From its vivid patchwork of canal-side townhouses to its effortlessly chic and impossibly good-looking cyclists, Copenhagen is an international city with an immediately identifiable aesthetic signature. And it’s this blend of whimsical cosmopolitanism that has made Copenhagen Fashion Week one of the more exciting international fashion weeks on the agenda, striking a balance between cutting-edge emerging designers and clothes people can actually… see themselves wearing.
The Spring Summer 2026 shows are now underway, and the streets are filling impeccably and eclectically dressed Danes and international media arriving to soak it all up.
This season, which runs from August 4 to eight, will feature 44 brands, including OpéraSPORT, Baum Pferdgarten, Caro Editions, Rotate and rising fashion darling Bonnetje.
Related: Copenhagen Fashion Week Moments That Are About To Define Your Summer Wardrobe
Danish style has a particular alignment with an Australian attitude to dressing. As in most countries that brave harsh winters, there’s an unbridled enthusiasm for warmer weather, but no city expresses this sartorially quite like Copenhagen. From the dedication to flip-flops, worn cycling, dining out and on the runway to the distinctive sunny-Scandi yellow that brightens the streets, Danish style flourishes under the country’s clear blue summer skies. And that’s lucky for us because the trends we see on the runway will transition seamlessly onto our Australian spring/summer moodboards, so from OpéraSPORT’s cool girl take on resort wear to Bonnetje’s subversive office sirens, we’ll be tracking moments that will indicate what we’ll be wearing for summer.
This year, ELLE Australia was on the ground at Copenhagen Fashion Week courtesy of Pandora, soaking up the style and identifying a few standout street themes.
Related: I Went To Europe And Everyone Was Wearing This Aussie Shoe Staple
OpéraSPORT: Pool Goth
It’s summer in Copenhagen and at OpéraSPORT, designers Awa Malina Stelter and Stephanie Gunelach committed to the bit with a poolside runway at the city’s Frederiksberg Badene facility. OpéraSPORT opened the season and has come to be considered one of the most exciting brands in Copenhagen. The looks were inspired by the founder’s recent trip to Seoul, a restrained take on resort dressing with tones of butter yellow, cool sage, and a kaleidoscope of unconventional blues, which, if OperaSPORT has anything to say about it, will be the colour way of the summer.
The brand partnered with Brazilian footwear label Havaianas, which is currently enjoying a renaissance among fashion insiders, to create bulbous, 3D-printed flip-flops. Icy blue floral appliques adorned swimsuits, and gauzy sculptural shawls were wrapped around shoulders beneath navy leather jackets. Headscarves, a trend that’s ramping up, were sheer with sparkling floral appliques, and models carried gauzy black beach bags. The commitment to cool tones and the unexpected silhouettes on traditional resortwear garments made for a moment that felt slightly futuristic – summer vacation wear for citizens of the uncanny valley. All we know is the cool girls will be wearing cool tones on the beaches this summer.
Bonnetje: An Office Affair
Lingerie and fine tailoring have always been among fashion’s favourite studies in contrast. There’s something arrestingly suggestive about a borrowed-from-the-boys blazer layered over a delicate negligee, or a trench that visually plays with masculinity and femininity, hinting at a slightly scandalous morning-after narrative.
Bonnetje founders, Danish design duo Anna Myntekær and Yoko Maja Rahbek Hansen, have built their aesthetic on deconstructed and upcycled suiting—taking the uniforms of our “clock-in, clock-out” culture and reassembling them into something unsettling, intriguing, and—in their SS26 show “Breakable”—provocatively sexy.
This season, the duo were inspired by two duelling human qualities: flexibility and breakability, both heightened by our rapidly changing world. They gravitated toward the symbolic qualities of glass—hard and sharp yet transparent and fragile. Our clothing forms the interface between us and our surroundings (never more so than when armouring up for corporate life), and on the Bonnetje runway, this protective facade was breaking down. Fine tailoring and corporate-core styling have dominated 2025, offering a sartorial shield in uncertain times. The question asked at Bonnetje seemed to be: are we evolving? Or are we unravelling?
Guests filtering into the space were met with a room full of pink champagne and maraschino cherries in glasses of varying sizes, while the tinkling of ethereal bells in the background was occasionally interrupted by the explosive sounds of crashing glass.
Models wore sharp-shouldered overcoats reminiscent of Michael Douglas in his iconic 1980s thrillers. But while the outerwear spoke to a Wolf of Wall Street bravado, the layers beneath echoed the style of on-the-edge heroines from films like Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct. Sharon Stone’s murderous Catherine Tramell wouldn’t have looked out of place in this collection, with dresses featuring plissé detailing, raw hems, and fringed linings. Skirt suits appeared to unravel mid-stride, revealing fluid silk underlayers, and masculine finishes were accented by feminine rosettes—speaking to the paranoid, dangerously infatuated energy embodied by Glenn Close’s career woman. Beauty looks amplified this sense of angst, with pearlescent faux glitter tears and smudged mascara running down models’ glossy cheeks.
Individual pieces were surprisingly wearable, from floaty slip dresses perfect for the cool girl eschewing pastel for summer soirées, to sharp-shouldered blazers and asymmetric shirts that felt very The Row-inspired.
Though angular and deconstructed in design, the materials retained a fluidity, moving gracefully with models as they navigated the runway. Accessories included sturdy and sensible court shoes, practical and distinctly 80s office-appropriate pumps, with impractical glass handbags. A gesture that felt like a wry joke to those following along in the front row.
Caro Editions: Headscarves And Bows Galore
Caro Editions won the best soundtrack award early on, with designer Caroline Bile Brahe opting for a mix of Bikini Kill, Peaches, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and Doechii.
The inspiration for the show was a recreation of the designer’s own 2018 wedding, which brought 300 guests, comprised of friends, family and almost the entirety of Copenhagen’s creative community together.
As at their wedding, guests sipped pink champagne (the beverage du jour in Denmark’s most colourful city) and held a ceremony under a bridge before they were transported by boat to the after-party. The baker La Glace, who made the couple’s original wedding cake, created a four-story confection for the runway, which felt more like an event.
But what about the actual clothes? Unsurprisingly, the collection included some bridal looks, but the majority of the pieces were created with wedding guests in mind, and there were bows everywhere. But not of the “girlhood” TikTok variety, these were Hugh Grant Four Weddings and A Funeral-era 80s rom com bows, the kind the ever-present eccentric single sister might wear when she catches the wedding bouquet and hooks up with the weird friend. Said bows and adorned everything from dresses to bags (designed in collaboration with Mulberry). With a Scandi eye to sustainability, Brahe drew on deadstock materials sourced from exclusive Paris ateliers, and raw silk was a tantalisingly tactile textural throughline.
While the rest of the world is still in the Y2K paddling pool, if the Danes have anything to do with it, the 80s will be making a comeback. Gigantic bows, puff sleeves, plaids in unexpected colour ways (think Yves Klein Blue and a green as neon as your primary school highlighter) and polkadots were all over the runway. And although we might not run marathons in the beribboned New Balance sneakers that made an appearance, it seems entirely plausible that Copenhagen’s famously expert cyclists will find a way to pedal gracefully in them.
Rave Review: Pyjama Party
Designers Josephine Bergqvist and Livia Schück of Rave Review have returned to Copenhagen Fashion Week after several seasons showing in Milan, and the brand felt right at home. Bergqvist and Schück work with deadstock and vintage materials to bring their feminine creations to life, and the collection leaned hard into their Scandinavian heritage. One particularly outlandish look took inspiration from the Volendamse klederdracht, a Dutch tulip festival dress, and there were headscarves and aprons aplenty.
The designers work with bedclothes, and the fabrics in their collection have an intrinsically sexy, lived-in tactile quality that keeps the femininity and whimsy of their pieces from feeling too twee or ‘girlhood’-coded. Instead, they’re tactile and louche with just the right hint of sweetness.
There were some dramatic moments, including sculptural jackets with jutting shoulders and crinoline-shaped skirts using boning techniques. Most model wore their looks with dolled-up Pumas, whether that was runners dolled up with whisps of lace or the still very popular (despite protests) ballet sneakers. Even the ubiquitous Copenhagen Fashion Week headscarf received a literal twist thanks to clever wiring. But for the most part, the runway was a masterclass in the Danish art of effortless layering. Whether it was a sheer dress over cargo pants or a low-rise silk skirt revealing high-rise striped undies, it all felt like a pyjama party we wanted to join.
Ann Sofie Madsen: Rat Girls
Are we going to have a rat girl summer? If Anne Sofie Madsen has anything to do with it, we are. Madsen trained at the Royal Danish Academy and worked with Lee Alexander McQueen and John Galliano. She briefly left design to study fine arts, but returned two years ago, and Scandinavian fashion is richer for it. She co-designs with stylist Caroline Clante, and this season they’ve released a wardrobe for party girls of every stripe.
From a mesmerising spiral-pink chiffon top that feels perfectly in step with the 2000s rom-com revival (perfect for a “jeans and a nice top” moment) to traditionally masculine and utilitarian styles like leather jackets, belts and work-ready tanks reworked into pieces that feel high femme, frivilous and a little kinky this collection is perfect for the party girl coming into her own. The ready-to-go-viral rat-bag clutches are just the icing on the cake.
Han Kjøbenhavn: In The Suburbs
Han Kjøbenhavn’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection, dubbed “Another Day,” took inspiration from Creative Director Jannik Wikkelsø Davidsen’s suburban upbringing in Copenhagen and ordinary rituals of suburban masculinity and the tensions that underscore them. Davidsen is a designer in the vein of Rick Owens; his creations play at the subversive and surreal edges of streetwear, and in this collection, sculptural pieces that would look at home on the set of the Alien franchise mingled with industrial sweats, printed shirts, and leather jackets.
Held in industrial Nordhavn, the collection was darkly masculine—Davidsen mentioned influences as far-ranging as kebab shops, the smell of deodorant in a sweaty gym, and the flicker of a football match on a TV screen late at night, as suburban. Fashion is never far from politics, and the mundane references behind the hulking and intimidating sculptural pieces felt like an apt synthesis of the often banal realities behind toxic masculinity.
Indeed, while the more ornate pieces like the leather work fishtail mermaid dress were impressive, some of the most charming and evocative looks featured T-shirts and hoodies emblazoned with the names of tanning salons and shawarma shops. Tongue-in-cheek clothes Copenhagen’s club kids will be donning in the near future. There was also beauty and delicacy to be found in the collection. The sculptural gowns featured fringing and tendril-like details—concessions to fluidity and fragility in the ironic rough and tumble—also adorned leather jackets and trousers. And, as we’ve seen elsewhere, plenty of club-ready sex appeal, with leather flares, low-slung tracksuit pants, and bomber jackets
Baum und Pferdgarten: Horse Girl Summer
Baum und Pferdgarten translates, fittingly, to ‘tree and horse garden’, so locals barely blinked when the label whisked us to Charlottenlund racecourse—30 minutes and €40 by Uber—from Copenhagen’s centre for its Notes from the Grandstone SS26 show. Shetland ponies replaced security at the gate, and the front row swapped thong heels and Tabis for Hunter gumboots to navigate a runway threaded through the stables.
Designers Rikke Baumgarten and Helle Hestehave were inspired by an Hermès exhibition at Salone del Mobile 2023, running with a derby motif. After a 40-minute delay—more than covered by people- and pony-watching—a cameraman burst past, trailed by a galloping horse and sulky, signalling a breakneck procession of coquettishly coltish looks.
Hermès-esque scarves were braided into hair and knotted at throats; flashes of burnt orange, navy and gold lit up bomber jackets cut like racing silks. Herringbone A-line midis, soft faux-suede jackets and polished brown riding boots added a whisper of aristocratic prep. Fashion-as-spectacle peaked when the cast charged down the track en masse to raucous cheers.
Roll on, horse-girl summer.
Skall Studio
Skall Studio sisters Julie and Marie Skall have been inspired by dance for two seasons. Their SS26 show La Dans Act II” is an evolution of their pre-Spring La Dans.
On this runway, they celebrated movement, feeling and a sense of calm and poetry. Clothes were soft, breathable and fluid, providing no resistance as models drifted through the Designmuseum Danmark to a three-piece band playing Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies”.
Along with dance, Skall Studio is preoccupied with sustainability, and they debuted experiments in leather-like materials on this runway. Soft bags, belts and slip-on sandals were crafted from Sicilian orange and cactus byproducts and were complemented by sculptural jewellery pieces provided by Le Sundial.
While there were whimsical, lacy white looks with requisite headscarves, there were also romantic, loose-cut denims with sleek trenches and one gunmetal grey suit that caught our eye. Whether structured tailoring or loose cotton, all pieces moved with the same dreamy fluidity.
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