No products in the cart.
Copenhagen Fashion Week opens today and runs through Friday, marking two decades since the event first pulled a handful of Danish labels under one shared calendar. Founded in 2006, CPHFW runs twice a year, with the August edition covering spring and summer collections and the January edition covering autumn and winter.
This SS27 edition brings 34 shows and presentations across four runway days, with Friday reserved mainly for talks, events and activations. Organisers are expecting the largest attendance in the week’s history. Danish fashion has grown into one of the country’s largest export categories, and this season’s schedule includes established names alongside brands showing in Copenhagen for the first time.
CEO Cecilie Thorsmark described the season as bringing back valued brands while introducing Nordic names that have built international recognition and are now choosing Copenhagen as their platform, calling the overall lineup “a truly distinctive edition.”
By Malene Birger returns. So does Stine Goya, Mfpen, Alectra Rothschild/Masculina and the Finnish label Marimekko. Newer names round out the official line-up. Almada Label joins the roster this season, along with Yours Truly by Peter Jensen, designer Peter Jensen’s sustainable, gender-neutral label. Both must meet the same sustainability requirements as the week’s longtime participants.
Collina Strada Makes Its Copenhagen Debut
The week’s newest addition sits under a title organisers introduced this season, the International Guest Slot. New York designer Hillary Taymour brings Collina Strada to Copenhagen for a one-off runway show, backed by The Climate Pledge, the Amazon-founded initiative committing signatory businesses to net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. The Climate Pledge counts 666 signatories, among them Vestiaire Collective, By Rotation and Baukjen.
The NEWTALENT programme keeps Anne Sofie Madsen and Stem on its roster for another season. Studio Constance joins them, becoming the first Swedish brand admitted into the scheme since its founding. The label was started in 2020 by Rebecca Dovenryd Almberg, who had previously worked at Proenza Schouler, Totême and Acne Studios, and who named the brand after her grandmother’s middle name. Separately, the One To Watch recognition slot goes to Sson, Renè and Taus, who will each present a forthcoming collection.
Elsewhere, the Zalando Visionary Award carries its own weight this season. Designer Galib Gassanoff, who grew up outside Tbilisi and is of Azerbaijani heritage, founded his label Institution in Milan in 2024 after co-designing Act N°1 with Luca Lin. Institution won the Zalando Visionary Award 2026 in January, beating finalists Kyle Ho and Milk of Lime, and will present its SS27 collection at Copenhagen Fashion Week with Zalando’s backing, plus prize money of 50,000 euros and a further 35,000 euros in production support. Gassanoff is also a finalist for the LVMH Prize.
Every brand on the official schedule answers to Copenhagen’s Sustainability Requirements, screened against 19 minimum standards by a dedicated sustainability committee led by consultancy Rambøll. At least half of a collection’s materials must meet defined sustainability criteria. Unsold stock cannot be destroyed. Runway sets must be built and struck without waste.
CPHFW’s own guidance is specific that meeting these standards does not make a brand “sustainable” or “eco-friendly” outright; it means the brand has cleared Rambøll’s admission screening. One To Watch brands such as Sson, Renè and Taus are not screened against the same minimum standards, though CPHFW offers them an introduction to the framework ahead of future seasons.
CPHFW’s last edition, AW26, ran in late January 2026 and featured 21 runway shows. Last August’s SS26 schedule included 45 brands and institutions, with Cecilie Bahnsen named as the first-ever recipient of the CPHFW Guest Slot before it became the International Guest Slot now held by Collina Strada. This season’s total sits between those two figures, alongside an international guest designer under the new slot format and a Zalando-backed Visionary Award winner presenting for the first time.
Runway shows are not the only fashion business happening in Copenhagen this week. The Copenhagen International Fashion Fair runs from August 3 to 5 at Bella Center, marking its 67th edition since the fair was established in 1993.
CIFF is organised jointly by Bella Center A/S and the Federation of Danish Textile and Clothing and also runs twice a year, though its winter edition falls in February rather than CPHFW’s January. Last year’s SS26 edition drew around 1,000 curated brands across more than 20,000 square metres of floor space at the same venue. CIFF serves buyers and wholesalers. It is the trade side of Copenhagen’s fashion calendar, overlapping with CPHFW’s dates each August.
Stay inspired with exclusive brand features, luxury insights, and the latest in fine fashion and beauty — directly in your inbox.
