Berner Kuhl is looking beyond the traditional connotations of clothing for spring/summer 2026. At Copenhagen Fashion Week, the Danish label offers an opportunity to reflect on dualities in life and the dialogues fashion can open
Berner Kuhl's spring/summer '26 collection offers far more than a display of garments – it extends an invitation to pause, to reflect, and to engage with a deceptively simple, yet profound question: What does it mean to inhabit a space?
A meditation on presence, the Danish label's offering ponders how we exist, not only within rooms and structures, but within the garments that accompany us through the world. From intimate interiors that are privy to our private selves, to the clothing that moves through public life, the collection delicately traces the interplay between identity and environment. Here, Berner Kuhl suggests that who we are is not fixed, but continually shaped by the physical and emotional experiences we build, enter and carry with us. In this manner, each item becomes more than simply attire - it embodies a vessel for memory and a subtle expression of how we choose to take up space in the world.
Breaking away from the conventions of the traditional runway, the brand staged an immersive presentation in Copenhagen's Brigade Gallery. Rather than striding across a catwalk, models navigated a shifting installation – one part domestic tableau, one part conceptual performance. They moved with fluid precision through a space designed not simply to frame the clothing they wore but to mirror the rhythms of lived experience. Personal furniture pieces and curated objects – hand-selected by creative director Frederik Berner Hühl - anchor the setting, imbuing an intimacy that felt both raw and deliberate. The result was not simply a presentation but an experience that blurred the boundaries between design and identity, between garment and habitat.
That spirit of contemplation threaded itself throughout the SS26 collection, which explored the dualities inherent in modern life. Bold, brutalist silhouettes – almost architectural in their presence – were softened by movement and tactility. Tailoring, traditionally rigid and reserved, was reimagined in interior-inspired materials that spoke comfort, warmth, and memory. Heavy textural weaves, traditionally reserved for outer layers or upholstery, were applied with intention and elegance, transforming familiar structures into garments that felt deeply personal. Here, there was a palpable tension, a deliberate contrast between the public and the private, the utilitarian and the emotional, the constructed and the lived-in.
"This season is about recognising clothing as more than an adornment," says Berner Kühl. "It's an interface between the body and the world. Just like a home, it carries the imprint of how we live."
Berner Kuhl's latest offering doesn't just ask to be seen – it asks to be felt, inhabited and reflected upon. It's a collection that situates itself, not simply on the body, but in the quiet, often unspoken places between self and setting. And, in doing so, it invited us to reconsider how we move through the world, and what we carry with us along the way.
See all the looks from Berner Kuhl's SS26 collection below.
