Denmark-born Astrid Andersen may be based between London and Copenhagen but it’s Asia that’s got her in a bind right now.

FW14 drew from the Bangkok’s after dark underbelly as pictured in Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2013 thriller Only God Forgives. You could tell the film’s femme-brutality had been burned into Andersen’s psyche: out walked a collection riddled with tension, mixing up her signature tight silhouettes with more generous cuts that would have only looked more at home paired with Ryan Gosling’s on screen devil stare.

Astrid Andersen SS15

“Last season I was inspired by a movie that was set in Bangkok and my fascination with Asia is still very strong,” says Andersen. “Its aesthetic precision makes it very powerful I think. I’m going to visit Tokyo next week for the first time and I’m sure this will be a big inspiration and an experience I have been looking forward to for years, really.

I feel a strong relation to both LA and Tokyo as they are my biggest markets so there’s a sense of visiting family which I’m grateful for and want to pay homage to for SS15. I have been listening to the new Rick Ross, Schoolboy Q and love the chilled vibe of these. And the YG album made me nostalgic!

I think all my inspirations link to people I meet who inspire me. I’m so blessed in my work to constantly meet people in different art fields and from different cultures and this keeps me inspired. I get to travel and see things that are new.

I think I have constants that I will always try and find find in each culture, like this week on Sunday we may go for an NBA match here in LA (depending on playoffs) and on Thursday I’m going to see a Sumo wrestling mach in Tokyo. I’m sure I will be equally inspired by familiar references.”

Astrid Andersen presents her SS15 collection on Sunday 15^th June. Stay tuned to HERO for full fashion week coverage, from London, Florence, Milan and Paris