In the course of 20 years Copenhagen Fashion Week has become a fixture on the international scene, while at the same time becoming a regional hub for Nordic talent. For fall, Holzweiler, from Norway and returning after a two year absence, became the first brand to fill the homecoming slot on the fashion calendar. “We started in Oslo, but Copenhagen is where the international journey started,” creative director Maria Skappel Holzweiler said on a call. “Coming back to Copenhagen feels very personal, but also very right for us; we feel like we can just be 100% ourselves in this city.”
A capacity crowd gathered at a Vandflyverhangaren, a seaplane hangar converted into a creative space, to see Holzweiler’s fall shoe (the first to be held in the venue), which was built around the the theme of preservation, and how some memories are clear as crystal while others are fuzzier—hence the predominance of semi-sheer “filtered” looks. Skappel Holzweiler was also thinking about maintaining the brand ethos of creating “wearable clothes with that little extra, [and] to not really chase trends, but make meaningful pieces that you can keep in your wardrobe forever.” Holzweiler’s take on normcore is solid; it’s a good source for corduroys and leather bombers, shearling outerwear, dark wash jeans and checked wool coats, not to mention a signature scarf. Taking things one step further, the team worked with a striking velvet printed with a dried flower and denim velvet that had a kind of metallic sheen.
As weatherware, full-length cover-ups gathered with toggles to have a sort of angelic effect made sense. In contrast, plissé dresses, and gowns with floating trains, felt out of place—more like a dream than a preserved memory, perhaps. Closing with a kind of bridal puffer was very clever. Originating “from this cold country up North,” as Skappel Holzweiler put it, made the functional/technical garments especially convincing. It’s an area the brand might prioritize.
