After 25 years in the constant fashion wheel of the industry, brakes have been applied. Frederikke and Kathrine Hviid have created APOF – a piece of favorite, designing timeless products that replace the traditional collection structure. APOF is all about creating favorites that you will love to wear forever.
Frederikke and Kathrine Hviid wanted to create a timeless brand and design meaningful and thoroughly crafted products in an otherwise saturated industry. They came from a hectic period where, as designers, they had to develop more and more collections in less time and ended up compromising on craftsmanship because deadlines and budgets had to be met:
“In the end, you just close your eyes. First, the construction goes out, and then you send everything to the East. But that was the time. The trend was fast fashion,” says Frederikke Hviid.
Frederikke and Kathrine Hviid, who are sisters and both designers from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, have been in the fashion industry for over 25 years. In 1999, they started the children’s clothing brand Mini A Ture. Then they began designing women’s fashion and founded the brand Whiite in 2003. Both companies quickly grew, and they soon found themselves in a hamster wheel. In 2018, they therefore launched the brand APOF – a piece of favorite:
“We wanted to create something that could stand out with a sustainable mindset and positive energy, and that could also be manageable workwise and personally. ‘Take it slow and get it right’ is our motto, and we remind ourselves of it every morning. From the start, we knew it had to be organically growth-driven. Our passion is quality, the products, entrepreneurship and craftsmanship,” Kathrine Hviid explains.
They started by making just t-shirts based on the idea that it is something everyone wears. The vision was to make a positive impact and complement any wardrobe. Soon, APOF made a breakthrough with their iconic printed t-shirts featuring everything from cherries, kisses and musical notes to four-leaf clovers – all with meaningful messages hidden in their distinctive prints. The sisters have since added more favorites to the collection:
“Small product groups have been added quietly and steadily. Slowly, we developed our DNA, which is driven solely by intuition and desire and is controlled by us. Today, the collection consists of many favorites that never leave the range. This creates a stable framework for ourselves, our customers and buyers. We add new elements and details, but it is also important for us that it matches previous collections,” says Kathrine Hviid.
APOF’s timeless styles thus blend into each other and gradually bind the wardrobe together. They have silhouettes they have made for 8 to 10 seasons – just in a new colour or with a new detail. It is about creating long-lasting favorites with a recognisable design DNA, humor and quality. APOF focuses on sustainability in all processes.
“All our products are made in Europe, primarily in Italy, Portugal and Bulgaria, with dedicated suppliers where we can produce in smaller quantities and maintain close cooperation,” Frederikke Hviid adds.
