Vintage 501®s, reworked denim, local creatives and a Collina Strada house party: Levi’s HUS landed in Christianshavn for Copenhagen Fashion Week SS27. Here, Levi’s Europe’s Mathilde Vaucheret tells us why the Danish capital was the natural place to bring the brand’s past and present together
There are few garments that can claim to have been worn, reworked, ripped apart and put back together by quite as many generations as a pair of Levi’s. During Copenhagen Fashion Week spring/summer '27, the denim stalwart put that history – and its many modern-day iterations – on display at Levi’s HUS, a week-long space in Christianshavn dedicated to denim, design and Copenhagen’s creative community.
Bringing together new-season collections with archive pieces, vintage 501®s and workwear, Levi’s HUS also played host to a revolving programme of collaborations, talks and events. Caro Editions, Damernes Magasin and David Hellqvist were among the local names taking up residence throughout the week, while Collina Strada joined Levi’s to close out CPHFW with a suitably lively final-night celebration. Part showroom, part archive, part cultural meeting point, HUS brought together new-season Levi’s collections, vintage 501®s, workwear and archive pieces alongside collaborations, talks and – naturally – a very good house party.
Photo: Michaela Metesová
Photo: Michaela Metesová
Photo: Michaela Metesová
“Copenhagen is a city with a strong point of view that’s confident enough to do things its own way,” says Mathilde Vaucheret, vice president of marketing and brand experience at Levi’s Europe. “That spirit of individuality feels very Levi’s.” It’s an accurate assessment. The city’s approach to getting dressed is rooted in mixing things up – old with new, polished with practical, designer with something pulled from a vintage rail. Denim, naturally, thrives in that equation.
“What makes Copenhagen especially exciting is the way people approach personal style, and denim in particular,” Vaucheret says. “It’s not about wearing it one way, it’s about making it your own. You see people mix vintage and contemporary pieces in ways that feel effortless and authentic.”
Timed to coincide with Copenhagen Fashion Week’s 20th anniversary, HUS also offered a unique opportunity to look backwards and forwards at once. The Levi’s universe housed inside ranged from its 700 series and Blue Tab to workwear, the 501® family and selected archive collaborations. “We wanted to show the conversation between past and present,” says Vaucheret. “Our heritage isn’t something we simply look back on, it’s something we continue to build from and reinterpret in new ways.”
Mathilde Vaucheret, vice president of marketing and brand experience at Levi’s Europe.
Perhaps nowhere was that more literal than in Levi’s collaboration with Caro Editions. For her SS27 collection, Copenhagen designer Caroline Bille Brahe took eight vintage Levi’s jackets and reworked them with deadstock couture trims, sending the one-of-a-kind pieces down the runway before relocating them to HUS. The result landed somewhere between familiar denim jacket and collector’s piece. Elsewhere, Copenhagen vintage store Damernes Magasin curated an edit of vintage Levi’s 501® jeans, while fashion writer David Hellqvist launched Blue-Collar Modernism: The Visual Culture of Workwear, his new book with gestalten exploring how clothing once made for miners, mechanics and steelworkers found its way into the wider fashion lexicon.
The mix was intentional: rather than parachuting in an international brand activation into Copenhagen for fashion week, Levi’s wanted HUS to feel connected to the city around it. “Levi’s has always been at its best when it’s connected to the communities and creative scenes that shape culture,” Vaucheret explains. “It was important that Levi’s HUS felt rooted in Copenhagen rather than simply arriving in the city for a week.”
That meant bringing local names into conversation with international ones, culminating in a Levi’s x Collina Strada celebration to close the week. Conceived less as a glossy fashion-week event and more as a house party – albeit one with a particularly well-dressed guest list – the evening saw local talent Acid Mouth and DJ Oyinda take over HUS.
Photo: Kristine Sokolowski
Photo: Kristine Sokolowski
Photo: Kristine Sokolowski
For Vaucheret, it became one of the week’s defining moments. “There was such a great energy throughout the evening,” she says. “Having local talent like Acid Mouth and DJ Oyinda perform made it feel deeply connected to the city and its creative community.”
That connection to Copenhagen was felt throughout HUS as a 'third space' for fashion folk at CPHFW – and, for Vaucheret, reflects what sets the city’s fashion week apart. “What stood out most was the sense of openness and individuality,” she says. “Copenhagen Fashion Week has a very different energy to many other fashion weeks. It feels incredibly inclusive and approachable, while still being one of the most influential events on the global fashion calendar.”