Marking its 20th anniversary, Copenhagen Fashion Week continues to redefine Scandinavian style through sustainability, community, and ease.

On the fashion circuit, Copenhagen is a city that does things its own way.
The style is kaleidoscopic, the brands prioritize sustainability practices, and a primary mode of transportation is the bicycle. Now, for Copenhagen Fashion Week’s 20th anniversary, the city’s most fashionable residents are celebrating what defines Scandinavian style, championing the emerging and established Nordic designers who set the tone for the season. Pulsing through the week is an easy energy that’s hard to find anywhere else. Attendees arrive at shows on foot and linger over a drink once the fanfare is done. The style, a mix of traditional Scandi minimalism and a new current of bold-yet- wearable outfitting, is inspirational, but largely more down-to-earth than what you’d see elsewhere. The frenetic buzz of New York and sheer spectacle of Paris are replaced by something more intimate and playful. Fashion isn’t a spectacle here; it’s a language, pragmatic yet curious.

“I see a lot of the values that made Scandinavian furniture rise as a global phenomenon,” says Copenhagen Fashion Week Chief Operating Officer Isabella Rose Davey. “Simplicity of design, honesty of material, form following function.” Copenhagen has also led the charge in addressing sustainability, implementing a framework in 2020 that requires brands to meet minimum standards, including material sourcing and labor practices, in order to show during the week. This season, New York’s Collina Strada will also put on a show as the inaugural designer for Copenhagen’s new International Guest program, supported by the Climate Pledge, a cross-industry initiative committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

To Davey, Copenhagen Fashion Week’s reach extends far beyond the runways, with a focus on education through public talks and an emerging-designer incubator. “Seeing CEOs sit beside students in the audience, all listening and learning, is an incredibly powerful aspect of Copenhagen Fashion Week,” she says, describing the week as “deeply personal, intimate, and community-focused,” a testament to the vibrant group of designers and attendees who come together each year.

One of the former is, of course, Cecilie Bahnsen. Since she first began showing her eponymous label at Copenhagen Fashion Week in 2017, the designer has become an anchor point for defining Scandinavian style. While she now hosts her runway shows in Paris, Copenhagen is where she got her start. Her ethereal, often gossamer designs have developed a cult following and have helped to shape the playful styling and silhouettes associated with street style during the week. “Seeing all the guests arrive at the show, and their ways of wearing the collection, feels like a show in itself,” she says. The week’s smaller scale creates a sense of familiarity and effortlessness that for Bahnsen sets the events and the fashion apart: “There’s something beautiful about it.”

That sentiment rings true for sisters Julie and Marie Skall, the founders and creative directors of Skall Studio. “Copenhagen style combines good design with a practical lifestyle,” says Julie. This balance of artistry and pragmatism is in part what distinguishes Copenhagen from other fashion capitals, where big crowds and far-flung show locations pose more challenges. Since founding their label in 2014, the Skalls have shown their collections in spaces like the Designmuseum Danmark and the Botanical Garden, settings that honor creativity without spectacle. “We both have families and three young children each, so being mothers is a big part of who we are,” says Marie. “And we love elegant and well-crafted clothing and believe in finding a sense of everyday magic in what we wear.”

Since opening her iconic store, Pico, in 2004, Anne-Marie Pico has witnessed Copenhagen Fashion Week grow and transform into its current iteration, while managing to hold on to its initial relaxed, humbler beginnings. “It feels less like a single event and more like a city-wide celebration that brings the entire fashion community together,” she says. Pico sees the city’s inherent style reflected in her own brand’s evolution, slowly exploring new colors or finishes instead of reinventing season after season. The result: she’s built a cult following among those in town for the event. “It’s not unusual for international visitors to arrive with long shopping lists from friends and family.”

Creative director and stylist Sophia Roe, who grew up in Copenhagen, began attending Copenhagen Fashion Week quite young, but it was only after she moved behind the scenes that her relationship to the event became more serious. “I styled shows, did casting, and later had my own brand for a couple of years. It was formative, and also extremely hard,” she explains. “I remember summers where there was no summer holiday at all; just fittings, castings, samples, production, and the very Danish idea that everything should still look effortless.”

Since the fashion community can be quite small, Roe points out that it’s often the way that life and fashion blend together that she appreciates most. “The dinners, the conversations, the way the city opens up during the week. Copenhagen can suddenly feel very international, but still remains a place where you run into someone you know. That contradiction is very charming to me.”

Having called Copenhagen home for the past decade—and documenting its fashion scene since 2012—photographer Adam Katz Sinding has seen “the Danish style reverberate globally” as Copenhagen Fashion Week expanded into the international event it is today. “It is absolutely bigger, and absolutely more important than it was when I first stood outside of the shows,” he says, explaining that part of what makes the city’s fashion scene special is the fact that it’s not just a small set of well-dressed residents. “Copenhagen style and the fashion community are not so easy to separate. Everyone here is well dressed,” he says. “It’s actually unbelievable.”

The Copenhagen Effect: How the City's Unique Energy Is Shaping Modern Fashion

Tags

Related Articles

Fashion Week

All Of The Best Street Style Looks From Copenhagen Fashion Week

Travel & Living

The Copenhagen Shopping Guide for Fashion Insiders

Fashion Week

All Of The Best Street Style Looks From Copenhagen Fall/Winter 2026 Fashion Week

Recommended posts for you

Fashion