For autumn/winter 2026, Baum und Pfedgarten looked to the sky, drawing inspiration from aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart for a collection that reflects two sides of the American icon
Few vocations are as fundamentally behind-the-times as aviation. The jet set fashion crowd can attest that when the pilot’s voice echoes over the loud speaker moments before takeoff, it typically belongs to a man (over 90 percent of the global pilot workforce is male). It’s a reality that makes Amelia Earhart all the more extraordinary. In 1932, the American icon became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic (a few years later she would disappear attempting to fly around the world). She also served as the starting point for Baum und Pferdgarten’s autumn/winter 2026 collection.
Earhart proved an apt muse for founders Rikke Baumgarten und Helle Hestehave not only for what she represents – strength, bravery, female empowerment – but also her aesthetic. “She has her aviator clothes – her leather jacket, leather pants – and she was also well-known in high society life,” says Hestehave. “She would wear these beautiful evening dresses and fur coats. We always work with both sides of women, so it was actually obvious when we looked at her that it would be a nice collection worked around her.”
The show was aptly held within the vast Idrætshuset (just beside the stadium at which Baum held its sports-themed show for SS25), a space so expansive it mirrors the vibe of an airport hangar. The runway was turned into, well, a runway (for takeoff, that is), the white lines dictating the model traffic. That aforementioned dichotomy is instantly apparent; the opening look was quintessential pilot Amelia: a chocolate brown leather aviator jacket paired with relaxed leather trousers. Suit pants tucked into boots, silk scarves tied around necks, it’s a utilitarian look that’s just effortlessly cool. Later, society Amelia emerges by way of elegant velvet frocks with flattering ruching and ladylike ruffles around the neckline. Elsewhere, slimly tailored wool herringbone overcoats and smart pinstriped suiting split the difference between the two sides of the season’s muse. Setting the tone was a female children’s choir, their gentle voices reverberating through the massive room.
Fittingly, Baumgaten and Hestehave are also exploring new territory this season. “We have very tough new goals for our new collections,” says Baumgarten. “70 per cent of our fabrics should be preferred, meaning recycled, ecological, certified fabrics. So just that is a challenge, and a huge accomplishment.” Some of the fabrics that the brand has been using for years didn’t make the cut. “It’s a new way of thinking,” says Hestehave. Proof that even after 25-plus years in business, Baum und Pferdgarten can still soar to new heights.
See the full Baum und Pfedgarten AW26 collection below.
