“Last year we saw a really good sell-through with our resort collection, so I knew I wanted to do something around lights and sparkles, but finding sophisticated ways of doing it,” Aknvas designer Christian Juul Nielsen said of last year’s “after hours” tinged lineup of holiday-minded fashions. For fall, he’s also added Neiman Marcus (in Dallas and online) to his roster of stockists and has started opening up in boutiques, such as Tootsies in Houston.
For resort 2025, he continued the approach while upping the ante on ample shine, rich textures and a strong amount of new embroideries — direct nods to his previous role at Dior, within Couture, and Nina Ricci, where he was in charge of embroideries.
The first two looks in his collection featured bold red sequined styles: a knee-length dress with perfectly folded bow straps, and a slinky pair of party trousers. Juul Nielsen said the development included mixing thicker shiny red sequins with matte ones to create a “more modern approach to reflection.”
They were also an ode to the collection’s overarching theme of “Luminescence,” inspired by one of the Danish designer’s favorite Icelandic-Danish artists, Olafur Eliasson.
The developments continued via sexy, sheer floral lace mock-neck tops; a flounced corset with sheer black lace trousers, embroidered with sequins and beading, and signature cocktail shakers, now gilded and with sculptural bow-adorned busts (a recurring accent throughout resort), to name a few.
But it wasn’t all sparkle and shine.
Juul Nielsen rounded out the assortment with equally strong simple knit tops and dresses in “acid sorbet yellow” with metal-ring adorned sleeves and hems — a cool take on modern embroideries. There were also Aspen-ready faur fur layers alongside flounced and frothy “feather fringe” soft pink halter gowns with giant bows tacked on their backsides.
Juul Nielsen said with each collection, he wants to surprise and impress the Aknvas customer. He did so with his celebratory resort lineup.