CPHFW Fall Winter 24

COPENHAGEN FASHION WEEK FALL WINTER 2024

Images photographed by Harry Miller.

On an average week in Copenhagen, the Thorvaldsens Museum is dedicated solely to sculptures by its namesake, Bertel Thorvaldsen. Towering neoclassical marbles are frozen in a timeless dance, locking eyes with one another across the gallery’s vaulted halls. Winged cupids, dancing girls and busts of Scandinavian noblemen all call this place home. But the beginning of February in the Danish capital is anything but average – it’s the city’s FW24 Fashion Week.

This year, for Wood Wood’s inaugural Copenhagen show, Thorvaldsen’s creations were joined by living sculptures – human forms in flight. Stony-faced figures prowled down the runway, as if the sculptor’s masterpieces had broken free from their mounts and joined the parade. The troop of marble models swapped classical robes for looks that were unmistakably ‘70s in their feel. From its brown palette, to the preoccupation with velvet and corduroy, the collection brimmed with nods to the era’s bohemian pulse. It comes as no surprise that creative directors Brooke Taylor and Nana Aganovic drew from influences like Taxi Driver, Studio 54 and the New York Dolls, infusing each piece eclectic beats and sartorial touches to match the refined decadence of the age.

Yuto Ebihara after Wood Wood

Paying homage to starry skies on the museum’s ceiling, the duo spilled swathes of inky blues through their work. Standing out like bright punctuation marks, patches of cobalt echoed those telltale long, dark Scandinavian nights. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Touches of yellow pierced the midnight skies, a reminder that you’re never too far away from a glimpse of ‘solskin’, the Danish word for sunshine. As Taylor and Aganovic prepare to embark on a six-month residency inside the space, it’s clear the Museum has already had an indelible influence on Wood Wood’s direction.

The Thorvaldsens marks just one of the iconic spots used to house this year’s FW styles. Dynamo Nicklas Skovgaard showed his second collection in the eerie halls of the Helligaandshuet, a medieval hospital-turned-monastery-turned-library. Established mainstay Mark Kenly Domino Tan opted for the grandeur of Hotel d’Angleterre. Built in 1775, the hotel’s lobby served as the location for one of Alfred Hitcock’s signature cameos in his spy thriller, Torn Curtain. Again, it was a classic case of architecture informing art – models looked like they’d just come in from the cold, touring oversized glasses, black trench coats and umbrellas.

Cecilie Hansen after Aeron

Whilst the week’s locations were many and varied, an inescapable Nordic fixation underpinned all 29 presentations – the conscious centering of pragmatism. Notorious for its sustainable bent, Copenhagen has earned its stripes as the world’s strictest Fashion Week. Brands have to meet a minimum of 18 environmental criteria to partake, traversing topics like choices in materials to labour conditions. The stringent requirements prompted brands like mfpen to use deadstock, but it’s not just about the clothes. The shows themselves must be eco-focused – everything, from carpets to props, is reused or recycled. The result? A sense of restraint and intention pervades each presentation, from catwalks to the garments that slink down them. Whilst the “big four” fashion weeks are yet to adopt eco-friendly demands of their own, Dansk simplicity proves to onlookers that sustainability and style go hand in hand.

This sense of pragmatism was echoed outside the runway. If catwalks are crystal balls, crafting trends that will sweep through the fashion world in the future, street style is all about the here and now. Harry Miller braced the crisp February air, darting between shows to capture models breathing Nordic elegance into the city streets. Amid billowing winds and frost-bitten sidewalks, one thing remained certain – the Danish commitment to craftsmanship, sustainability and simplicity is a fire that will never go out.