A nice bit of Danish

'I quite like quirky,' says quirky Dane Peter Jensen. The description often levelled against him is apt; how many fashion designers do you know who began their education as the only boy at an embroidery academy? 'It was a boarding school, so they made me live above the local bakery.'

Going on to study tailoring and graphic design, he completed a BA at the Denmark Design School before graduating with distinction from Central St Martins MA course in 1999. Three seasons in Italy later, the lure of the Big Smoke proved too much and he came back to London to establish his own label for Autumn/Winter 2001.
Choose a muse
Since then he has named each collection after a different muse, including designer Emma Cook, socialist writer Nancy Mitford and Mike Leigh-acclaimed actresses Alison Steadman and Brenda Blethyn.

'I received a postcard from Alison saying she was very flattered,' he says. 'I've still got it on my wall.'

For Spring/Summer 2004, Jensen's inspirations are Gertrude Stein and Edith Sitwell. This obsession with English culture, combined with his own Scandinavian heritage and technical aptitude, come together in a clean-cut collection of deceptively simple garments that give up their treasures upon closer inspection.
The morph, the merrier
Wardrobe staples morph so that trousers become tops, shirts turn into dresses and pullovers join T-shirts in preppy pastel shades. His picture frame 'salon' print (inspired by Gertrude's garden) adorns raincoats, safari suits and cruise shorts.

'I chose Edith because of her jewellery. She never left the house without wearing her two diamond rings. Gertrude brought in the androgyny. Clothes had to be quick to put on, so they're joined together,' he says. 'I can't stand people taking fashion too seriously. If it was that serious, we wouldn't be changing it every six months, would we?'