Opening up Copenhagen Fashion Week with a live metal band, (Di)vision sent a diverse cast of models down the runway wearing its signature upcycled pieces. Think patchwork pants and dresses with cutouts, the classic workwear jacket reinvented, and plaid shirts and dresses stitched together to create interesting textures that truly stand out.

The label was founded in 2018 by Nanna Wick and Simon Wick. “Almost everything we make needs to be surplus in some way,” Wick tells NYLON. “We want to create a greener world, but we are self-aware enough to know that we work in an industry that is one of the biggest sinners when it comes to pollution. We already have more than enough fabrics in the world for us to work with, that’s the reason we try to use the materials we already have.”

Sisters Julie and Marie Skall founded Skall Studio in 2014 and have since become known for delicate white dresses, hand-knitted sweaters, and natural materials. In fact, the brand only uses organic cotton, linen, and wool from local organic sheep herds. Skall Studio’s Spring 2022 collection was a celebration of easy dressing, with an emphasis on soft dresses and flowing tops as well as sculptural bags by Omhu Studio.

“We have a lot of knits made in Denmark and organic cotton and linen, which we've been working with since the beginning,” explains Marie. The duo also take constant inspiration from art, especially in their local Copenhagen. “There are so many great museums like this one we had the show in today,” she adds. (The brand hosted at Den Frie Udstillingsbygning, a contemporary art venue.) “So it feels like it’s a great window to the world outside, through art. We’re very much inspired by that.”

In one of the most unique shows of the season, Rotate took guests to a car garage and models emerged from vintage sports cars wearing holographic slinky tops, low-cut chunky cargo pants, sequin patchwork dresses, and abstract-printed dresses. Every single piece looked like the perfect party outfit and the brand's creative directors, influencers Jeanette Madsen and Thora Valdimarsdottir, took inspiration from a classic character: Fran Fine of The Nanny. The brand was founded in 2018, but is already on its way to becoming a household classic from Copenhagen, given its stocked at some of the most major retailers, like Nordstrom and Net-a-Porter.

If you follow a certain style set on Instagram, you may have come across Helmstedt. Founded by Emilie Helmstedt in 2018, the brand has a focus on painterly quilted coats, little pastel dresses with adorable prints, terry cloth separates, and whimsical swimwear. It’s a favorite of influencers, but Bella Hadid has also worn the label.

The designer hand-paints all of the prints seen in the collection, which adds a unique, childlike and homemade feeling. For Spring 2022, Helmstedt staged a ship-themed show where models walked in front of a boat complete with a live poetry performance by the designer. “The architecture and the colors on the small rocky houses is what inspired me this season,” the designer tells NYLON.

Challenging knitwear as we know it is A. Roege Hove, which was founded in 2019 by Amalie Røge Hove. The designer looks at traditional Danish design and craftsmanship for each piece, with the goal in mind to “challenge our perception of shape and push our expectations of materials and its behavior.” As for Spring 2022, the brand sent models down the runway wearing a variety of ’90s-inspired bodycon pieces with sheer stripes, cutouts, and neon hues.

Julie Brøgger studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Art and left for London to work at various design houses before founding her namesake line, Brøgger, in 2017. She takes inspiration from Danish design tradition, especially in the city of Copenhagen, and the eclecticism of London.

“When I left Copenhagen for London 12 years ago, Danish fashion was very different, more minimal, and pared back, less colorful,” she tells NYLON. “It has evolved into a much more bold version of itself. Something that makes me feel more aesthetically at home with my own brand.” Seen in her Spring 2022 collection was an emphasis on bold, voluminous dresses that took up the entire width of the outdoor runway, plus pastel suiting, a favorite of street style stars in Copenhagen this season.

Louise Lyngh Bjerregaard takes textiles and reinvents them into something entirely new. Her work looks almost vintage, in that the shapes rival the construction and artfulness of a ’90s Vivienne Westwood get-up. The designer studied at Central Saint Martins and the Scandinavian Academy of fashion design and presented her very first collection this season, in the form of a presentation and film debut. She uses a deadstock, zero-waste approach to create experimental knitwear.

“It's my first collection and what I really wanted to show was the capacity I have at this stage right now,” she tells NYLON, post-show. “It's an exploration of several affairs and a lot of draping, pattern-cutting, but also knitwear. I wanted to go crazy with the materials I had available because we only used the materials we already had available in the atelier. I think there's a really beautiful element to using what you have available, but also not trying to limit yourself at the same time.”