Copenhagen Fashion Week turns 20 this year. And this anniversary Fall/Winter 2026 season was the coldest in recent memory, with thick snow underfoot and bitter winds that felt like -10°C (according to our iPhones). Of course, that didn’t stop show-goers, or the street style set, from engaging in the 21 shows and scores of brand events culminating in a grand, 400-person anniversary dinner on Thursday.
Running from January 27 to 30, the three-day schedule was more compact than usual, as organizers gear up for a major anniversary season in August. Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPHFW) was also competing with Paris Couture Week, which ran alongside, for online attention. But what the Danish capital lacks in celebrity appearances and big-name shows, it gives in fresh talent, community, and artisanship. For FW26, many of CPHFW’s rising stars hit their stride, international labels added fresh flavor, and new names demonstrated new techniques.
“There were so many really strong, exciting shows,” says Vogue Runway senior archive editor Laird Borrelli-Persson, who has been covering CPHFW since its first season. “I think Rave Review did the best show of their career. Anne Sofie Madsen was explosive, there was so much energy in the room. [Newcomer] Studio Constance was so good. And, of course, Holzweiler was back, which was a very nice moment of coming together at a time when we need to show examples of what collaboration, cooperation and partnerships can look like.”
A 20-year-old homecoming
As CPHFW marked its 20th-anniversary year, designers reflected on how the organization had supported them in this journey. “For us, Copenhagen Fashion Week has offered a consistent platform where creativity, craftsmanship, and long-term thinking can coexist, while connecting us with international press, buyers, and partners,” says Awa Malina Stelter, co-founder of OpéraSport, which showed on Tuesday. “It’s also allowed us to grow steadily and build recognition beyond our local market, without compromising our identity.”
Holzweiler returned to the schedule, filling the official Homecoming slot, after a brief stint in London for SS24 and FW24, and a subsequent pause from shows. “Holzweiler started in Oslo, but Copenhagen was the beginning of our international journey,” says head designer Maria Skappel Holzweiler. “Returning to Copenhagen felt like a very natural next step for us. Showing in Copenhagen feels more personal [...] and closer to home.”
With the absence of Rotate and Stine Goya this season, there was a bigger focus on smaller, emerging names, like Nicklas Skovgaard, Caro Editions and Anne Sofie Madsen. “It’s been quite an interesting season with a lot of the bigger established brands not showing,” says Vogue Scandinavia features editor Allyson Shiffman. “So I think the highlight has been getting to take more time to engage with the emerging talents. It’s been an exciting week for new voices.”
Many of CPHFW’s most successful brands, including Ganni and Cecilie Bahnsen, have decamped to Paris as they’ve scaled, helping to make a name for the week as a springboard for this budding talent. “It’s interesting to me, as back in the day, the brands that made Copenhagen Fashion Week were the emerging brands, and it feels poignant that they’re now making way for the new generation, and continuing to fly the Danish flag out in Europe and beyond,” says Ida Petersson, co-founder of creative agency Good Eggs.
Off the runway, however, Copenhagen’s key labels made sure to show up in alternative ways. Ganni invited fashion week attendees to a breakfast event on Tuesday, to celebrate its Disney collaboration; Cecilie Bahnsen hosted a cocktail evening in its new store, toasting its recent A Magazine Curated By issue; Stine Goya held intimate presentation appointments in its studio; and homeware label Tekla hosted a bathhouse visit on Tuesday and a breakfast on Wednesday.
International labels riff off their roots
As the Copenhagen platform continues to grow, it increasingly plays host to international labels that find space to thrive on the schedule, compared with saturated calendars in cities like Paris or Milan.
Swedish label Rave Review showed in Milan from SS24 to SS25, but moved to Copenhagen last season, which drove better visibility, according to its founders. For FW26, the eclectic womenswear brand showed at the Swedish embassy, with the support of the Swedish government and Deputy Swedish Ambassador to Denmark Anders Carlsson, who welcomed guests to the show. “We jumped at the opportunity [to work with Rave Review] because the company is incredibly exciting and it’s growing,” Carlsson said post-show.
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Shortly after, just a stone’s throw away, Paolina Russo — which made its debut in SS24 after winning the Zalando Visionary Award — returned to the schedule with a show in the French embassy, in honor of co-founder Lucile Guilmard’s French heritage (Russo is Canadian). “We visited the embassy a year ago and planted the seed early on,” Guilmard said. The French Ambassador to Denmark opened the show, while French singer Oklou performed in place of a soundtrack.
Elsewhere, Sarah Brunnhuber’s Copenhagen-based brand Stem made its “on-program” debut after joining the NewTalent scheme, as well as Swedish brand Sson, which Borrelli-Persson describes as an “interesting concept that’s quite young, but I would like to see more of”.
Cultivating community
Against the backdrop of a retail climate that’s more challenging than ever, designers chose to strip back their show settings and focus on the humanity behind the designs. Salon-style shows reigned over large runway productions, and designers placed a renewed emphasis on the communities around their brands.
“Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it’s unbelievably cold this week, but it feels a little less showy and over the top in a way,” says Shiffman. “The shows have felt more intimate, and it’s been a great opportunity to really take in the collections.”
Caroline Bille Brahe’s Caro Editions was staged as an intimate salon-style show at her husband Frederik’s Apollo Bar, with guests handed glasses of wine upon arrival and a live performance from a saxophonist in what felt like a party in an extension of the couple’s home.
Backstage after The Garment’s show, designer Charlotte Eskildsen hugged models that she’d cast from the next generation of her own friendship group. “It’s all my friends’ children really, that I have cast for this show,” she shared. “It’s like a whole new team of 20-year-olds. I’m friends with their parents.”
This focus on community seemed like no coincidence, as the more volatile retail climate forces brands to double down on their direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels. “On the DTC side, we’re focusing on being more intentional with drops, keeping volumes considered, and creating a clearer dialog with our community through content, events, and physical touchpoints,” says OpéraSport’s Stelter. “Right now, it feels especially important to build brands around people rather than pressure or perfection. Creating spaces for connection, collaboration, and shared experiences feels like a meaningful way to move forward in an industry that can otherwise feel distant or transactional.”
Extreme weather-ready
Sheltered from the biting cold and snow outside, it was as if designers had foreseen the extreme weather that hit Copenhagen this fashion week, with a focus on performance fabrications and footwear.
At MKDT, every model was clad in rubber-soled khaki wellies, paired with both outerwear looks and silky slip dresses, in what creative director Caroline Engelgaar said was as much an homage to the local lifestyle as it was a reaction to the unpredictability of climate change. Anne-Sofie Madsen took winter footwear in a distinctly subversive direction, collaborating with Ugg on spiky, clawed variations of its classic boot.
Meanwhile, at Holzweiler, the puffer jacket and anorak outerwear typical to the brand were paired with snow boots in a tie-up with Norwegian high-tech, performance brand Viking. “We come from a place with four clear seasons, where nature and weather strongly influence how we dress,” Holzweiler said post-show. “We often say that we are born from a need, and the snow boots are a very direct response to that.”
Embracing artisanal craft
Over the last two decades, Copenhagen has carved out a reputation as the most responsible fashion week, with minimum sustainability standards set for all brands showing on-schedule. This season, younger designers leaned into heavy knitwear pieces, embracing ancient crafts by collaborating with local artisans to create sustainable wools, while innovating with materials and form.
Brunnhuber titled her latest Stem collection To Wool, intended to be read both as “a thank you, like ‘an ode to wool’, but also like a verb ‘to wool’,” she told Vogue Business. At the presentation, guests were encouraged to sit at a large central table and participate in a live weaving workshop, as models showcased the new collection. Even the models’ eyelashes were made from recycled wool fibers. “What I think is so amazing about wool is that it has all these characteristics, some of which are explored through different techniques, but this collection is really led by a yarn that I’ve been developing for a few years now, which I’ve called elastic wool,” Brunnhuber said. The wool, which “behaves like a stretchy yarn, and is super high twist”, according to the designer, was sourced from a Danish female shepherd, before being spun on a local spinning mill.
Paolina Russo’s designers collaborated with local artisans in Peru for their thick wool and crochet pieces. The brand works closely with French Peruvian creative studio Maison Anaychay, which connects designers with local craftspeople. “The women in Peru really specialize in this old embroidery crochet craft, and it’s a way for them to be able to stay at home, crochet, knit, and make a living wage, while taking care of their families,” Guilmard told Vogue Business. “At the same time, we are able to access this craft, which is ancient, and we’re helping to sustain it into the future.”
Georgian designer Galib Gassanoff of Institution won the 2026 Zalando Visionary Award, the company announced during a lavish dinner at Copenhagen institution Cafe Victor on Wednesday night. The designer honors his Azerbaijani heritage, working with artisans from across Azerbaijan and Georgia to create rich, unique textures, while helping to support rural communities and preserve fading artisanal skills. Following the win, the designer will receive €50,000 and will return to Copenhagen to show in the summer, following previous winners Paolina Russo, Sinéad O’Dwyer and Iamisigo.
Trends to note
Eighties fashion functioned as a clear inspiration for several collections this season. At Caro Editions, broad-shouldered, billowing shirts were tucked into pastel high-waisted jeans, accompanied by oversized bows and court shoes in what felt like a more feminine take on the era’s power dressing. “This was hands down the best collection Caroline has delivered,” said Good Eggs’s Petersson. “I love how she is embracing a slightly more sexy and ladylike aesthetic, I expect to see a lot more of her globally from now on.” Eighties-style court shoes also appeared at Baum und Pferdgarten, in a pale gray and lilac color palette typical of the era, and paired with matching tights. Headscarfs also continued their reign, appearing in faux leather at Baum und Pferdgarten and white lace at The Garment.
At The Garment, MKDT, and Herskind, the focus was on more timeless designs, in a tension that feels uniquely Copenhagen — a balancing act between embracing the sustainability of pieces that are designed to live in the wearer’s wardrobe year after year, and the need to design a new collection each season. “When it comes to sustainability and longevity, when you invest in a chair you want to have in your home for 10 years — that’s the way that I think you should think about clothes,” said Engelgaar. “You need to be aware of what you’re buying, and make sure it’s something that can last a long time. So I think for us, it’s this part of really thinking about: what are people willing to invest in, instead of just buying something because that was what they really wanted in the moment.”
Now, as the Copenhagen Fashion Week community looks ahead to a bumper SS27 season, you can expect a beefed-up schedule, warmer climates, and some Scandi brands old and new.
