For this milestone, the Danish designer returns to her roots by presenting her collection at Copenhagen Fashion Week. Since 2022, however, Paris had been her chosen stage for runway shows. It’s a homecoming of sorts, though without leaving the Paris scene behind, where a second collection will be unveiled in October. The ateliers are buzzing: two lines to create, for two cities and two distinct atmospheres.
Titled Hana-Bi, Japanese for “fireworks”, Cecilie Bahnsen’s anniversary collection unfolds as a poetic retrospective, combining signature elements from the past decade with fresh creations. In a pristine palette of white and silver, she continues her exploration of a light, exquisite yet meticulously created “everyday couture” wardrobe.
On the runway: 27 silhouettes seem to float in the air, carried by the extreme lightness of fabrics, mainly organza, which appear to hover around the body. In contrast, a brutalist set-up of concrete and mist, sets a dreamlike tone. The models emerge as if from a dream, slowly materializing out of the haze…
A tribute runway show
For this anniversary collection, Cecilie Bahnsen subtly reaffirms her singular language. A romantic delicacy that has propelled her onto the international stage. Her signature “meringue” dresses, with airy volumes created from sheer fabrics, reveal sequined shorts that play on a fine balance between modesty and sensuality. Layering effects, masterful asymmetries, and trailing hems that extend even the shortest dresses create silhouettes in perpetual motion. The brand’s emblematic floral motifs are brought back into the spotlight, pieced together like fragments of fabric in an organic collage. Voluminous, cloud-like ruffles continue the exploration of form, framing the edges of dresses that range from mini to floor length. A skirt with pronounced relief evokes a chrysalis. An extended metaphor for an aesthetic metamorphosis, while a silk slip is reimagined in an amplified version, with volume at the sides, asserting a visual signature now instantly recognizable. In this vision of fashion, couture is lived everyday, with extreme poetry that is at once fragile, precise, and extremely personal.
In a quest for aesthetic coherence, there is no room for superfluous accessories. The only visible additions were white knee-high socks, paired with the now-iconic Asics sneakers. This is the result of a long-standing collaboration between the designer and the Japanese brand.
Cecilie Bahnsen’s loyal muses
It was Isadora Bjarkardóttir Barney, Björk’s daughter, who opened the show. A major appearance, though not a first, she had already walked the runway for Miu Miu in the Spring 2023 season. Her presence underscores the international and artistic aura Cecilie Bahnsen has cultivated over the years.
In the audience, dresses from previous collections were seen in abundance, worn by guests. A testament to genuine loyalty to the designer’s world. For the occasion, the brand invited its most devoted clients, reinforcing this sense of community and homecoming, right in the heart of Copenhagen, the designer’s birthplace.
An attachment that Cecilie Bahnsen herself sums up as follows:
“According to me, there is power and strength in romance and femininity. I create clothes for women to feel comfortable, strong, and independent. I started in London and Paris, and it’s from these cities that I draw inspiration for romance and a sense of detail, but always with the Scandinavian minimalism and simplicity that define me. It must look effortless.”
By celebrating her brand’s 10th anniversary in the heart of Copenhagen, Cecilie Bahnsen delivers more than just a tribute, she reaffirms the foundations of a fashion that is sensitive, powerful, and resolutely feminine. This homecoming, buoyed by the loyalty of an engaged community, stands as a poetic inspiration in the fashion calendar. But the designer hasn’t finished yet, as come October, she will once again make herself get heard on the Paris runways, ready to write the next chapter of her eponymous label.
