BERNIER KÜHL SS26 – COPENHAGEN FASHION WEEK

A Living Installation

This Copenhagen Fashion Week, Berner Kuhl invites guests into a living narrative of space, form, and personal expression. Titled Inhabited Spaces, the SS26 presentation is not a typical runway show. Instead, it is a hybrid exhibition unfolding at Brigade Gallery, where fashion, furniture, and functional design blur into one immersive experience. If you came for a catwalk, you might have been mildly confused, but for anyone willing to rethink the idea of “wearable space,” it was quietly brilliant.

The Question at the Core

At the heart of the collection lies a deceptively simple question: What does it mean to inhabit a space? From the private interiors that shape our inner lives to the garments that move with us through the world, SS26 examines how identity is formed by the physical and emotional environments we construct around ourselves. It’s introspective fashion that doesn’t shout, it observes.

Movement and Interaction

Breaking with the usual runway theatrics, the models navigated an evolving, lived-in installation. They interacted with personal furniture pieces and objects curated by Frederik Berner Kühl, which acted as subtle extensions of the self. Each piece was familiar yet refined, functional yet expressive.

Watching a model perch delicately on a minimalist chair or rest a hand on a polished table felt like witnessing someone’s private ritual, elevated to art: without the awkward Instagram poses.

Architecture of Garments

The clothing itself mirrored this spatial consciousness. Architectural silhouettes softened by natural movement, structured tailoring paired with tactile, interior-inspired fabrics.

Dense weaves in deadstock polyester and silk created outerwear with weight and presence, while coated linen and crepe linen-wool blends evoked the flowing grace of drapey curtains. The collection thrived on dualities: public and private, utilitarian and emotional, worn and lived-in. Clothes designed not just to be seen, but to be inhabited.

Pieces That Speak

Highlights included a classic ultra-fine 16GG merino polo, engineered for day-to-day devotion, and Super 120s light wool shirts that doubled as luxurious pajamas or the perfect evening companion.

A cotton-silk knit offered a heavy Milano structure inspired by fine plaid, but also appeared in an ultra-light rib reminiscent of old undergarments: cleverly bridging domestic comfort and sartorial sophistication. One could almost imagine the garments whispering: “Yes, you may lounge, but stylishly, please.”

The Philosophy

“This season is about recognizing clothing as more than adornment. It’s an interface between the body and the world. Just like a home, it carries the imprint of how we live,” says Frederik Berner Kühl. And indeed, Inhabited Spaces achieved this beautifully. The show was a subtle reminder that fashion does not always need to scream to leave a mark; sometimes it just needs to exist, thoughtfully, around you.

Step Inside

Inhabited Spaces is both exhibition and invitation. It asks viewers to pause, to consider the interplay between self, object, and place. In a world where most fashion shows chase spectacle, Berner Kuhl dares to quietly observe life—clothes as extensions of the self, furniture as collaborators, and a gallery as the living room of our collective imagination.