On August 7, Cecilie Bahnsen returns to Copenhagen Fashion Week for a landmark moment: a ten-year anniversary show, set against the raw concrete expanse of Refshaleøen, a post-industrial peninsula where the city’s creative energy takes unexpected shape. A decade since the brand’s inception, this is more than a retrospective. It is a living portrait. A celebration not only of what has been, but of what endures, transforms, and evolves into the future.
The Brand
Cecilie Bahnsen operates at the intersection of couture and ready-to-wear to create luxury clothing with a relaxed, timeless style. Celebrating the traditions of fine French fashion and the design culture of Scandinavia, each piece brings forward a contemporary take on femininity. Unique fabrics are hand-designed in Cecilie Bahnsen’s Copenhagen studio to create clothes with unexpected combinations of softness and structure, minimal and maximal, perfect and imperfect. Our aim is to develop a world of pieces that can be cherished for years, passed between friends, reinterpreted and restyled to express the individuality of the wearer.
FIRE FLOWERS
The show is titled Hana-bi, the Japanese word for fireworks, composed of the characters for “flower” and “fire.” A symbol of duality, delicacy and disruption. In this, Bahnsen finds a fitting metaphor for her own language. Sculptural silhouettes formed in softness. Couture-level techniques worn with ease. Emotion caught in quiet flashes. Like the first burst of fireworks, the collection initially opens in white pure, luminous, and arresting. Then, gradually yet purposefully, it moves through a delicate shimmer of light, before subsequently transitioning into silver, thereby ultimately signalling the elegant shift from innocence to radiant sophistication. This colour transition, a hallmark in her shows, here marks evolution. A flicker of light, a bloom, a spark. “Every time I begin a new collection, I start with white,” Cecilie shares. “It feels like a canvas.”
THE LAUNGUAGE OF FABRIC
Fabric becomes memory. Every previous show collection is represented through textiles, a quiet constraint that lends coherence to the collage. Existing textiles like Myrtia organza, Fiama fil-coupé and quilted taffeta return in new configurations. Existing forms are twisted and reimagined. Some garments are printed in silver, others flipped. Fronts become backs. Hems lifted. Volumes compressed or expanded. Shoes, too, follow this language. All models wear existing white ASICS, reworked with embroidery, foil, or deconstructed linings. A celebration of Bahnsen’s long-standing collaboration with the brand.
A SOFT IMPACT
The show becomes an open letter to Copenhagen. An invitation, perhaps, for the city to see itself in the work. Set to a score by August Rosenbaum, a soundtrack that carries a sense of nostalgia, but also a raw simplicity. Hypnotic beats, moody atmospheres, and a haunting, unpolished beauty. All complimented by Beth Gibbons’ voice and tone, embodying pure emotion. With models brushing past each other, exuding a sense of freedom and ease. The atmosphere is dreamlike, ever-changing, the garments emerging and dissolving within a subtle haze. More painterly than explosive; accordingly, as the final look appears, the show ends not with a crescendo, but with a soft impact.
A PIECE OF THE STORY
Select pieces from the show will be available for purchase directly from the runway or as made-to-order, offering a rare chance to bring home a one-of-a-kind expression of the brand’s past and present. The collection will also be exhibited in Cecilie Bahnsen’s newly opened Copenhagen boutique and where the looks can be acquired by private appointment.
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