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.
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 fireworks, the collection opens in white, pure and luminous, before shifting into silver. 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.”
To prepare for this show, the entire archive was laid bare. Pieces remembered and pieces let go. A meditation on what to carry forward and what deserves to be seen again. The result is a curated mix of archive pieces in new iterations, one-off show pieces, and new creations, revealing not only the timelessness of the brand, but how far it has come. It is a collage of past and present. One-of-a-kind garments built from a decade of creation. Broderie anglaise fronts paired with silk-quilted backs. Sequin briefs emerging beneath airy skirts. Silhouettes reversed or reassembled. What begins as refinement unravels into exuberance, growing wilder, freer, yet grounded always in the purity of the house’s universe.
THE LAUNGUAGE OF FABRIC
Guided by instinct, most looks are one-offs, shaped by hand in the studio and transformed into something entirely new. This freedom, unbound by season, has allowed the house to work with absolute intuition. Every garment has been touched, reworked, and morphed into a shared narrative – a tactile expression of craftmanship and care. There is a sense of extravagance here, not in opulence, but in intention. In the time spent, the hands involved, the devotion to detail.
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. Painterly rather than explosive. As the final look appears, the show ends not with a crescendo, but with a soft impact.
“There’s something special about showing in Copenhagen,” Cecilie shares. “It’s where everything began, and many of the people in the audience have been part of the journey since the start. That makes it feel intimate and emotional. For the show, we invited some guests to wear archive pieces. They become part of the living image. The show doesn’t just happen in front of them, but around them. It’s a way of saying thank you.”
The anniversary show is a moment suspended in time – an embrace of everything the brand has stood for and a gesture toward what comes next. Ten years in, the vision remains intact. Evolving, reframing, but never losing its essence.
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, where the looks can be acquired by private appointment.