The Danish fashion brand GABBA came into being in 1995. Head designers Karen & Ole Madsen had been working in the textile business for more than twenty years when they felt the need for doing something new. The market was flooded with cheap and trite products, so they agreed that it was time to introduce something different. Together with a local creative artist, Karen & Ole strived to find a cool name for their new brand. It had to be a name with a good sound to it; a name which would position the collections they wanted to make in the right way. After many hours of brainstorming, the three came up with the name GABBA. Even though the name did not have any particular literal meaning, they all thought it had a cool ring to it and they felt it would be a good common denominator for the collections.
From the first collection, it has been a key principle that all creations must have this distinctive coolness to them; a personal touch. Karen & Ole wanted the collections to appeal to people who had a personal style and who did not just blindly follow the latest trend. Thus, the brand’s slogan became: Personal Clothes for Personal People.
Karen & Ole wanted to signal that the GABBA collections were for the independent minded who knew what they wanted. From the start it was clear to Karen & Ole that they wanted to create an accessible brand. People should be able to find it in the shops, and they should be able to afford it. People should not be rich to be able to afford a GABBA item, but on the other hand, they did not want to make a cheap brand either. They wanted GABBA items to be reasonably priced, good-quality designer-items. In short, Karen & Ole wanted to give people value for their money.
Since 1995, these above-mentioned principles have been the guiding light for the GABBA brand: personal clothes for personal people – at reasonable prices. When Karen & Ole started out in 1995, they were just the two of them. Today – many years and a lot of hard work later – this clear philosophy has established GABBA as a popular brand which is sold in many shops, and the company behind the brand is the workplace for many creative people.
