For one of social media’s earliest adopters, designer Anine Bing has a new, very analog obsession: the 43-year-old recently switched back to a paper diary after years of juggling online calendars.
asserted
old → have → calendars
“My mind is sometimes a little bit everywhere, and this really helps me,” she says, flashing a warm smile.
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she → help → smile
As we chat over Zoom about grounding objects and rituals, Bing, who’s wearing a camel cashmere knit – her own design – and chunky gold jewellery, tells me about a feature of her workspace that reveals even more about the woman behind the Anine Bing brand.
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that → chat → brand
On her desk in Los Angeles are strips of white paper with motivational sayings in thick, black letters: “You are closer than you think”, “What if it all works out?” and “Trust your intuition”.
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it → think → intuition
Indeed, following her gut has been a proven strategy throughout Bing’s life, from her childhood in Denmark and Sweden, to pursuing a teenage modelling career and launching a lifestyle blog in the early days of social media.
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following → follow → media
Even if her name isn’t immediately familiar, you’ve likely seen the signature logo tees and sweatshirts that launched her brand from a rented LA garage in 2012 – an empire that now boasts 1.2 million Instagram followers and more than 30 stores worldwide, including two in Australia.
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that → see → Australia
Since then, the range has expanded to denim, blazers and accessories, but Bing’s style philosophy – and that of the brand – has remained consistent: timeless, elevated pieces that make women feel confident.
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women → expand → brand
“I don’t follow trends personally, but my design team, of course, have to keep up with what’s going on,” she says.
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she → follow → course
“I really want to design products that a woman can grab year after year.
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woman → want → year
But of course, as a brand, you still have to sprinkle in a little excitement.”
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you → have → excitement
As of last month, that sprinkle has a new address, after Bing opened a new Paris office to house her design team, which has been based in the City of Light since 2025.
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which → have → 2025
Located in the 8th arrondissement, the airy space has views across the Seine to the Eiffel Tower and is an easy walk – even in heels – to the Champs-Élysées.
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space → locate → Élysées
“I feel so proud being in Paris and having a team of almost 100 people [there],” she says.
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she → feel → people
The first range designed by the Paris team has just hit stores, and Australian customers got a first glimpse during Bing’s recent 10-day visit to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, which included a dawn Sunday Life cover shoot.
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which → design → shoot
As her fourth-largest market, Australian women, Bing says, really get her brand.
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Bing → say → brand
“They are very welcoming; they are kind,” she says.
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she → say → ?
“Like, even though they’re cool girls, they are nice girls.”
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they → ’re → ?
Anine (pronounced “Ah-Nee-Nah”) Bing was born in the town of Lyngby, near Copenhagen, the second-youngest of five children in a “very creative home” where they all sang and played instruments (Bing was in a choir and played violin, flute and guitar).
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Bing → pronounce → violin
When she was 11, her father’s work took the family to Sweden, a move Bing describes as “traumatising as a kid to go through.
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Bing → take → kid
But I think it really built a resilience in me ...
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it → think → me
I was kind of left alone to do my own thing,” she says.
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she → leave → thing
“Being a middle child gave me the tools to just figure things out on my own.”
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Being → give → own
That entrepreneurial spirit led to a 12-year-old Bing staging clothes swaps and sales for her friends.
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Bing → lead → friends
Then, at 14, she convinced her parents to let her travel to Milan to try her hand at modelling.
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her → convince → modelling
“Looking back, I would never send my daughter Bianca – she’s 15 now – alone to Milan,” she says.
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she → look → Milan
At age 22, Bing’s modelling took her to New York then LA, a city she immediately loved for “its creativity, the diversity of people, the energy of ‘anything is possible’”.
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anything → take → people
Around the same time, she started a blog, Anine’s World, to keep family and friends updated on her adventures – and outfits.
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she → start → adventures
Pretty soon, the blog and her Instagram account grew an independent following; those fans would eventually become the early customers of Bing’s brand.
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fans → grow → brand
In 2009, while visiting Istanbul, Bing met her future husband and business partner, Nicolai Nielsen.
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Bing → visit → husband
Three years later, following a brief stint in Copenhagen and with Bianca still a baby (they also share a 13-year-old son, Benjamin), they resettled in LA and started Anine Bing with just 10 styles.
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they → follow → styles
In their first month trading online, they sold more than $US50,000 worth of goods, mainly jeans and T-shirts.
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they → trade → goods
The business grew exponentially, including a period of rapid expansion between 2017 and 2023 following outside investment.
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business → grow → investment
The number of stores multiplied (Sydney opened in 2019; Melbourne in 2023) and Anine Bing became a favourite brand of celebrities including Kendall Jenner and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
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Bing → multiply → Jenner
Four years ago, Bing, then 39, appeared to have it all.
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Bing → appear → it
But there was a restlessness inside her that nothing could quieten.
uncertain
nothing → be → that
“I just hit a point where I didn’t enjoy work any more; I was not happy, and I got quite depressed and burned out from everything,” she says.
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she → hit → everything
“I really just needed this time to look inward; I was [approaching] 40 and asking, ‘What do I want for this next chapter of my life?’”
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I → need → life
Her marriage to Nielsen was also, to borrow a fashion metaphor, falling apart at the seams.
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marriage → borrow → seams
“I’m so proud of everything we built; we have the two most amazing kids,” she says.
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she → ’m → kids
“But it’s hard to build a business and be parents and be lovers.
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it → ’ → business
…and 29 more, not listed.
The Aporia
