CPHFW Field Notes Part II

New-to-me designers, an exciting collaboration, an 80s redux, and more from CPHFW.

Jalil Johnson

Aug 10, 2025

A few housekeeping notes:

You can find everything I packed for my trip to Copenhagen (or similar pieces) here.
You can find Part 1 here.
Also if you want more of my coverage from CPHFW you’ll have to check out my notes.

Good Jeans

Pre-Fall Essentials

What I saw other people wearing

I spotted this look at the Sophie Bille Brahe breakfast on my last day in Copenhagen. I absolutely loved where all the layers hit, and I was a fan of the color blocking happening here.

Here’s a closer look at everything. From far away, I thought she was just wearing black slacks, but it turns out they were **navy corduroys**. The coat is by Soriano Van Gaever (there’s **a black version** available. Here are few coats in the same vein: 1, 2, 3.), Baum und Pferdgarten paisley dress (the closest I could find available from the brand is **this**, and there’s also **this skirt**. On the other hand, there are pieces like this from **Antik Batik** and this very similar one from **Farm Rio**). The shoes are the **same style favored by the showergoers during CPHFW**.

Linda Zhang of Nordstrom has a fantastic eye for mixing color and texture. This was the penultimate day of CPHFW at The Garment show. She’s wearing a **paracord tweed jacket** I’ve been dying for from **Julie Kegels** (there’s also a **matching skirt**, and of course you have options when it comes to a Chanel-esque tweed jacket here, here, and here), **LouLou de Saison** ribbed tank, and Birrot pants (alt from the brand **here**).

**Fry Powers** pearl necklace (but if you have the **$$$**, there’s this necklace from **Yutai**) and **a velvet jewelry pouch** (another option a la **Etsy**).

**Prada Sport** flip-flops, **Chan Luu** toe ring, and the pièce de résistance, **Welly** band-aids.

Jewelry designer Sophie Bille Brahe at the Cecile Banshen show wearing, of course, Sophie Bille Brahe **tennis necklace**. **Supreme** rhinestone t-shirt, **Cecilie Bahnsen x Acisis**, and **tulle rhinestone skirt** worn over a **black pencil skirt**.

**Chocolate brown oversized velvet blazer**, **Caro Editions** “Coco” striped pants, **two strap sandals** which I talked about **in this newsletter**.

The Chloe King outside the Lie Studio Aperitivo. The skirt is from **Iamisigo**, a brand I discovered in Copenhagen who in there words, “craft wearable art from unconventional materials and heritage textile traditions, informed by extensive research with remote African communities across the continent.” **Ian Allen Greer** indigo dyed shirt, **Freda Salvador** shell strappy sandals, a cute little **Prada clutch** in what I’m pretty sure is python—it had the weight of one—and a **netted skull cap**, arguably the accessory of the week.

This was my driver in a traditional thobe she picked up on a trip to Morocco, and I just loved the color and the intricate detailing on the placket. You can’t really see what she’s wearing underneath, but she has on **Havaianas**, and on her wrist is a nameplate bracelet that makes me think of **Starling**.

After a week of running on three hours of sleep and bopping around, I felt very much like this shirt: “**Single & Fabulous?**” The skirt reminded me of this **Loewe** **collection** from the JWA era (RIP).

Notes from the cobblestoned streets of Copenhagen

There were two brands that I was unfamiliar with that seemingly everyone was talking about during the week:
- Caro Editions — One of the first things people mentioned about the show was the location. It was held under a bridge, and the second thing they noted was how joyous it felt — models smiling as they bopped down the cobblestones (and I’m sure the glasses of bubbles at the end of the show helped as well, haha!). But the bridge wasn’t just any bridge; it was the same one where founders Caroline and Frederick Bille Brahe were married (yes, related to Sophie Bille Brahe, who outfitted the models with beautiful cascading pearl earrings and necklaces). The show also celebrated their collaboration with Mulberry, where they reimagined a few of the house’s bags.
  The wedding inspiration didn’t just stop at the bridge, but it also was very much a part of the collection. There's a certain saccharine nature to the clothes which are ones that I feel you would find in a wedding crowed circa 80s. Delciated lacey white numbers accentuated with bows and shoulder pads. There were a few of those 80’s does the 40s type dresses that also felt like a favorite of Princess Diana.
  One thing that felt quite present during all of CPHFW was how unafraid designers were to play with color and prints. Something else that felt quite presented was a certain 80s sensibility that popped up here as well as at Nicklas Skvagaard.
  Here is one of the bags from the collaboration between Caro Editions and Mulberry.
- Iamisigo — This brand is based between Lagos, Nairobi, and Accra but chooses to show in Copenhagen. Its goal is to preserve ancestral textile techniques to create wearable art pieces, often made from unconventional materials and rooted in heritage textile traditions. From what I’ve gathered, because of the intricacy of the designs and the brand’s work with master craft makers in the actual construction, most of the pieces are made-to-order. The SS26 collection was titled Dual Mandate, which, as the press notes explain, “nods, quietly, to the colonial doctrine of Lord Lugard — a text that held opposing ideals side by side: exploitation and uplift, commerce and civilisation. This collection reclaims that phrase, softens its violence, and turns it inward. What if a dual mandate could be about self-preservation and perception? Protection and openness?”

Other highlights of the week
- Skall Studio

I’m still a sucker for a red coat. The collection was inspired by off-duty dancers, which made me rethink my own reading of the show when designers and sisters Marie and Julie Skall mentioned it. Their take is less literal and more emotional than the typical off-duty model look. There’s still an ease to it—the idea that you can throw on a great coat, wide-leg jeans, and a fantastic piece of jewelry, and still move with a certain grace.

My original read on the show was Marie Antoinette’s pastoral style, and once that image entered my head, it was hard to shake. I started spotting that Hamlet-like look in every white cotton poplin chemise-style dress that came down the runway.

There were plenty of exciting debuts on this runway, including the brand’s first foray into shoes, bags, and belts made from byproducts of Sicilian orange and cactus to create leather-like pieces. The show also unveiled a collaboration with Le Sundial. Models wore pieces like **this necklace** and **these earrings** (both now on my wish list), along with a top and a dress accented with beads on the ties.

I was a big fan of this youthquake moment at the Marimekko show. The brand is, of course, known for its prints, and there was no shortage of them. I was especially drawn to the printed mini skirts paired with button-downs and trainers, as well as the printed mod dresses.
We’re inching closer to an 80s redux, and if I had to call out one theme from the week, it would be that. I’m not talking about the Boom Boom aesthetic, but rather the tackier side of the decade, with bright colors, bold prints, shoulder pads, and that one particular style of 80s dress that feels outdated yet somehow regained a sense of modernity in the hands of Nickolas Svgaard, who quite literally took us to bed. (As soon as I saw the beds, I couldn’t help but think of that SATC episode.)
There bed scene at the Nickolas Svgaard show.
The whole show was themed around the idea of sleeping, with models even lounging on a bed. We saw a lot of puffed-up proportions, and in some cases, it looked like the models had wrapped duvets around themselves and decided to head out to the club.
The debut of menswear.
On the subject of the 80s, I completely fell for Anne Sofie Madsen, a new name to me this season. This was her return to the runway after a six-year hiatus, and guests were greeted with her moodboard, which featured the bag of the week, the rat bag.
I stopped by a breakfast for Anonymous Copenhagen and was pleasantly surprised by the addition of some higher heels, which I was told was a request from the American market. I’ve known about the brand for a few years, having discovered it during one of my regular internet hunts for 70s-style shoes, because quite literally the best strappy heels are from the 70s and early 80s (à la Charles Jourdan). Anonymous Copenhagen has always had a certain 70s flavor, but it was usually in a low heel, so needless to say, I’m very excited about these.
On a non-fashion but still fashion-adjacent note, I had the best tomato sandwich of my life at a pop-up hosted by New Balance and Atelier September, owned by Frederick Bille Brahe. It was in celebration of the New Balance 204L, and what made the sandwich so good? Raspberries!!!!!
And to close out today’s letter, I kept spotting these doormats around Copenhagen, and I’m ordering one for my apartment.

Thank you to the Copenhagen Fashion Week team for the invitation and for all your help coordinating everything. You made the week run so smoothly. That’s all from me today, chat with you all on Wednesday!

Consider Yourself Cultured

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