First look: Sia Arnika wants you to dress like a ‘Harbor Bitch’

A lot has happened for Sia Arnika in the last year. The Berlin-based, Danish designer has steadily been making a name for herself since her runway debut in 2023 – but it was last year’s “Brat summer” that properly thrust her into the zeitgeist. While herself riding a wave of emergent pop ubiquity, Charli xcx wore one of the defining looks of the Brat era – a white cotton t-shirt slit open at the chest to reveal a black bra, plus some polo shirt hot pants complete with a collared waistband and button placket flies. The look – worn at the star’s raucous 32nd birthday party – came from Arnika’s SS25 collection, and instantly introduced the designer’s work to a much broader audience than before. Swiftly after that, Arnika was enlisted to create two more custom looks for Charli and Troye Sivan’s Sweat Tour, collaborated with Kylie Jenner on an eveningwear capsule for the reality star’s Khy label, while the likes of Rosalía, Ice Spice and Tyla were also spotted wearing her designs.

Arnika followed up her mainstream moment with Harbor Bitch, an AW25 collection that cannily traded on the same It-girl sensibilities her brand was becoming known for, thanks to Charli and co. “This collection tells the story of the harbour bitch – a woman who exists on the edges of myth and menace,” read the show notes. “She is a force. She’s pretty fierce. A little dangerous. The kids are warned not to look at her; the men can’t help but lust after her.” With sea moss and algae strewn across the runway, models entered the space in fierce and sexy silhouettes, while an equally club-ready soundtrack thudded through the room. Now, Arnika is returning to the harbour bitch persona for the release of her AW25 campaign, and is giving us an exclusive look at the images.

“She’s a kind of fable figure – like the witch from Hansel and Gretel. Maybe just a bit misunderstood,” Arnika tells us over email, expanding on the harbour bitch character she’s brought back for the campaign. “There’s also a realness to her. I grew up on a small Danish island, and I remember these women who worked in the factories by the harbour, hard-faced but magnetic. She’s both the legend and the local.”

Shot by Paris-based photographer Pavel Golik, Arnika’s character haunts a run-down town hall, floating through conference rooms and dining halls on chipped parquet and dusty old chairs. “The collection itself was about someone who’s a bit of an outcast, but still lusted after and feared at the same time,” says Arnika. “It’s lonely in that position, and for the campaign I wanted to play with that feeling. Someone occupying a space they’re not really welcome in, and not giving a fuck about anyone but themselves.”

Scroll through the gallery above to see the entire AW25 campaign