Jørgen Bender (9 May 1938 – 10 September 1999) was a Danish fashion designer best known for his work for the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

and Norwegian royal families.

Life

Bender, born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

on 9 May 1938, had wanted to be a designer since the age of 14. He apprenticed with the Danish famed designer Holger Blom, and after Blom's death in 1965, took over his atelier. In the 1960s, after Blom's death,

Queen Ingrid Ingrid of Sweden (born: Princess Ingrid Victoria Sofia Louise Margareta of Sweden; 28 March 1910 – 7 November 2000) was Queen of Denmark from 1947 until 1972 as the wife of King Frederick IX. Born into the House of Bernadotte, she was the daug ...

became a client. He designed wedding gowns for two of her daughters; Princess Margrethe (later

Queen Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

) for her 1967 wedding to

Henri de Laborde de Monpezat Prince Henrik of Denmark (; born Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat; 11 June 1934 – 13 February 2018) was the husband of Margrethe II of Denmark. He served as her royal consort from Margrethe's accession on 14 January 1972 unt ...

, and Princess Benedikte for her 1968 wedding to

Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (Richard Casimir Karl August Robert Konstantin; 29 October 1934 – 13 March 2017) was the head of the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and husband of Princess Benedikte of Denmark. Biography ...

. While still working under Blom, he assisted with Princess Anne-Marie's gown for her 1964

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

King Constantine II of Greece Constantine II ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Βʹ, ''Konstantínos II''; 2 June 1940) reigned as the last King of Greece, from 6 March 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy on 1 June 1973. Constantine is the only son of King Paul an ...

. He would later design wedding gowns for Ingrid's future granddaughter-in-law,

Alexandra Manley Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg, , formerly Princess Alexandra of Denmark, (''née'' Alexandra Christina Manley; born 30 June 1964) is the former wife of Prince Joachim of Denmark, the younger son of Margrethe II of Denmark. She was born i ...

, for her 1995 wedding to Prince Joachim, and granddaughter,

Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Countess Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille (Alexandra Rosemarie Ingrid Benedikte; born 20 November 1970), is the first daughter and second of three children of Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleb ...

, for her 1998 wedding to

Count Jefferson von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth Count Jefferson von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth (''Jefferson-Friedrich Volker Benjamin Graf von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth''; born 12 July 1967) is a German nobleman and a banker. Early life and ancestry Jefferson is born as the younger son and the y ...

. Queen Margrethe II, herself a costume designer, often worked closely with Bender on designs. Notable creations he made for her include: a purple tulle off-the-shoulder gown for her silver wedding anniversary celebrations in 1992; a gown and fur-trimmed evening coat for Prince Joachim's wedding in 1995 (for which interior design firm Rubelli made the fabric); the fur-trimmed blue ensemble she wears each year to the New Years' Court Reception; and her iconic floral raincoat he fashioned out of a wax tablecloth she purchased at Peter Jones in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Bender also designed the costumes for the 1967 film '' Far laver sovsen'' (English: Father makes the sauce). In the 1980s, Queen Ingrid introduced Bender to her niece-by-marriage,

Queen Silvia of Sweden Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

, who often wore his creations to the annual

Nobel Banquet The Nobel Banquet ( sv, Nobelfesten) is an annual banquet held on 10 December in the Blue Hall of Stockholm City Hall, after the Nobel Prize ceremony. At the banquet, for which a formal dress code exists, a multi-course dinner is served and en ...

. He also designed for

Queen Sonja of Norway Sonja (born Sonja Haraldsen on 4 July 1937) is Queen of Norway since 17 January 1991 as the wife of King Harald V. Sonja and the then Crown Prince Harald had dated for nine years prior to their marriage in 1968. They had kept their relations ...

. In 1998 he designed an evening gown for the Queen of Denmark which she wore for the sitting of her formal portrait by Niels Strøbek. In 1997, Bender was made a

Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...

. He died on 10 September 1999 at the age of 61.

Gallery

File:Princess-Benedikte-of-Denmark-and-Prince-Richard-of-Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg-391749502057.jpg, Princess Benedikte in her wedding gown, a Bender creation, 1968 File:President George H. W. Bush introduces Nolan Ryan to Queen Margrethe II of Denmark at a State Dinner.jpg,

wearing a gown by Bender on a state visit to the United States, 1991

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bender, Jørgen 1938 births 1999 deaths Danish fashion designers Designers from Copenhagen People from Copenhagen 20th-century Danish people Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog