Ah Copenhagen—the nucleus of Scandi style, second home of Hamlet (I’m sure he had a townhouse somewhere) and birthplace of some of the best cool-girl street style. With 44 shows and presentations, countless dinners, pop-ups, breakfasts, and activations, this season’s CPHFW schedule was full of flavor (both Nordic and otherwise). The Copenhagen Fashion Week’s Hospitality Program, which I was honored to attend with for the first time, offered a proper sampling of the city’s sartorial presence. What to pack? Where to eat? What to take away from it all? Read on!
Sunday: A grand farewell to America with a Steak’n Shake hamburger. Upon arrival I’m whisked off to the 25Hours Hotel in the center of Copenhagen. It lives up to its name—within moments I am prone on a cushy duvet in a room that feels somewhere between The Standard NYC and Barberella’s spaceship (my ideal home décor). I take a “disco nap.” Dinner is at Nickolaj Kunsthal, a refurbished church turned hub of all fashion week activity. I am sat next to Jalil Johnson, the best dressed person in New York, who now happens to be the best dressed person in Copenhagen. CEO of CHPFW Cecilie Thorsmark gives a rousing speech reminding guests of Copenhagen’s sustainability pledge, a commitment that’s devastatingly been rescinded by my own country’s current. Here, it’s clear: from the electric vechicles we carpool around in, to the food we are served (that night it was toothsome pasta made from bread waste).
Monday: I ruminate as I walk to the Free People breakfast. The clothing of Copenhagen seems covered in a film of butter yellow. The breakfast is on a boat (excellent!) and we’re given a tour (even better!) of the canal by a guide (whose name I won’t attempt to say) who, under a particularly dark bridge, erupted into a Danish song (thrilling!).
On to the first show of the week, which opens with a splash—a world-champion diver twirls into a swimming pool custom Opera Sport. Backstage, designers Awa Malina Stelter and Stephanie Gundelach tell me a recent trip to Seoul inspired their play with contrasts, in palette and spirit. The collection felt like a forward surge, embracing futurism but remembering the past. My favorite look: a model in a dramatic black ruffle dress grasped a teal seashell scarf like she’s just said goodbye forever to a lover. Strange and intriguing things happening by way of feet, like closed toe Havianas?? Innovation for the classic problem of having your toes stepped on while wearing flip flops.
At menswear brand Ranra, a model in mismatched pinstripe pajamas and a long tan trench made me long for the cool breeze of fall. The collection was appreciative of real-life layering, when personal movements become style: walking the dog, grabbing a sweater, throwing on whatever’s closest to grab a coffee. Then to Bonnetje, where two skanky, slippy, topsy-turvy looks hypnotize me. Lots of Labubus in the frow. Labubu’s are a lot like children—expensive and better left at home. Dinner is at Kødbyens Fiskebar, where I eat a whole herring with its head intact cartoon-cat style.
Tuesday: Breakfast at the Tekla Store, then straight to Anne Sofie Madsen, where the rats finally take over. Rave Review is up next—a show unafraid to be buoyant. Outside, street photographers flock. Copenhagen’s street style is a cottage industry unto itself, where cameras favor bright girlish silhouettes set against the picturesque canals. I bike to the Noma pop-up, where I am fed an acorn. It’s… not unpleasantly soft. An aperitif at La Bonista, a slice of heaven where you can swim and then have a cool glass of wine and a meaty oyster on the pier after. Dinner: pasta at Bar Amore.
Wednesday: I do a *redacted interview.* Eat *redacted amount* of hard boiled eggs. At the Rabens Saloner presentation, everything is spring green. Models waltz by close enough you can hear the whisper of their skirts. I stop by the Skall and Henrik Vibskov shows, where, at the latter, I am preoccupied by an elderly model rubbing eggs with a cloth, rendering me unable to think about anything but the nauseating number of hard boiled eggs I ate that morning.
I’m saved by Birrot, a Korean-Danish brand, founded by Min Kim and Sey Hong, and one of my top shows. Their collection, “Emotional Layering,” features deliciously heavy fabrics that drape just right. It’s the kind of thrilling capsule wardrobe that feels completely unachievable for a maximalist like me, where everything slots neatly into each other. Clothes made for Natasha, not Carrie. Particularly intriguing were a pair of flip-flops with a black band across the top—basically a headband for your feet. The show title gave name to what I’d been trying to put my finger on the day before: the way life’s little intimacies can be revealed through fashion. It’s also a representation of how Copenhagen fits into the fashion ecosystem. While other cities chase newness and often push discomfort for the sake of (pseudo) innovation, Copenhagen refines the familiar—mismatched pajamas, bras sewn outside of shirts—into something emotionally resonant. My nightcap was the menswear brand Sunflower, a sleeper hit with stellar casting (DILFS and GILFS!) and the electric party-energy in the room.
Thursday: Bright and early for the New Talent Showroom, held in a sprawling building on the outskirts of town. Next, Cecilie Bahnsen’s ten year anniversary show, which was opened by Björk and Mathew Barney’s daughter, Doa. Nicklas Skovgaard follows, where guests were invited to lounge on beds, and then Deadwood, one of the flagships of CPHFW, a brand which gives appropriate edge to reworked leather. My last hurrah is the Throwing Fits dinner, where my Rat bag was passed in awe. Time to return to New York, the city of a million uninvited rats at dinner.
Insi-der Trending:
1. TOES GOES
Everywhere, freak toes were braving the Copenhagen rain.
2. EMOTIONAL LAYERING
Inside outerwear, intimacies revealed.
3. PROFESSIONAL MERMAID
The literal version of Office Siren: sequins, scales, ties, tan lines, neoprene, massive scrunchies. A semi-aquatic professional.
4. PEPTO PINK
It’s not dismal to be Bismal.
5. A FREAKY FUNKY STATEMENT BAG
Rats. Manolos. Glitter.
