Astrid Andersen, Peter Jensen Make Their Copenhagen Fashion Week Debuts

COPENHAGEN — Who thought the day would come that the Danes would tire of the blazer?

At the spring 2025 edition of Copenhagen Fashion Week, designers looked beyond a sharp tailored shoulder and beige color palettes — although a few remained for those who can’t let go of matching their morning beverages with their wardrobes.

Here, the leading trends that emerged in the Danish capital.

Forces of Nature

OpéraSport’s design duo Stephanie Gundelach and Awa Malina Stelter looked to nature and set their show outside the Copenhagen Opera House along the water.

“This collection was inspired by the enchanting Exillion garden, a hidden gem north of Copenhagen. This private garden is a testament to the harmonious blend of nature’s beauty and architectural elegance,” said Stelter.

The duo sent out an army of models facing the strong fresh wind in red silky over-the-knee skirts; plain black dresses with ruffled detailing, and swimwear in the brand’s signature color combo of baby blue and black, fit for dipping into the water after the show.

Another duo, Rotate’s designers Jeanette Madsen and Thora Valdimarsdottir, also turned to all things green with an elegant show at the Royal Library Garden.

They were inspired by the 1920s, but not flapper girls and feather boas. Instead, there were black fringe dresses; silk and lace dresses, and dresses that imitated folding screens, leaving what’s under to the audience’s imagination.

There’s always a nod to weddings in the Rotate collections and it’s a clever move on behalf of the duo because they know their brand is shopped by both brides-to-be and party girls.

“We wanted to create the ultimate mood of summer, the warmth, lightness, freedom and romance of the season,” said Madsen about the soft, floral prints that appeared throughout the collection.

Home Sweet Home

After more than 27 years of living and working abroad, Danish designer Peter Jensen returned home to present his new brand, Yours Truly.

“It’s more a platform for artists to work with me or themselves or a partner. This is more like a project [rather] than selling a collection,” said the designer, who worked with London-based photographer Annie Collinge, artist Julie Verhoeven and stylist Jacob K.

The presentation was a celebration of individuality and expression — a refreshing idea for a brand starting out in Copenhagen considering the city’s strong association with fitting inside a box.

Jensen cast women over the age of 45 and put them in layered tulle dresses; floral smock dresses; capes that touched the floor, and footwear that’s anything but ordinary in metallic silver and clunky architectural shapes.

The women had as much fun wearing the clothes as the designer had making them — both danced together during the presentation.

Astrid Andersen, the Danish designer who used to be a regular name on the London Fashion Week calendar pre-pandemic, picked Copenhagen Fashion Week to debut her new brand, Stel.

She’s been working on the brand full time for more than a year and it’s a departure from her kitschy streetwear designs that she previously showed in London.

Andersen has grown up and so have the clothes — her designs are now about function and longevity rather than street credibility. 

“Finding the right poplin fabric for the shirts turned out to be the biggest quest of all,” she said, pointing to the variety of the easy-to-wear shirts in classic blue stripes and solid colors.

To mark the brand’s launch, Andersen went to concept store Storm for a retail partnership, which will stock her pieces that start from 89 euros for a T-shirt and just over 500 euros for a coat.

The designer, who was heavily involved with the music scene under her previous label, hasn’t let her connections go. She had American rapper and songwriter A$AP Nast style the collection.