as an illustrator and animator, and later turned to fashion, graduating from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design, also known as the Danish Design School. After training with John Galliano in Paris and Alexander McQueen in London, she established her own fashion label in 2011 and presented her first collection at London Fashion Week the following year.

## Early life and education

Madsen was brought up in Ringe in central Funen where she completed her school education. Although she showed an early interest in fashion after seeing a collection designed by Jean Paul Gaultier in one of her mother's magazines, on matriculating from high school, she first attended art college where she trained to become an illustrator. Thereafter, she contributed illustrations to magazines and children's books and joined an animation class at the National Film School of Denmark as a guest student. In 2002, she went on to study at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, intending to develop her skills in animation and storyboarding. It was not until her final year that she decided to specialize in fashion, earning a bachelor's degree from the Academy's Design School in 2005.
In 2006, Madsen received practical training in Paris where she deepened her understanding of materials while at Peclers, a trend-setting agency. Still in Paris, she then interned with John Galliano who was then Dior's head designer. In May 2007, she returned to Denmark to study for a master's degree at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Design.

## Fashion career

Before finishing her master's degree, Madsen was offered a job as a junior designer with the London-based designer Alexander McQueen. She spent a year in London, then returned to Denmark. She graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts with a master's degree in 2009, and set about establishing her own business.
In August 2011, Madsen held her first fashion show during Copenhagen Fashion Week. By the end of 2012, she had not only built up a design team in Copenhagen but had opened stores in New York and Miami. In 2014, she presented her first ready-to-wear fashions in Paris. The same year, her collection was also presented in St. Petersburg, London and New York. A review of Copenhagen Fashion Week 2014 in The Guardian wrote that: "Anne Sofie Madsen's cyberpunk girls helped define the fashion event." In 2017, The Guardian wrote that inspiration could be found in the "models at Anne Sofie Madsen who layered several blankets into a dress". She showed a spring 2017 collection in Tokyo and a 2018 ready to wear collection in Paris in autumn 2017.
Madsen has described a variety of sources of inspiration for her designs, such as mythology and museums, the Nike Air Force One shoe, classic aliens with big eyes and long, thin necks, the Miracle Strip Amusement Park in Miami, Florida, with its "vision of abandoned thrills and discarded pleasures", Jesper Just's art film, Sirens of Chrome (2010), and "contrasts and borders between the primitive and civilized, the exotic and classic, the barbaric and elegant, the futuristic and historical". She combines soft, smooth and tough, hard materials in her designs, and often uses digital prints of her own illustrations for the garments.
By 2014, the Danish Design Museum had selected some of her creations for their permanent collection.
In 2021 she collaborated with crochet artist Lulu Kaalund to produce a limited edition of eleven handmade designs, using materials including leather, suede, cotton and wool.

## Awards

In spring 2012, Madsen won the Danish Designer of the Year award at the Danish Fashion Awards. In October 2013, Madsen won the Dansk Design Talent award which was presented by then-Crown Princess Mary for the five fashion designs she had created for the Danish singer Oh Land. In 2015, she won the DHL Exported award for the collections she was to show in Tokyo.

## Illustration

Madsen has illustrated graphic novels and books for young adult readers, including several books in a series of young adult horror, and the Squirrel People series set in the Stone Age. A reviewer has described Madsen's illustrations in the horror series as "strongly and atmospherically illustrated", "very creepy", and "part of the horror".
Zoom on: Horror series:
   * Frederiksen, Sara Ejersbo (2012). Zombiekatten. Madsen, Anne Sofie (Illustrator). Forum, Kbh. ISBN 9788763822312.
   * Grønlund, Peter (2013). Hr. Wisborgs hemmelighed. Madsen, Anne Sofie (Illustrator). Forum, Kbh. ISBN 9788763826532.
   * Skaarup, Sara (2011). Helvedes hund og andre gys. Madsen, Anne Sofie (Illustrator). Forum, Kbh. ISBN 9788763816458.
   * Grønlund, Peter (2014). I skolens kælder. Madsen, Anne Sofie (Illustrator). Forum, Kbh. ISBN 9788763831635.
Squirrel People series:
   * Jørgensen, Lars Holmgaard (2012). Egernfolket 1. Menneskejægere. Madsen, Anne Sofie (Illustrator). Høst & Søn. ISBN 978-87-638-2224-4.
   * Jørgensen, Lars Holmgaard (2012). Egernfolket 2. Flugt over isen. Madsen, Anne Sofie (Illustrator). Høst & Søn. ISBN 978-87-638-2225-1.
   * Jørgensen, Lars Holmgaard (2012). Egernfolket 3. Shamanens lærling. Madsen, Anne Sofie (Illustrator). Høst & Søn. ISBN 978-87-638-2500-9.
   * Jørgensen, Lars Holmgaard (2013). Egernfolket 4. Ild og jord. Madsen, Anne Sofie (Illustrator). Høst & Søn. ISBN 978-87-638-2706-5.
Other:
   * Grønbæk. Pors, Justine (2014). Støjende styring : genopfindelsen af folkeskolen mellem ledelse, organisering og læring. Madsen, Anne Sofie (Illustrator). Frederiksberg: Nyt fra Samfundsvidenskaberne. ISBN 9788776830472.