Rabens Saloner, the Danish Brand Bridging Bali and the Baltic

1. Who is it? Birgitte Raben has expressed her globetrotting style through her brand, Rabens Saloner, since 2007. The Danish designer spends half the year in Indonesia with her team of artisans
2. Why do people want it? For the unique colours and tie dye prints developed in her own colour house she built in Bali
3. Where can I find it? At Rabens Saloner and KJ’s Laundry

Who is it? Birgitte Raben worked as a buyer for legendary New York/Copenhagen store Flying A – purveyors of cutting-edge designer and vintage clothes – before she considered starting her own label. “It was so fun, much more creative than nowadays,” she explains, eyebrows raised, over kombucha served in a huge wine glass outside a chic Copenhagen restaurant. “I feel like I grew up in the industry at its very best.” When the era of legendary boutiques came to an end, and facing a fearsome non-compete clause, Raben went to travel the world. A pit stop in Australia led to Bali (“They always go to Bali”), and she stayed. “Indonesian people are some of the most creative people in the world, the colour techniques, the things they could do, that spoke to me as being very interesting.” Their craft, combined with Raben’s years of sourcing vintage across the USA and deep understanding of commerce, led to the birth of Rabens Saloner. 

Since then, the brand has subtly mixed Danish silhouettes – relaxed tailoring and shift dresses – with a more international flair for colour. “I’m not a design-educated person, but I was a buyer, and I know what I want,” Raben laughs. She works with her design team in Copenhagen on the collection, “And then when I come to Bali, I round it up. I put all the colours together, and look at where we want a pop of colour, or hand dyed technique, and figure out how we make something that people would actually want to wear?” Instead of working with Pantones, each Rabens Saloner shade is mixed by the same colour master who’s worked with the designer since day one. 

Raben’s presentations are similarly idiosyncratic and intercontinental. Each season, she works with the same Balinese artist to make huge papier maché creations, often imagined by long term stylist Melanie Buchhave, to serve as a backdrop to her show – this season it was a person sized cabbage, which she dropped into a stark space in Copenhagen’s old meatpacking district. “Eddie [the artist] makes the most crazy things out of nothing,” she notes approvingly. “That’s why I love being in Indonesia, because I can wake up in the morning and think, ‘I’m going to make a sofa today’.” After the show, Eddie’s creations go to a prop house, available for hire, and so the designer sees the fruits of her imagination in everyone else’s shop windows as she cycles past. 

Why do people want it? For Spring/Summer 2026, the designer delved into the sunsets of both her homes – Copenhagen’s endless summer nights and delicate hues, and the hazy, colour drenched evening skies of Indonesia. “Super nature” abounded, with huge, abstracted sea urchin prints arrayed across dresses. Raben pulls out her phone to show the dyed fabric drying in the sun. “We can’t have four urchins in a line,” she says, showing the garments under construction. “So we’re placing the dye very intentionally. They have to really understand where to put the patterns.” Said urchins are scattered over bias cut skirts and gathered tops, while the horizon appears as subtle degradé dying on a camisole. In petal-like shades of peach, chartreuse, mandarin, stark ikat, and prints inspired by nature, Raben explored the ever changeable Scandinavian weather, and the clothing one needs for it. Think light, coral pink chiffon mixed with combat pants, ombré bikini tops worn with denim, and bouclé formed into a tracksuit jacket. Made for wearing as you cycle along Copenhagen’s canals, or, in Raben’s case, in Bali’s rice field canals. “I drive around on a scooter day in and day out,” she laughs. “I swear I’m one of the people, or persons in the world, that have been most on a scooter!” Whichever mode of transportation you favour, two wheels or heels, Rabens Saloner is an easy fit. “My biggest success is if my clothing gets to be vintage in someone’s cabinet.”

Where can I find it? Rabens Saloner pieces are available for purchase on the brand’s website and KJ’s Laundry.