Maybe no other city is as inspiring and practical about fashion trends at the same time as Denmark’s capital. You can always count on Copenhagen Fashion Week to serve as a refresher course on everyday dressing. The runways take mixing and matching colours, prints, and wardrobe essentials to an entirely new level of quirkiness that somehow still feels wearable. Sure, New York, London, Milan, and Paris have a lot to say with their big designer names. It takes place prior to the Big Four and offers a preview of upcoming autumn 2023 trends and collections.

The Copenhagen labels are reinterpreting retro-futurism with motifs that are odes to everything space-related. Fashion has been referencing retro-futurism for more than a few seasons now. See, for instance, the planetary prints from Helmstedt and the interstellar-like patterns at Ganni. The latter went even further by wearing a knit outfit covered in aliens. Henrik Vibskov’s hoods, sunglasses, and textured full-length bodysuits appeared to be from another planet in other places.

Perhaps no other city is as inspiring and practical about fashion trends at the same time as Denmark’s capital. You can always count on Copenhagen Fashion Week to serve as a refresher course on everyday dressing. The runways take mixing and matching colours, prints, and wardrobe essentials to an entirely new level of quirkiness that somehow still feels wearable. Sure, New York, London, Milan, and Paris have a lot to say with their big designer names. It takes place prior to the Big Four and offers a preview of upcoming autumn 2023 trends and collections.

Fortunately, there were many inspiring items to take note of this season, whether it was a single colour, a fresh print, or even a unique way to style a basic. Contemporary fashion is punctuated by Copenhagen labels that continue to develop their own characteristics, from striking outerwear at Saks Potts to high-on-shine denim at Ganni.

Check out the following for our top trends from the autumn 2023 edition of Copenhagen Fashion Week.

The Shade of Red

It’s difficult to browse street style images of Copenhagen without noticing an explosion of pastels, candy-colored brights, vibrant neons, and primary hues all jumbled together carelessly. Copenhagen is the city of colour. However, red shone out this season. Saks Potts displayed a number of red-to-toe ensembles that included matching sets, flowy skirts, strapless dresses, and suede coats. In response, Baum und Pferdgarten displayed the company’s take on a red tracksuit.

Space-Inspired

The Copenhagen labels are reinterpreting retro-futurism with motifs that are odes to everything space-related. Fashion has been referencing retro-futurism for more than a few seasons now. See, for instance, the planetary prints from Helmstedt and the interstellar-like patterns at Ganni. The latter went even further by wearing a knit outfit covered in aliens. Henrik Vibskov’s hoods, sunglasses, and textured full-length bodysuits appeared to be from another planet in other places.

Inflated Fashion

The designers at Copenhagen Fashion Week made a case for innovative designs that seemed bloated, which you could interpret as a communal need for comfort as we prepare for an approaching recession and post-pandemic living. Consider the quilted skirts and extra-padded puffers from Baum und Pferdgarten. Or, Stine Goya, who exhibited an abundance of puffy coats, pillow-like bags, and puffer hoods that resemble bubble wrap. Helmstedt’s recognisable quilted coats, which come in a variety of hues, were also on display. The final garment had a puffy tail train.

Dresses Over Pants

At Ganni, strapless snakeskin tiny dresses were styled with gold pants, while sequin slip dresses were worn over baggy pants and accessorised with cowboy boots. With office-appropriate slacks and a wool skirt, The Garment offered a more understated, uniform-inspired interpretation of skirts over pants. Although the ’00s-inspired trend began to resurface last year, it’s probable that we’ll see a lot more of this playful yet useful appearance in the future.

Oversized Silhouettes

Designers like Selam Fessahaye, who specialises in boxy designs that exude a sense of power and occupy more space and deconstructed features like oversized shoulders, are giving the shape of things to come a larger-than-life appearance. Holzweiler also went one and above with huge, warm coats by using enormous shapes.

All-Black

At the other extreme, an echoing force of all-black was there, possibly heralding in a new period of contemplative, edgy minimalism in Copenhagen. A stark change in direction for the brand, Ganni, known for its prints and use of leopard print as a neutral, began its show with four all-black outfits, including a slouchy blazer, cargo pants, fringe sweater dress, and sequin maxi dress. With enormous, all-black outerwear and sweater combinations, Skall Studio, a knitwear designer generally known for its gentler, ivory-hued palette, also embraced the dark side.

Camo Pattern

The camouflage print appears to be making a comeback, proving that Y2 Legacy K’s are still felt today. Consider (Di)vision’s long shorts with a camo print, Selam Fessahaye’s coat dress that resembles a cocoon, and Helmstedt’s abstract rainbow print as evidence. Although camouflage has long been a favourite in Scandinavia, this season’s designers in Copenhagen showed it in wider, more maximalist varieties. Being understated is out of style.