The myth of the comeback: what returning to fashion after a break really looks like

Stepping away from the system can refresh creativity – but it rarely resets the rules

By Jorinde Croese

In fashion, the common refrain has been that skipping a season is brand suicide. So what does that make skipping 14 seasons? That’s what the Danish designer Anne Sofie Madsen did, picking up where she left off in 2018, proving that industry folks do remember your name. Earlier this year, she returned with an Autumn/Winter 2025 collection, a new creative partner, and a new purpose. And, just recently, she joined the Copenhagen Fashion Week’s NEWTALENT support scheme, to support this brand rebirth.

Anne Sofie’s career began with a sense of urgency – a desire to make something she didn’t see elsewhere. “I was very into fabric manipulation and embroidery,” she says, “but I also knew I wanted to dress women I could recognise: girls who bike around Copenhagen, dance all night, eat a hot dog on the way home. Something stretchy, short, with movement; not a corset.” While working for Galliano and McQueen earlier in her career, she often received a clothing allowance, but found herself unsure what to spend it on. “I was in my twenties, and I remember thinking, what can I actually wear? Nothing really felt like me.” That disconnect became a guiding instinct.