An Editor in Copenhagen: Inside CPHFW’s Creative Hub

From the moment the official schedule kicks off, Copenhagen Fashion Week naturally bleeds into the city's local street culture. Running on pure adrenaline after a ten-hour flight, I pulled on a sheer white lace look with vintage butter-yellow sandals and dove straight into the schedule.

Julie started off our street-style shoots at La Cabra, capturing so many whimsical looks before I even landed in Copenhagen. Once I arrived we set off to the Stella Nova showroom, where tactile textures and vintage-inspired tailoring set the tone for the Scandi shift toward quiet maximalism. After capturing street style looks and chatting with the OOTD girls, I hopped over to the Ganni x STEM party. Teaming up with zero-waste design label STEM, they threw a massive street party in lieu of a traditional runway. The street flooded with editors and locals drinking out of leopard-print cans, eating branded madeleines, and dancing in the street—a reminder that CPHFW's best moments often happen outside the official venues. The night wrapped with drinks at Bird with my co-workers, chatting through our creative tactic for taking on the first shoots for our Free People campaign the next day. 

Unlike New York's sweltering summer heat, Copenhagen called for light layers. I styled a Y2K poncho over a loose white tee and wide-leg denim, adding suede boots, and a crochet beanie from Free People before hitting a morning presentation. 

The morning belonged to tech-wear: Oakley’s SS27 preview at their culture hub highlighted Japanese-inspired technical outerwear and gorpcore silhouettes. After checking out the new collection, I biked over to the Free People store where I met Jamie and Julie for the first shoots of our campaign.

Free People is our first-ever and longest-standing brand partner. Fun fact: I was actually casted in OOTD’s first brand campaign with Free People back in Fall 2024 and eventually made my way back as a team member a year later! Since 2024, we’ve executed countless campaigns for Free People—from NYC street style to Coachella to CPHFW. 

Shooting a social campaign takes a lot more strategy than people realize: location scouting, to finding that unassuming door for the perfect backdrop, knowing which colors clash in just the right way, chasing natural lighting when the sun refuses to show up, ensuring the background fits the brand aesthetic, and directing talent on how to pose to match a meticulously curated mood board. After Jamie steamed and styled the outfits, Julie (our EU content lead) and I traded off capturing stills and videos of everyone before... of course, it started to rain. Weather is the one unpredictable variable that can make or break street content. But a little rain never stopped us, we swapped the girls into more rain-friendly looks and captured everything we needed right before it started downpouring.

I ducked into a local cafe to spend a couple of hours curating and editing all the Free People content before meeting my friend Kayla (a fellow creative editor) for the Paulino Russo show. Russo delivered an explosion of kinetic art and pure rebellious spirit—a youthful, skater-girl collection packed with bright color palettes, slouchy knits, and oversized Bratz-like charms. It was raw, expressive, and wildly fun. After the show, we stopped by the Les Deux x Zalando gathering at Soho House before ending the night dancing at the Heliot Emil party.

Day three was spent wrapping up the rest of our Free People shoots (on a luckily very sunny day) and attending back-to-back shows and events. 

The way OOTD takes on brand campaigns is far more intentional and collaborative than people see from the outside. We start by cultivating a true relationship with the brand (sometimes years in the making) and map out their specific creative vision. From there, Jamie, our PR Director, reviews the lookbook and casts creators who match the brands style. Our Content Director Nic builds out a shot list and mood board that the brand approves, and once product arrives and Jamie handles scheduling, the fun part begins: executing the shoots!

For this campaign, Julie and I captured all the stills and video, which were then curated while Nic produced the final edits for our socials. After every shoot, I get to build out a curated trend report on how different talent styled the pieces for OOTD.com—which is easily my favorite part of my job (besides shooting!). We shot nine talents in one day, connected with our Copenhagen community, and cheered each other on after seeing how incredible the final content turned out.

After wrapping on our campaign, I quickly swapped into a backless black Rixo dress from their upcoming collection (which I previewed earlier at Hotel Bella Grande), chugged a coffee, grabbed a cardamom bun, and headed out to see Henrik Vibskov’s show at the Design Museum.

Sipping Japanese sour cocktails, the audience watched Vibskov tap straight into his inner child with avant-garde tailoring and playful proportions that proved why he remains one of the city's true visionaries. As evening hit, Baum und Pferdgarten staged one of the week's most memorable shows outdoors at King’s Garden. The collection picked up right where a dancer leaves the rehearsal studio—exploring that fleeting moment when performance movement bleeds into real life. The night wrapped at a fairytale castle venue for Rotate’s afterparty, complete with an on-site tattoo artist.

Working at a startup means one role is really three in one. But as someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment, I love having a multifaceted role where I am able to shoot content for our socials, connect with our community, work on brand campaigns, and cover everything happening in fashion from NYC to Copenhagen.

On our final day of CPHFW, our main focus was capturing authentic street style across the city—from stylish locals to creators who flew in specifically for fashion week. It was incredible to experience the full spectrum of Copenhagen style and hear firsthand what inspired everyone’s looks. In total, Julie and I shot 29 girls throughout the week (all seamlessly coordinated by our Community Lead, Nicole), ensuring we captured live street style content alongside our Free People campaign.

After wrapping our street style shoots, it was time to get dressed for CPHFW’s International Guest show: Collina Strada! What makes Copenhagen so unique is how naturally sustainability is built into the culture here—it’s not a trend, but the core foundation of the entire fashion week. Fittingly, I pulled together an outfit made of pre-loved pieces: a thrifted poncho styled as a skirt, an ARE YOU AM I corset I scored on The RealReal, and deadstock lace tights I bought earlier that day from a vintage store I had stumbled across.

Staged right by the water, the New York brand brought its signature maximalism to Copenhagen with a collection crafted entirely from upcycled and recycled materials. Models emerged like sirens straight out of the water, draped in discarded textiles brought back to life with a playful, raw energy—a striking reminder of why sustainable fashion matters so deeply.

After grabbing a post-show dinner at Superbon with Julie, Jamie, and Paris (our first-ever intern at OOTD who happens to be a Copenhagen local), I closed out the official schedule at the Levi’s and Collina Strada afterparty—hosted inside a two-story Danish townhouse, where editors and creatives danced to Rihanna in the candlelight, ending the official schedule on the highest possible note.

This fashion week operated so differently than New York because people seemed to care about actually enjoying it instead of just capturing it. Conversations flowed, compliments fluttered, and the city brimmed with inspiration.

I spent my final day getting intentionally lost—sipping a glass of natural wine while writing down my notes, stumbling upon an architecture exhibition at the Royal Danish Academy, and being reminded exactly why I pursued a job in fashion. Not for the clothes, or the excitement, or the clout, but for the moments when I get to appreciate art and the person behind it. Where I can see the fear, the creativity, the emotion, and the passion behind a collection. Where I can admire all of the tiny details that went into a piece, not because it’s sellable or a trend, but because the designer felt a pull and let it take over.

Copenhagen was a reminder of what many are too scared to realize: being lost can be the best thing to happen to you. Creative minds don’t get inspired when they're distracted by everything else—they get inspired by the moments they don’t even anticipate. Life isn’t life without the unexpected, and Copenhagen Fashion Week is as delightfully unexpected as it gets.