Keep the Kiwi-Scandi love affair alive with these Copenhagen Fashion Week standouts that you can shop from NZ
If London Fashion Week is the training bra of the international fashion calendar (so says fictional MODE magazine editor Daniel Meade of Ugly Betty fame) then we’re calling Copenhagen Fashion Week its going out bag.
A pocket-sized event neatly delivering a pick-and-mix of aesthetics, Copenhagen Fashion Week can be counted on for a blur of colour, action and novelty. Is it practical? Not always. But is it joyful and hypnotising? Absolutely. And as the week wraps up, just like the sparkly necklace you stashed in your purse after your last martini, it’ll leave you with a bright, somewhat hazy memory to unfurl at a later date.
New Zealand’s love of Scandi chic runs deep. Sure, it’s sustained by the bi-annual influx of online activity from Copenhagen Fashion Week – always the first big Fashion Week of the season, before we’re so fatigued by off-duty model shots that we want to hiff our phones in the harbour. But it’s the Danish labels already flying off the shelves of local boutiques that are doing much of the legwork.
Take industry heavyweight Ganni, which is now a mainstay at Workshop, Caughley and Jetset Bohemian, as well as Queenstown’s Seletti Concept Store and even Bunnies in Arrowtown. Then there’s Stina Goye’s colourful creations in Wellington’s Wanda Hartland and online at Chapman Store, while Suprette is your first port-of-call for Gestuz and Samsøe and Samsøe.
True to the Nordic knack for innovation, a new wave of labels emerged this SS24 Copenhagen Fashion Week. And lucky for us, some of them already have roots in Aotearoa. Here we present six of the newer names to know and, if you’re lucky, shop locally. For the few that don’t yet have NZ stockists, our obsession with Scandi style gives us hope that they will reach our shores very, very soon.
Wood Wood
A fusion of sport luxe, tailoring, and a touch of deconstruction is a fitting metaphor for how Wood Wood moves through the world. Sure, this explorative Copenhagen label has its own coterie of designers behind its in-house collections, available at various New Zealand online stores as well as Christchurch’s Infinite Definite boutique. However, Wood Wood is also a destination for creative activations both online and off. Note that the Kiwi-Scandi love affair goes both ways; you’ll find local label Paris Georgia among their online cabinet of utilitarian curiosities.
The Garment
If there’s one thing that bonds us Kiwis to Scandi designers, it’s our shared appreciation for minimalism. Especially if it’s in the form of a party dress that can take you from Waiheke wedding guest, to a pared back work ‘fit come Monday morning. The Garment is the Copenhagen-based label by Charlotte Eskildsen (esteemed Danish knitwear designer and tailoring savant) and Sophia Roe (madame monochrome). Wearable, beautifully tailored and with a touch of whimsy that speaks to the pair’s mutual love for vintage treasures, The Garment is available exclusively at Workshop in Newmarket.
A. Roege Hove
Presenting, one of those rare collections that delivers equal parts aspirational moodboard fodder, and wearable add-to-cart energy. A. Roege Hove‘s knitwear philosophy is less about bulk and better described as a fun, feminine and fluid take on everything from dresses to trousers and bags. A. Roege Hove’s founder, Amalie Røge Hove, joins the ranks of local brand Harman Grubiša (RIP) as recipients of the prestigious International Woolmark Prize: securing the Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation this year. Block colours make up much of their current offering, but the sheer touches, stripes, embellishments and evening-adjacent fabrics of their SS24 collection suggest a more sultry direction ahead. For now, our closest stockist is Sydney’s Chinatown Country Club, but their very New Zealand-friendly cosy/chic schtick will no doubt land them into a local concept store or boutique before long.
Latimmier
Latimmier’s universe is one where masculinity is turned on its head. Crisp cuffs dangle from wrists, shirt sleeves make great boleros, and collars create statements whether doubled-up or at angles with each other. At first glance, one mightn’t guess that these masc moments are inspired by the queer legacy of ballroom. However, the lace, drag moment that opened their SS24 show would beg to differ. Later diving into pinstripes and boxy suiting featuring cut-outs and exaggerated tailoring, it’s this imaginative design without veering too far into deconstructionism that earned creative director and founder Ervin Latimer the Finnish Young Designer of the Year in 2020 – not to mention a prestigious debut show at Pitti Uomo 101 in January, 2022.
Mark Kenly Domino Tan Studio
While not a strictly emerging or underground label, Mark Kenly Domino Tan Studio, founded in 2014, continues to demonstrate a quiet but no-less compelling dedication to excellence – a concept very, very Danish in its own right. The label’s SS24 collection was a mix of strong lines and fluid forms, resulting in a tight presentation that expertly traversed coastal grandmother and business casual all at once. An unexpected (and depending on who you ask, pleasant) surprise came from the inclusion of peplums – perhaps a tribute to the most ubiquitous motif of their founding year?
Soeren Le Schmidt
Championing high-octane tailoring for all genders, bodies and fashion personalities is Soeren Le Schmidt: an emerging couturier to the Danish glitterati. Far from eye-catching for the sake of it, the crisp lines, statuesque forms and modern patterns on display cut right through eveningwear’s usual ‘frou-frou or stark’ binary, with the highlight being an improbably elegant acid green look. Aside from dressing notable nordic names, Soeren Le Schmidt is gaining attention abroad, recently chosen to attend the World Fashion Exhibition in Macau this October, alongside Aotearoa’s very own Jacqueline Roper of Jacqueline Anne. While a local boutique is yet to add his confections to their clothes racks, if Soeren Le Schmidt can convince former Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt to walk in his SS24 runway show, we’d say watch this space.