The backstage of Sia Arnika’s Spring 2026 show, meditating on the tension between dressing and dressing body, its lingerie, T-harsh and summer heat, all of which contain, all of which are nothing, no human form, no mood board, no imaged assembly, no radiance of the past, but rather holes. Instead, what the Danish designer has exhibited in Berlin since moving here from Copenhagen 12 years ago is that she offers a very personal narrative of the times that she has established her own collection, a timely experience informed by life experience, her growing up in rural Denmark, who grew up in all the primitive and tender and beautiful glory.
Arnika has also been thinking about the autobiographical short story she recently read by Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgard, which focuses on the embarrassment of dating and sex and trying to find ourselves in this fabulous country where we all know we are adults. “That’s the whole thing, ‘Who am I?’” Anika said. “I want to be someone I’m not.” She then got off in the 1970 cult movie, Love Story (Don’t be confused with similar years and almost the same name McGraw/O’Neal tools) Director Roy Anderson is another story of young sexual awakening, which is from Sweden.
All this has caused her to think about the enormous emotions of youth and how they color your adult life, Arnika said. Plus, not only the feeling, but the clothes you wear; when we live young and inexperienced, trying to figure out how we want to dress up and look and sometimes you might want to go back to it, how we get it wrong because sometimes, sometimes, you just wake up, you wake up. Not to provoke or shock value, but because you desire not to follow the rules, or distort your expectations and rules.
Arnika said at the age of 15, she went to her first boyfriend’s parents’ house for supper and wore a floral sheer top and push-up bra. She mocked the memory in a way of kindness and tenderness and admiration, which was her young self. “I know it’s not appropriate, but I still want to do it anyway.” “Be the girl with bones on her nose.”
