While modern design is almost as integral to the Danes' national identity as beer and bacon, clothes which combine a gypsyish patchwork of glitter, pattern, metallics and bright colours are becoming almost as synononomous.

"I do really believe in colour therapy when I think of the colours of a season ahead, " says Weisneck. "There is a design rule that says pastels and cold colours are best for northern hemispheres but I will always react against that. I like colours to be strong, bright and in-your-face."

The Day Birger brand, launched in 1997, was originally the brainchild of businessman Keld Mikkelson and designer Malene Birger but three years ago the duo went their separate ways. Into the shoes of Birger came the 39-year-old Weisneck, who seems to encapsulate a lot of what the brand means to women today.

Not only has she lived the sort of bohoeccentric life that attracts the kind of woman who buys the brand (a childhood spent in India, educated between Paris and Copenhagen), she also has an impeccable CV, having worked with Christian Lacroix, Cacharel and Christian Dior, moving back to Copenhagen when she was head-hunted for the label three years ago.

"It was strange to be back in Copenhagen, but I loved it as well. It is just very small there, and we all know each other, all the designers, but still I travel and get out a lot, and also I love my family and home life so I really like that element of being home again."

Unlike other designers, Weisneck doesn't look to the catwalk or at what other people are doing. "I grew up with the Indian/ethnic/hippy thing been part of my upbringing, so from day one on the job I felt very close to the idea of the original Day Birger et Mikkelsen label. The kind of woman who wears our label is completely individual and very intelligent. She, like me, takes inspiration from films, books, travel and life, and doesn't necessarily read fashion magazines.

I get my best inspiration wandering around flea markets, antique stores, junk shops, Oxfam etc."

She pictures that the woman she designs for is aged about 38-39. "She hates designers and doesn't follow fashion but she loves clothes. She does yoga and she watches MTV. Day is not an age brand, it is ageless brand and when I design I have role models such as Susan Sarandon and Charlotte Rampling in mind. A big icon for me also is Karen Blixon, Danish author of Out of Africa."

Weisneck, herself a single mother, is turning 40 in March and is going to Jaipur in India to celebrate her birthday. "What I love now is that it is not forbidden anymore to be 40. If you are happy you can be any age.

If you're happy. your life is always great. It is a real power trend in Denmark, the idea of the single power mum. We have a whole 'single mums have more fun' revolution going on, and considering we live in a country where 50% are divorced, you can probably see why that is!"

Other inspiration for Weisneck, she says, comes from vintage clothes, home ware, girlfriends and travelling. "My mother is also a very inspiring woman and I like to borrow her old clothes and look at them. Also, my girlfriends have great ideas. My best cities for inspiration are Delhi, Hong Kong and above all Paris, which I know by heart. You can be chic there one day, underground the next. If you know it well it is so much fun. Items such as the embroidery techniques on napkins or tablecloths I find fascinating, and in fact I did a whole Christmas evening time line in white, with that in mind."

Last summer, the look on the streets was all about the ethnic traveller, the boho and the eclectic, looks coming through from the mainstream catwalks and the high street, but the mood in fashion hasn't always been so favourable to the label.

"Actually, when the label hit first eight or nine years ago it was during a period when everything in fashion for that year was clean and minimalist, which was really tough. It was the season of the harsh Prada/Gucci look. The strength with us is that we can't and won't change our outlook;

we have to believe that our bohemian chic girl is always around, whatever is on the catwalks. We have to believe that people who wear these types of clothes are leaders, not followers."

For this season, they are steering away from the signature glitter look to start doing rusty metallic ornamental clothing.

"At the moment, the market is overflowing with beads and sequins. For next season I have kept the sparkle down and use rusty fabrics and sparkly big stones behind shrouds of fabric. The whole idea is to do a sort of precious, faded glamour thing. My inspiration is Marguerite Duras' The Lover, with lots of small Asian elements running through things."

With a colour palette that runs from jade green to lacquer red, as well as safari influences, this is one summer collection to look out for.