Denmark is famous for many things—mid-century modern furniture, pastries and for being the place where Shakespeare set "Hamlet." Increasingly, it is also known for its fashion, with Copenhagen, capital city of this tiny Scandinavian nation, now firmly established as a European style hub. To get that “fresh off the Copenhangen catwalk” look, stop by Danmark, the sleek, white-cube of a boutique on Third Street that carries nothing—and we mean nothing—but the finest Danish.
“I tell people I am selling them a piece of Denmark,” says owner Lehang Pedersen, who carries seven Danish fashion designers, including Thelin and Baum und Pferdgarten (Kirsten Dunst picked up a pretty Baum und Pferdgarten yellow summer dress on a recent visit to the store). Pedersen, who never misses Copenhagen fashion week, says there's something unique about Danish style: "it is clean and classic, but always with a twist.” That pretty much sums up the store—from the architectural day-dresses to the kooky deck shoes to the artwork painted on bubble wrap, nothing in Danmark takes itself too seriously.
Pedersen, born in Vietnam but adopted by a Danish family, had always dreamed of selling Danish fashion in a foreign country. She realized L.A. was the place after visiting in 2002 while working as a fashion buyer for a large Danish department store. “Everyone was stopping me in the street and asking me about my clothes," she says. "I realized there was a demand here for something a little different.” She and her husband, an architect, eventually made the move in 2006, and opened the store right away.
She only ever carries one to three of each item—“that way you know there won’t be many other people wearing the same thing as you” says Pedersen, who is exclusive U.S. retailer for many of the lines in her store. Don’t forget to check out their "I Heart CPH" t-shirts, and their super-wearable skinny jeans by Won Hundred. The design is typically Danish—simple and high quality, with quirky, barely visible details on pockets. “Simplicity is always the key,” says Pedersen. “I always tell people 'in Denmark, we don’t think too much, we just let the clothing speak for itself'.”
Thanks! Or as they say in Denmark, tak skal du have!
7948 W. 3rd Street; 323-951-9534.
Caroline Ryder is Style editor-at-large for Metromix Los Angeles
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