Clothing the Atmosphere

OLDER is a Danish-Italian design studio working at the intersection of fashion, hospitality and spatial identity. During Milan Design Week, we met founders Morten Thuesen and Letizia Caramia at Alcova, behind the walls of the former Baggio Military Hospital.

On a Tuesday afternoon in late April, we made our way along streets lined with massive cedar trees, past art installations, dilapidated buildings, tall grass and fashionable visitors, to meet Thuesen and Caramia.

This year, the duo curated Alcova’s official store, and Morten had suggested we meet there. In his words, it would be the “most magical place for a conversation.”

He was right.

Alcova is an exhibition platform for experimental and independent design, known for inhabiting forgotten or unconventional historical spaces. For its 2026 Milan edition, it settled into the Baggio Military Hospital, where contemporary design unfolded inside rooms already dense with afterlife.

The vast complex was inaugurated in 1931. Over the decades, it passed through wartime occupation, military use and gradual abandonment before arriving at its current state, where architecture and nature seem to have been slowly rewriting one another for years.

A gap in hospitality

OLDER began as a ready-to-wear brand, but over time, Thuesen and Caramia found themselves drawn elsewhere. As they began to think about what might come next, they arrived at an observation that would shape the studio’s future.

While restaurants, bars and hotels had become increasingly thoughtful about architecture, sourcing and atmosphere, staff clothing often seemed untouched by the same care.

“We noticed the need for a contemporary option that reflected how hospitality works today.”

“Most of what is worn in restaurants and bars comes from industrial laundry rentals. They have a fit developed for men’s bodies and are made to be cheap and disposable. There was an obvious gap,” says Letizia Caramia.

That gap became the starting point for OLDER’s work in hospitality.

Three words

Their philosophy, as they put it, comes down to three words: “ETHIC, FUNCTION AND DESIGN.”

The garments are made from materials woven and sourced in Italy and manufactured in Europe, with close attention paid to sustainability, production and wearability.

“We wanted to create something that wasn’t connected to a specific body type, size or age. We want our designs to feel universal and democratic,” says Letizia Caramia.

That idea runs through the details, with a broad range of sizes and colours, adaptable cuts and adjustable elements that allow the clothes to fit differently on different bodies.

Simplicity

“We don’t like the word minimalism, because it’s misused a lot. Simplicity is much more accurate when it comes to our designs,” says Morten Thuesen.

For OLDER, simplicity means taking the essential elements and refining them until they feel as resolved and sophisticated as possible.

The aim is not only to make something practical, but to create garments that feel contemporary, inclusive and natural within the spaces they inhabit.

"We always work with a very clear construction and a bit of volume that allows breathability and freedom of movement for the wearer. Classic, with an urban angle, so it doesn’t feel too old-fashioned,” says Morten Thuesen.

That thinking now extends to BRUS, where OLDER’s uniforms has become a part of the place’s identity.