Copenhagen Fashion Week will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year, and to prepare for the festivities, it’s branching beyond Denmark and has begun welcoming an array of Nordic talent from Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Norway.
The spring 2026 edition, which wrapped Friday, was bigger than ever with 45 established and new brands showing on schedule, including Cecilie Bahnsen, Rotate, Baum und Pferdgarten, Ranra, Anne Sofie Madsen, Freya Dalsjo and Rave Review.
Other talents, such as Madsen, made a comeback.
“Anne Sofie has held a long-standing business for many years that showcased in Paris and Tokyo before she made the decision to close the label. Her entrance into the CPHFW Newtalent scheme presents a valuable perspective that being an emerging designer doesn’t need to equate to a young person,” said Isabella Rose, Copenhagen Fashion Week’s chief operating officer, in an interview.
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Cecilie Thorsmark, chief executive officer of Copenhagen Fashion Week, said the focus of the showcase “is on community — how we must cultivate a fashion week as a platform to build bridges and present the multifaceted role fashion can play on the wider landscape. It is an incredibly tough climate for brands on a global scale and the struggles our Nordic brands face are no different.”
Cecilie Bahnsen, one of the city’s commercial and creative successes, who has transplanted to show in Paris, came back to stage a special one-off show for her 10th anniversary.
The designer revisited her archives as the starting point for her show.
“It became a creative collage of past and present, where each piece was reimagined or remade by hand. So much of this season was about freedom and most of the garments are one-offs, which allowed us to design with total instinct,” said Bahnsen.
She worked with a color palette of white and silver for her delicately feminine dresses, one of which Björk’s daughter, artist íSadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney, wore to open the show.
Off the runway, Bahnsen is slowly building the blocks for her business by opening her first store in the city in a tucked-away courtyard.
“It’s been a dream for a long time for us to create a space where the universe of Cecilie Bahnsen can live and evolve closer to the customer. The intention was to build something elevated but intimate, close to home and close to the people who have supported us over the past 10 years. It is also an important step in how we care for our VICs and private clients, offering dedicated appointments and one-of-a-kind pieces,” the designer said.
The brand will present its spring 2026 collection during Paris Fashion Week in October.
Reaching an international clientele is on every designer’s mind in Copenhagen.
Kristoffer Kongshaug of Forza Collective will be taking his daring designs to Harvey Nichols Kuwait in September, as he continues to develop his wholesale business.
The designer, who has previously held positions at Raf Simons, Christian Dior Couture, Balmain and Lanvin, was inspired by the likes of Annie Lennox, Grace Jones and Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman” for spring 2026 with slipdresses, pleated skirts, neckties and cinched tailoring.
Rotate, designed by Jeanette Madsen and Thora Valdimarsdottir, returned this season with an upbeat collection using light and flirty fabrics.
“We’re seeing particular strength in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. [There’s] notable growth in the Middle East,” said Madsen.
“One of our key advantages in today’s climate is that we’ve maintained a sharp price point. Like all fashion businesses, we’re not untouched by macro pressures, including U.S. tariffs, retail bankruptcies and overall market caution,” Valdimarsdottir added.
Tailoring Fatigue
Copenhagen Fashion Week has become synonymous with a specific type of tailoring: boxy, oversized blazers with wide-leg trousers that brush the floor, but this season, tailoring reached a saturation point. Every runway featured a dozen of the same looks and begged the question: How many blazers does one woman need?
Skall Studio took a refreshing approach with bouclé-style jackets and outerwear that can be worn without a fuss.
The brand’s clear designs have resulted in steady growth as the industry faces setbacks.
Skall Studio said it continues to experience steady growth, as evident in the brand’s 2024 annual report, where net profit jumped from 3.6 million Danish kroner, or $562,000, in 2023 to 5.8 million Danish kroner, or $905,000.
“Looking ahead to 2025, we see opportunities for further international growth. Our focus will be on expanding our presence in key markets and continuing to build brand awareness through strategic partnerships, our wholesale network, e-commerce platform and select new stores,” said the brand.
OpéraSport designers Awa Malina Stelter and Stephanie Gundelach also distanced themselves from bulky tailoring.
The designers took inspiration from a recent trip to Seoul and plucked out the city’s pastel-toned urban landscapes, traditional hanbok silhouettes and the hibiscus flower for their spring 2026 collection outing.
OpéraSport’s opera-style coats and dresses remixed with resortwear dresses and swimsuits have found a loyal clientele in Scandinavia, the U.S., South Korea and Japan.
“In the last year, we’ve seen an increase in DTC sales, and we’re continuing to expand our retail network with a focus on selective, long-term wholesale partnerships,” said the brand.
At Stel, Astrid Andersen retained her label’s practical styles. She even showed pieces from previous collections.
“It is definitely a hard time in this current climate to build a brand,” she said. “I think it’s very important that as creatives and people, that we try to be patient. I think that is something that our industry is lacking. We want to always celebrate the pieces you bought last time. It’s not about replacing from one season to the next. We are committed to how the clothes are presented and want to show the consumer that what they bought still holds value.”
At Filippa K, consistency means dodging hard times with a strong focus on wardrobe classics: trenchcoats, pleated skirts and pin-striped suiting.
“The business is on an upward trajectory after a challenging few years. We saw a positive trend in 2024, with a 3 percent increase in revenue — including an 8 percent growth in DTC channel sales,” said Marie Forssenius, the brand’s CEO.
The Swedish company has been making changes in the business, from reducing operational costs and optimizing logistics to investing in technology and strengthening its leadership team.
A Sense of Fun
Copenhagen Fashion Week wasn’t immune to Europe’s unpredictable weather forecasts. There were rain, sunshine and gray clouds, but the Danes didn’t let that dampen their kooky spirits.
Caro Editions’ Caroline Bille Brahe invited guests to meet her under the Knippelsbro Bridge, where she married her husband, Frederik Bille Brahe, the man behind the city’s hotspots Atelier September and Apollo Bar, seven years ago.
She showed a collection of pick ‘n’ mix prints: gingham, polka dots and checks.
“I was super inspired by thinking about wedding guests — very preppy or a bit punk with beautiful silk dresses and sneakers, demure tailoring with head scarves and hats or almost-naked lace [dresses],” said the designer.
Caroline Bille Brahe collaborated with Mulberry on reworking the brand’s vintage bags and adding silk bows made from the bags’ checked lining.
“I have a soft spot for Mulberry; my mum had one of their bags when I was growing up and I loved it. This collaboration was a new venture for us and there will be more where we have the same sort of affinity,” she said.
Escape from the City
Copenhagen Fashion Week also has been taking a leaf out of the playbooks of London and Paris Fashion Week by taking guests outside the city’s perimeters.
Baum und Pferdgarten staged its show at a horse stable in the north of Copenhagen and the clothes were fit for a jockey or a Royal Ascot attendee with horse-printed silk scarves, slouchy riding boots and blankets wrapped by leather straps and worn as bags.
Iceland-based sustainable outerwear brand 66 North replicated its factory inside a warehouse with its nearly hundred-year-old patterns on display. There were live garment repairs by members of the design team and a Gore-Tex Weather Box put the brand’s weatherproof jackets to the test.
The brand will launch a special capsule collection next year with one hero product for each decade.
CEO Helgi Óskarsson said the company has demonstrated resilience in a challenging industry.
“We are experiencing double-digit growth in our key international markets, including Denmark and the U.K. Over the past five years, the continuous annual growth has been 19 percent in Denmark and 41 percent in the U.K. This growth is a result of our intentional expansion strategy,” he added.
The Charm of Materials
Jewelry designer Sophie Bille Brahe continues to find gold and diamonds in hard times.
The brand closed 2024 with its strongest year-end sales to date, with a 30 percent increase across its DTC channel.
“Since Anne-Sofie Møller stepped in as CEO in 2019, the company’s revenue has increased by 400 percent, and the number of staff has five-fold in the same period,” said Bille Brahe.
“Last year, we also had a strong focus on the U.S. market and the opening of our boutique on Madison Avenue,” she added.
The designer wanted to shake things up this season with a collection about the “wish of completion. I wanted to tell the whole story of my designs,” she said.
Bille Brahe revisited three of her favorite designs: the Escargot, the Fleur and the Amis — then played with their proportions with extravagant and minimalist touches. She also introduced a new design, the Cosmos, with petals in pear-shaped diamonds.
Taking on a softer substance than diamonds, Uniqlo opened a Soufflé House pop-up inspired by its fall collection of soufflé yarns and let customers come in to nap on the soft yarn in the shape of a hill.
“We’re moving beyond traditional retail or campaign moments and creating something much more immersive. It’s a sensory world that invites people to connect with the product emotionally, not just visually,” said Simone van Starkenburg, marketing and PR director for Uniqlo Europe.
“Uniqlo’s business is thriving, especially in Europe, which has become one of our key growth regions globally,” he added.
The brand will be opening nine new locations in Europe this fall.
