This season Copenhagen Fashion Week featured showcases from a wide range of both emerging and established brands. Cult favourites OpéraSPORT and Forza Collective returned to the runway, while Holzweiler delivered a triumphant homecoming collection. The juxtaposition of light and heavy was explored in abundance this season by various brands, while MKDT Studio reaffirmed that classic doesn’t always mean boring.
Here are 10 brands we couldn’t get enough of at CPHFW.
Baum und Pferdgarten
Rikke Baumgarten and Helle Hestehave’s latest offering for AW26 draws inspiration from Amelia Earhart, the legendary female aviator from the 1930s. As models strutted down the runway in the form of an aeroplane landing strip it was plain to see the intricate references taken from Earhart, not just her aviation clothes – reimagined for the modern woman – but gowns and furs she was adept at wearing to high society soirées. The core of the collection was assuredly very on-brand for the duo: from the belted trench dresses to sumptuous knits, leather two-pieces worn with fur collars to structured blazers to aged aviator jackets, there was indeed something for every woman.
Holzweiler
Norwegian brand Holzweiler returned to Copenhagen this season, after a few years at London Fashion Week and a brief hiatus from fashion shows altogether. A homecoming of sorts, the collection explored the idea of preservation; to hold on to something like a memory, emulated in the use of both sheer and heavy textured fabrics. Leather jackets and textured knits were worn over sheer dresses and skirts, while velvet-coated denim in deep bordeaux and earthy browns caught the light with a soft glow, mirroring the shimmer of sheer, body-skimming gowns and ethereal slips.
Yet the collection’s most lingering vision was its final one. Holzweiler closed the show with a nod to the unconventional bride, draped in a voluminous white puffer. It was a striking, indelible image and a reminder that even in the haziest of memories, there is a comfort that feels like home.
Henrik Vibskov
Vibskov celebrated his eponymous brand’s 25th anniversary with a collection titled “Frog Carry Frog”. Drawing inspiration from a fire-bellied frog he spotted on an island in Denmark, Vibskov also sought to explore the shared weight of humanity, emotional baggage and collective labour in this collection. The show was filled with his usual theatrics, as a central troupe of performers bearing ladders could be seen adding and removing packages from their backs, adjusting the literal and symbolic “weight” of the collection throughout.
Stranger Things actress Linnea Berthelsen set the tone, opening the show in a spunky hat and an amphibian-patterned sweater layered over a crisp white shirt. The collection’s strength lay in its textural diversity, blending jacquards inspired by mossy textures and mycelium with checks and plaids. A standout silhouette of the collection was a cape-shouldered rain poncho with a coordinating hat.
The show reaffirmed Vibskov’s signature edge and his relentless focus on the custom-designed textiles that set his work apart from the pack.
SSON
For its debut Copenhagen Fashion Week appearance, SSON proved the power of circularity by presenting a collection made 100 per cent from secondhand materials. With the aim of tackling the issue of excess textiles and the constant stream of clothes entering charity shops that can’t be sold, SSON founders Yulia Kjellsson and Ellinor Håkansson dubbed their AW26 collection “The Fortunate Ones”. The set’s mountain of textile waste anchored the collection’s theme, exposing a culture defined by overconsumption and a relentless craving for the next shiny thing.
The collection was a playful one, consisting of seemingly fantastical designs like a v-neck shirt transformed into a knit skirt, a bomber jacket made from various fur-lined hoods and a denim miniskirt with a bag handle attached. Crisp tailoring interplayed with cosy textures, while a prim, powder-pink A-line dress reimagined traditional shirting. By presenting a ridiculously good collection, SSON has made its mark this season, showing that upcycled clothing can be innovative and unique.
Gestuz
For AW26, Gestuz traded the high-octane asphalt of their previous motor-racing theme for something significantly more intoxicating. Creative director and founder, Sanne Sehested transformed the runway into a custom-built, moody New York bar – complete with handsome bartenders and a cloud of vintage glamour – to a collection that felt like a “shaken, not stirred” tribute to the modern femme fatale.
Thriving on the tension between hard and soft, sheer devoré maxi dresses with trailing scarves were layered under heavy fur coats or boxy leather jackets. Sculpted tailoring was also present, as various looks leaned heavily into the “Modern Yuppie” aesthetic, oversized blazers with 1980s-inspired shoulders paired unexpectedly with stirrup leggings.
Beyond the colour story, the olive theme appeared in playful details, most notably ceramic olive-shaped bag charms and oversized, chunky necklaces that felt pulled from a vintage tapestry. Elsewhere pointed-toe boots and heels, designed to transition from a boardroom takeover to a late-night martini, marked a confident return to the category.
Nicklas Skovgaard
Presented in a standing-room-only space, Nicklas Skovsgaard’s AW26 collection focused on the waist, pleated waistlines and balloon silhouettes made central to the collection. Structured yet soft, each look had a flit and flare look about it softened and reshaped into an hourglass with exposed raw edges.
Juxtaposition defined the details. This season, the beautifully light nightgown is subverted through heavy wool construction, while the play on weight continues as dense textiles are paired with gossamer skirts or the architectural ripple of a leather peplum.
Forza Collective
An ode to his late aunt and her style, Kristofer Kongshaung’s AW26 collection was all about glamour and mystery. High-neck collars dominated various looks: some sheer, some knitted and some satin. Sharp tailoring met fluid dresses, creating a collection of staples for both business and pleasure. The show opened with a series of looks that redefined “desk-to-dinner” dressing. Kongshaug’s signature was evident in the deconstruction of traditional prototypes. One-button power-suit jackets featured spines cut into angled panels and reassembled like fans. These were paired with draped trousers that featured flounces at the waist. Elsewhere sheer peplum gowns and “peek-a-boob” cutout dresses strutted down the runway in red, black and white crepe.
Developing his brand’s design language season by season, Konshaung isn’t focused on reinventing the wheel or following themes, but defining Forza Collective’s identity – shown through his drop-waist piped pleating and structured neck ties, seen throughout the collection.
Stem
For Stem’s AW26 collection, Sarah Brunnhuber stripped her production process back to its most elemental state, transforming the show space at Papirøen into a tactile laboratory of sustainable innovation.
Guests were invited into the process through a needle-felting workshop using raw Danish wool, bridging the gap between the raw material and the finished luxury garment. The collection’s standout piece was a structured yet supple cardigan, based on the brand’s original 2021 shirt silhouette, reimagined in “Elastic Wool”. Stem’s signature visual language – visible fringes along the seams – remained central. Each look’s colour story was dictated by the loom rather than the trend cycle, so earthy browns, deep navies and creamy off-whites were chosen based on the availability of high-quality deadstock wool, resulting in a cohesive play of checks and subtle stripes.
OpéraSPORT
Dark hues ruled OpéraSPORT’s newest collection, titled “Venice by Night”, which saw classic black and white shades combined with paler pink hues, dark khaki and violet, adequately capturing the city by night reference of writer and poet Hans Christian Andersen. Sculptured tailoring was detailed, with cinched waists paired with recycled satin, while leather, florals and lace gave off the quiet opulence of Venice.
The brand also unveiled their new footwear collaboration with British brand Clarks: a reimagination of the classic Wallabee under the OpéraSPORT lens.
MKDT Studio
Focusing on what makes the perfect wardrobe this season, MKDT Studio presented a selection of elevated staples. From the oversized checked coat layered with a sharply tailored black suit that opened the show to light satin dresses worn atop aran knit jumpers, the collection made a case for classic style codes and how intriguing they can be. Exploring the art of layering through heavy and light pairings and muted colour palettes, the collection was a minimalist’s dream.
Cropped-waist denim jackets and funnel necks with detachable scarves were made to be mixed and matched, creating the perfect wardrobe essentials for the busy woman – something the brand is renowned for.
Text Bethany Berkeley
