Copenhagen Fashion Week has long been a bellwether for where fashion is headed – not just aesthetically, but ethically, culturally, and emotionally too. As the AW26 season approaches, the Danish capital city is once again preparing to take flight.
This season’s schedule highlights a group of designers working with intention, whether through radical transparency, poetic storytelling, or a deep commitment to craft. There are labels rooted in decades-long relationships with artisans across the globe, and younger studios using fashion as a vehicle for queer history, political memory, or atmospheric world-building. These designers are asking meaningful questions about what fashion can be – and who it’s for.
What unites them isn’t a single look or trend, but a shared belief in longevity over immediacy, substance over spectacle. Some take inspiration from heritage techniques and natural fibres, others from underground culture, cinema, or forgotten histories.
Ahead of the shows, we spoke to five fashion designers shaping the season in thoughtful, distinctive ways – about inspiration, responsibility, community, and the moments (quiet or celebratory) that sustain them during fashion week.
Aiayu
Aiayu – meaning “soul” in the Aymara language – is a Copenhagen-based brand founded in 2005, recognised for its sustainable, timeless knitwear and homewares. Working primarily with natural fibres – most notably Bolivian llama wool – the brand operates with a materials-first philosophy that prioritises quality, longevity, and transparency. Aiayu is deeply committed to ethical production and traditional craftsmanship, collaborating closely with artisans in Bolivia, Nepal, and India to ensure fair wages while supporting and preserving local textile traditions.
1. What does presenting at CPHFW mean for you and your brand at this moment in time?
Presenting our show at Copenhagen Fashion Week is an important opportunity to share our story in a way that feels deeply authentic to our brand. It’s important that everything we do, including how we show our collections, reflects our values and the soul of aiayu. At this moment, it feels meaningful to connect with a wider audience that truly cares about craftsmanship, responsibility, and timeless design. We are grounded in Scandinavian heritage, yet our story started far from Copenhagen in Bolivia, and we are truly inspired by different cultures and ways of living. And our story continues to grow outward – weaving local authenticity with our current international perspective.
Most importantly, this presentation allows us to tell the story of the invisible hands behind the collection. Without our long-standing production partners, there would be no garments to present. By giving visibility to the origins of the fibres and the craftsmanship behind each piece, we honour our enduring collaborations with artisans in Bolivia, Nepal, and India. It’s about standing apart with heart, creating a meaningful experience, and rising together – leading with integrity and responsibility in a way people can feel and connect to.
2. What’s inspired your upcoming show? What are some of the films/people/places on the mood board?
The show is inspired by the relationship between individuality and togetherness – how many elements can come together to create something powerful. This show mirrors our garments, shaped by nature’s finest fibres, colours, their origins, and the heritage embedded in the craftsmanship behind them. A key reference is Osamu Yokonami’s Assembly and its sense of rhythm, repetition, and collective movement.
3. CPHFW places strong emphasis on responsibility and innovation – how do you think these values show up in your brand?
Responsibility has been part of everything we do since our foundation in 2005 and it remains at the heart of everything we do. So being part of CPHFW’s show schedule, with its ambitious focus on responsibility, feels very aligned with who we are. Our approach has always been to create a thoughtful collection of timeless, durable pieces. We work exclusively with pure, natural fibres and nature’s own colour palette, often leaving materials undyed and allowing their inherent qualities to guide the design process. In practice, this means we always begin with the fibre itself – sourcing it from the people who know it best, assessing its quality and durability, and then shaping the silhouette around it.
We wouldn’t describe ourselves as pioneers of innovation in a technical sense. Instead, we honour a slower way of making – one that preserves cultures, traditions, and skills passed down through generations. By supporting hand knitting, traditional weaving, and crocheting techniques, we see responsibility as a long-term commitment to integrity, longevity, and respect for both people and materials.
4. What are your favourite places to eat, drink or dance during CPHFW?
I’m drawn to places where there’s a deep sense of care in everything they do. Bottega Graziano, close to our Gammel Kongevej store, is a new favourite – it makes me feel like I’m back in Milan, a city I love and feel at home in. On Østerbro, I always return to Dallas for a quick, well-made lunch, and to Sing Te Hus for a cup of tea – it’s calm, thoughtful, and close to our Østerbro store. And as Copenhagen Fashion Week is such a busy time for us, we dance at the office and celebrate the brand, partnerships, and community we’ve built around aiayu over the past two decades.
5. Which other shows are you most excited to see from this season’s schedule?
I’m always excited to see Henrik Vibskov – his shows are filled with imagination, creativity, and a great sense of humour that never fails to uplift. I’m also very much looking forward to Herskind. I worked with Birgitte Herskind while I was still at design school, and she’s both a close friend and a true inspiration after more than 40 years in the industry. I’ve known her daughter Andrea since she was very young, and today she leads the show alongside Birgitte – I always cheer them on. And while I’ll miss seeing Cecilie Bahnsen on this season's schedule, I deeply admire her work and her poetic, uncompromising vision. I’m excited to hopefully see her next show unfold in Paris.
OpéraSPORT
OpéraSPORT is a Copenhagen-based fashion brand founded in 2019 by Awa Malina Stelter and Stephanie Gundelach, known for its considered approach to modern dressing that balances femininity, function, and responsibility. Rooted in the idea of clothes as long-term companions, the brand works with recycled and organic materials to create pieces that feel both refined and shaped distinctly by Scandinavian sensibilities.
1. What does presenting at CPHFW mean for you and your brand at this moment in time?
Presenting at Copenhagen Fashion Week feels both grounding and significant for us. It’s where our brand was shaped and where our community naturally lives, but it has also grown into an important international fashion moment. Showing here allows us to speak to both a local and global audience in an environment that values strong creative vision, cultural relevance, and long-term storytelling. It’s a space where nuance, craft, and atmosphere are understood, and where our work can be experienced in a meaningful, focused way.
2. What’s inspired your upcoming show? What are some of the films/people/places on the mood board?
The upcoming show is inspired by Venice after dark, its quiet opulence, reflective surfaces, and sense of intimacy once the city slows down. We’ve been drawn to the contrast between shadow and light, softness and structure. References include Venetian architecture, moonlit water, and literary imagery from H.C. Andersen’s writings on Venice. It’s less about nostalgia and more about atmosphere, a feeling suspended between romance and modernity.
3. CPHFW places strong emphasis on responsibility and innovation – how do you think these values show up in your brand?
For us, responsibility is not a seasonal concept but a foundation. It shows up in how we design, source, and produce, from working with recycled or organic fabrics to keeping production volumes considered and intentional. Innovation for us is about evolving thoughtfully: finding better materials, refining silhouettes that live longer in wardrobes, and building a brand that balances creativity with care.
4. What are your favourite places to eat, drink or dance during CPHFW?
In winter, we gravitate towards warm, intimate places. We love dinners at Bottega Barlie, long breakfasts or lunches at Kismet, and daytime moments at Apollo Bar. Fashion week nights in Copenhagen are at their best when they’re unplanned and end on the dance floor.
5. Which other shows are you most excited to see from this season’s schedule?
We’re always excited to see how our peers continue to evolve their narratives. Copenhagen has a strong sense of identity, and it’s inspiring to see how each brand interprets it differently season after season. Designers like Nicklas Skovgaard consistently push storytelling forward in a poetic and personal way, and we’re looking forward to discovering shows that balance strong vision with authenticity across the schedule.
Taus
Taus is a Copenhagen-based ready-to-wear and demi-couture studio founded in 2024 by Freyja Taus and Juho Lehiö. Working at the intersection of fashion, history, and queer identity, the brand uses clothing as a vehicle for storytelling and remembrance. Through upcycling, deadstock materials, and in-house production, Taus creates emotionally charged garments that honour fragility, resistance, and beauty. Each collection is rooted in research and craft, with a commitment to making fashion that carries meaning beyond the moment.
1. What does presenting at CPHFW mean for you and your brand at this moment in time?
Copenhagen Fashion Week is a central part of our brand’s story and consistently the highlight of our season. Their continued support means a great deal to us and has given us invaluable experiences that have helped move the brand forward.
2. What inspired your upcoming show? What are some of the films, people, or places on the mood board?
The starting point for the collection was research into the queer movement of 1920s and 1930s Berlin. Key references include the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, the first institute of sexology, which was destroyed by Nazi youth brigades, and Eldorado, the iconic LGBTQIA+ cabaret of the era. We see unsettling parallels between that period and today’s society, particularly in the continued pressure on queer rights. The collection reflects both the fragility of that freedom and the beauty of the people and communities who existed within it. Our muses include women such as Lili Elbe, Christine Jorgensen, and Dora Richter. Important film references are Cabaret (1972), Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hated (2023) and Suspiria (2018). Although set later, Suspiria’s atmosphere and its portrayal of women feel closely aligned with our sensibility.
3. CPHFW places strong emphasis on responsibility and innovation. How do you think these values show up in your brand?
Responsibility is deeply embedded in our way of working. We prioritise deadstock materials and upcycling, choosing fabrics and garments that would otherwise go to waste and reworking them into new pieces. All of our garments are made in our studio in Copenhagen, allowing us to stay closely connected to the production process. We place strong value on quality and longevity, creating clothes that can be cared for, repaired, passed on, or reimagined over time rather than treated as disposable.
4. What are your favourite places to eat, drink, or dance during CPHFW?
As unglamorous as it may sound, our favourite place during fashion week, aside from the studio, showroom, and show location, is home. The week is intense, and we prioritise rest and a sense of grounding whenever possible. If we do head out, we love Café Intime or grabbing a quick bite from Comé Rice Kitchen.
5. Which other shows are you most excited to see from this season’s schedule?
We are excited to see NEWTALENT brands such as Bonnetje for their beautiful upcycled creations and Stem for their material focus. We are also looking forward to MKDT for their tailoring and Rave Review for their upcycling magic. We are especially interested in Nazzal Studio for their strong storytelling and their focus on Palestinian heritage and resistance. Overall, it is encouraging to see more emerging names on the lineup, as newcomers will play a key role in shaping the future of the industry.
Anne Sofie Madsen
Honing her craft under John Galliano at Dior, Danish fashion designer Anne Sofie Madsen launched her own eponymous fashion line in 2025. Their upcoming SS26 chapter also sees the introduction of Caroline Clante as co-creative director, and together, Madsen and Clante are establishing a space for conversation and cross-disciplinary exploration. The brand is a textural dream, where sharp wool tailoring meets sheer silk chiffon, crystal embroidery and hand-dyed organza.
What does presenting at CPHFW mean for you and your brand at this moment in time?
Presenting at CPHFW means a great deal to us, and we’re very grateful to be part of the NEWTALENT programme for our second runway presentation. The support and platform CPHFW provides allows us to show our work within a framework that values thoughtfulness, responsibility, and experimentation. Being included in the anniversary season feels especially meaningful, as it places our work in conversation with the past, present, and future of the fashion week.
What’s inspired your upcoming show? What are some of the films, people or places on the mood board?
Ghostly Matters is inspired by the idea that the present is haunted by futures once promised and now impossible to believe in. The collection explores these ghosts of lost futures, quietly shaping structures and desires that should no longer hold power. These traces are translated into garments, bringing material presence to what is missing or unresolved.
CPHFW places strong emphasis on responsibility and innovation – how do you think these values show up in your brand?
Responsibility and innovation are central to our work. The studio explores textile manipulation and contemporary techniques, working with silk chiffon, suiting wool, hand-dyed organza, and crystal embroidery. All materials are mono natural fibres, and materials with a heavier environmental footprint, such as leather and similar textiles, are always upcycled for their durability and long lifespan. Garments are designed with attention to both structure and movement, balancing refinement with intimacy and personal expression.
What are your favourite places to eat, drink or dance during CPHFW?
We like to eat at Dzidra in Baldersgade 8 – where we go to at any time of day for all sorts of moments. For drinks, we enjoy BAR in Kronborggade, very close to where we live. And for concerts we like Mayhem in Ragnhildgade 1.
Which other shows are you most excited to see from this season’s schedule?
We’re especially excited to see Nicklas Skovgaard and Bonnetje, alongside many others on the schedule - It is so hard to chose. There’s a strong sense of individuality and intention this season, and it’s inspiring to experience how different designers interpret the moment.
