People with a passion: Agnete Bjerre-Madsen

Tell us about your work

I am the founder of Moons and Junes, an underwear brand under the tagline; “No underwire, no padding, no BS”.

We underestimate how many women compromise their comfort and health for these underwires. For many years, I had two bruises right at the center of my chest. I even had a lump removed from my chest because the underwires had wrecked havoc in the same spot.

I started my company around 3 years ago, but the original idea came from my experience at age 16.

I went to a big international school in Wales, UK, where I was with people from very different nationalities and social classes.
On the first day, I took a communal shower, and there were eight other naked girls standing next to me. Bumps and lumps, stretch marks and cellulite—all these things became normal. All of a sudden, physical appearance did not have the same worth as it had to me previously. I learned to feel truly comfortable with how I looked.

When I came back to Copenhagen, I noticed that I started falling back into old habits of overcomplicating my appearance.So I went cold turkey! I wore no makeup and no push-up bra. And that’s when I realized that I wanted a bra that puts emphasis on my own natural curves, something that makes me feel beautiful in my own skin. That is how “Moons and Junes” started.

With the proliferation of social media and advertisements, we care so much about how we are perceived. But realism is beautiful. Sometimes we forget that.

“Realism is beautiful. Sometimes we forget that.”

What’s your passion?

I would say it is my work.

This January, we went to a lingerie fashion fair in Paris. It was really exciting to see my little project, Moon and Junes on a catwalk!

Shopping malls and fancy boutiques that we had always admired now acknowledged us, and some even wanted to have our brands in their shops. It was a big moment for a start-up like us.

I hope I can work with Moons and Junes for a long time. That is my dream.

People often expect that my dream is to become a super-big commercial success and sell it, but it’s not. I care a lot about me and my colleague’s mental well-being. Only as long as we are true to our brand, and feel happy and healthy, would I want to take it to the next step.

What do you like most about Republikken?

Coziness is the main point, definitely. I love its cafe, nice yellow lights, and music… really nice atmosphere here. It is on Vesterbrogade and close to Copenhagen Central Station. It is very easy access for a lot of people, and easy to commute by bike for me. Just, win, win, win.

We checked out a lot of different places before Republikken. And it became quite clear that the sense of community at Republikken is something you cannot find elsewhere. At some places we checked, people wore suits and young guys with sleek hair looked ready to be the next Bill Gates. Nope, I cannot work with that.

What I like about this place is people here have so many different careers, such as human rights activist, anthropologist, photographers. It is such a fun mix of people and I really enjoy the dynamics.

Words by Yoko Inoue