The key takeaways from Copenhagen Fashion Week AW26

Faux Fur Coats

Faux fur set the tone immediately, reflected on the front-rowers too, becoming less of a trend and more of a necessity to protect against the bitter wind chill. On the catwalks, the texture topper came cropped at Herskind, decked out in cream at MKDT and coated in shawls at The Garment.

Faux Fur Trims

If faux fur coats aren’t for you, but you want to take advantage of the warmth and cosiness they bring, consider adding a touch of faux fur to your look via trims. Look towards the Amelia Earhart-inspired pieces at Baum Und Pferdgarten. The models were decked out with faux fur collars over forties-style dresses, keeping the look sleek and modern with leather bomber jackets. Gestuz, MUNTHE and The Garment all leaned into faux-fur-trim styling too, pairing it with utility jackets and denim.

Leggings

With the threat of skinny jeans returning, designers embraced the slim silhouette in its most comfortable form: leggings. More than just gym wear, the leggings had a luxe upgrade and came in multiple variations: stirrup at Gestuz, paired with chunky belts and cardigans; lace layered with leather at Herskind; and ribbed at The Garment, styled with fair isle knits for cosy chic.

LBD

Whether long or short, the classic black dress was a staple on the Copenhagen catwalks. But the iterations were far from boring. Forza Collective showcased cutout and sheer styles; Rave Review styled with argyle tights. The Garment embraced the blazer dress, reworking it as a one-shoulder style, while Taus went super long and draped it with a floor-skimming style.

Pops Of Red

The colour mood coming from the Copenhagen autumn catwalks was a lot of sombre tones – greys, blacks and browns, but designers added flashes of fiery red to contrast the darker hues. Pops of red have been a popular styling hack for a few seasons, and it’s continuing its style streak on the Copenhagen catwalks. Forza Collective paired red with grey in the form of funnel-neck ruffs and slipped red tights under many pieces in the collection. Baum utilised red scarves and cardis for that flash of colour, while Caro Editions was the brightest of shows, colour-blocking silky yellow blouses with brocade red trousers.

Lace

Lacy, lingerie details have been bubbling on catwalks for a while now, with longline cami tops with lace trims a go-to styling trick across the high street and beyond, and that’s set to continue. Gestuz opted for grey snakeskin embossed slip dresses over trousers, and Opera Sport went for sheer halterneck styles, also teamed with tailored trousers. But, being in Copenhagen, there’s always a little layering and twist to the traditional, and that came in the form of lace shawls, headscarves paired with leather at The Garment. While Opera Sport leaned into layered lace overlays over utility jackets, all adding a hint of femininity and fun to pared-back, cool ensembles.

Mantle, Shawls and Capes

Trailing fabrics and overlays were a mainstay on most Copenhagen catwalks, creating interesting and striking silhouettes. Scarf-like overlays came in leather at Herskind, while at MKDT, they were integrated into the outfits, layered under blazers and coats for a fresh styling hack to steal come winter. Also, at Herskind, deconstructed mantles were anchored at the shoulder and draped over leggings, blurring the line between cape, shawl and dress. At The Garment, off-centre capes in midnight blue closed the show, layered over black textured dresses and styled with patent navy gloves.

Beret

Cold-weather headgear was a trend on and off the catwalks, with furry toppers and leather headscarves among the hats spotted. But a chic alternative to the purely practical came in the form of berets. Spotted across multiple collections, they added a polish to relaxed ensembles of knits and silky trousers, as well as shearling coats. Less Emily in Paris, more Copenhagen cool.

Coloured Denim

Denim is always a cornerstone of the Copenhagen catwalks, but this season it came with a twist. Instead of traditional indigo or stonewashed, designers leaned into coloured denim, from purple to teal to earthy tones. At Baum, double lilac denim was tempered with leather and grey, giving it a grown-up finish. At Holweizer, double denim again was given a cool-girl makeover, with flocked textures in earthy tones paired with ballet flats and opaque socks.

Cool Girl Checks

The check print was everywhere but not in a twee, or super heavy heritage way. At Baum, it trimmed beige co-ords; at Gestuz, check shirts came complete with a tie and were styled with leather; and at MKDT, check-on-check was layered and styled with flat-welly boots, but looked anything but country-coded.

Bomber Jackets

Apart from faux fur coats, if you’re looking for the defining outerwear of the autumn season, it’s the bomber jacket. Black bomber jackets were the most popular among designers like Forza Collective, Gestuz, and MKDT, styled with everything from leather to sheer skirts. Bomber jackets were a natural fit at Baum’s aviation-themed show, with brown leather styles shown with utility skirts and leather trousers.

Fair Isle Knits

Want to inject a little personality into your knit for winter? Look no further than the fair-isle jumper. Skall did it best with an outfit ripe for recreating – teaming it with a frill-collar blouse, an oversized check coat and a wide-leg denim. Paolina Russo gave a masterclass in layering knitwear, cropping it, and teaming it with a pink midi dress. While MUNTHE teamed monogrammed fair isle with sheer skirts.

Grey

The neutral shade of grey underpinned the more sombre-themed colour scheme at Copenhagen Fashion Week. It also provided a base for colour play at Forza Collective, with red as a fiery addition. The majority of grey was styled monochromatically with grey and grey, a chic combo at MKDT, Taus and The Garment.

Get Waisted

Attention returned to the waist this season, but not in the traditional way of just waist-cinching. Instead, peplum silhouettes as seen at Nicklas Skovgaard, exposed waistbands at The Garment, and lace overlays at Opera Sport added definition in a less obvious way. Again, creating sweet styling hacks that can be easily adopted, The Garment and Skall studio brought attention to the waist with glove-slinging belts, a unique way of storing your gloves that doubled as a cool accessory moment.

Tailoring and Sculpted Blazers

Tailoring came in traditional and offbeat styles. At Taus, trousers were reworked, turned upside down, and turned into a skirt suit. The upcycling continued at Sson Studio with bags craftily and chicly remade as skirts. At Bonnetje, blazer dresses with extra padding via bustles created dramatic and architectural silhouettes. Continuing on that theme, but in a more wearable manner, were Gestuz, Herskind and Baum showcasing sculpted blazers. At Baum and Herskind, simple suits were given a cool makeover, styled with trousers tucked into boots.

Featured photography by Noor-u-nisa Khan.