Isabell Kristensen

Isabell Kristensen is a couture house and licensed fragrance brand built around the Danish-born fashion designer of the same name. The house designs bespoke eveningwear and bridal gowns from a base in London, with a long-standing flagship boutique in Monaco. Its presence in beauty comes from a separate fragrance and body line — sold under the Isabell Kristensen name but produced under licence by the Danish cosmetics house GOSH Copenhagen [6].

Sources disagree on how to place the brand nationally. The designer is Danish-born, and fragrance databases describe her plainly as "a Danish fashion designer with stores in Monaco and London" [10]. The couture house, by contrast, positions itself as a British operation, "still headquartered in London" with pieces "proudly manufactured in the UK" [4]. Both descriptions hold: the founder's origin is Danish, while the company's working base is British.

⚑ Thinner sourcing. The article relies largely on the brand's own statements (T2–T3). Glowpedia is seeking independent sources.

The house traces its start to a fashion design competition in London, which Isabell Kristensen entered and won early in her career. The win led to an invitation to Clothes Show Live, described as the first fashion exhibition open to the public, where the response to her designs was strong enough that, in the company's account, she "took enough orders during the event to begin building" her label in London.

A turning point in the brand's own telling involves the singer Dame Shirley Bassey, whom the designer met in 1993. Bassey became the label's first celebrity client — the company recounts a single early purchase of 32 dresses, which it frames as a "good luck omen" — and a long-time friend who, by one account, "kick-started" the label. The relationship produced one of the house's signature commissions: a gold dress worn by Bassey at her 2013 Oscars performance [9].

In 2000, the house opened a couture atelier in Monaco, on the French Riviera, describing itself as the only British couture house to establish a second flagship boutique there [1]. The Monaco store, on Rue Princesse Marie de Lorraine, has anchored the brand's continental presence for more than twenty years.

The fragrance line emerged later. The eau de parfum Monaco was launched in 2012 [12]. In May 2017, the designer held what the regional publication Monaco Life called her first-ever fashion show during the Cannes Film Festival, staged at a hotel on 20 May. The company describes itself as having operated for "over three decades," though no source states a precise founding year.

The couture house presents itself as independent — an "independent Couture House" that keeps its "style, culture & creativity as a Boutique brand without the corporate pressure," and which the designer runs with her son Martin [9]. The fragrance and body line sits under different ownership: it is one of several brands produced by GOSH Copenhagen, a Danish cosmetics company, where Isabell Kristensen is listed among "other brands" alongside names such as Tessa Beauty and Joan Ørting. GOSH manufactures the line at its facilities in Lynge, Denmark [7].

The couture side describes its purpose as designing "for life's most important events," with what it calls "a focus on family." Its stated ethos is organised around three words — "Planet, People, Purpose" — and the company says it aims to ensure "that everything we do is done with the intent of having a positive impact on the future" [5]. Within that framing, it casts couture as "the antidote to fast fashion," favouring pieces meant to "stand the test of time" and fabrics it says are "produced ethically and sustainably." These sustainability statements apply to the apparel line rather than the licensed fragrances.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company says it converted its atelier into a workshop producing personal protective equipment under the name "Scrubs4Heroes," making more than 6,000 pieces with volunteer help.

The brand's beauty range centres on a fragrance family called Dreams. The GOSH-produced collection spans several formats — an eau de parfum, a perfumed body mist, deodorant sprays and a roll-on — with four products in the collection meeting GOSH's vegan criteria [6]. The Dreams eau de parfum is a 50 ml floral-woody-musk scent, with notes that a retailer listing records as lychee and rose at the top and vanilla, musk, cedar and sandalwood at the base [8].

Beyond Dreams, the named fragrances include Endless Dreams, described as a floral scent launched in the 2000s; the 2012 release Monaco; and Dreamcatcher, a newer GOSH Copenhagen launch that appeared at the Paris Packaging Week trade event. The couture house's own website sells apparel only — couture dresses, bridal wear and suits — and does not carry the fragrance line, which reaches consumers through GOSH and third-party beauty retailers.

The couture work is associated with red-carpet and celebrity clients. Reporting links the house to Princess Charlene of Monaco, and to performers including Katy Perry, Nicole Kidman, Kate Winslet, Cher and Tina Turner [9]. The 2013 gold dress for Dame Shirley Bassey remains the most frequently cited single commission.

The brand is active. The couture house continues to operate from London and Monaco, and the GOSH Copenhagen fragrance and body line — including the Dreams eau de parfum, body mist and deodorants — remains on sale across multiple products and retailers [6].