At Copenhagen Fashion Week spring/summer '27, New Balance's trainers – the sleek new 204V silhouette, in particular – are on the feet of the city's most stylish, across runways, on the streets and in some of Copenhagen’s most frequented spots. Below, step inside the brand's city-wide activation during CPHFW, including its beautifully blue takeover of the iconic Copenhagen café, Atelier September
While heels might reign supreme in Paris, New York and Milan, Copenhagen's style set are known for opting for something far more practical for a day of traversing the city's cobblestone streets and sprinting from one runway show to the next: trainers. And though it has its roots in Boston, few footwear brands have become as synonymous with the effortlessly cool Nordic style as New Balance.
To kick off Copenhagen Fashion Week spring/summer '27, New Balance introduced its latest silhouette, the streamlined, low-slung 204V. Fittingly for a city where Fashion Week unfolds as much between quick matcha and coffee stops as it does between catwalks, the launch wasn't confined to one venue or headline moment. Instead, it rippled across Copenhagen, with the city's hotspot, Atelier September, at its heart.
Photo: Courtesy of New Balance
Photo: Courtesy of New Balance
Photo: Courtesy of New Balance
As golden hour cloaked the sky on Monday evening, the café's new Gammel Kongevej location gradually filled with editors, stylists, designers and friends of New Balance. There was no grand reveal of the latest style. Instead, glasses of wine replaced takeaway coffees, conversations spilt from inside onto the terrace and, for a few hours, one of Copenhagen's favourite neighbourhood cafés became the unofficial opening scene of Fashion Week.
New Balance transformed the space with a light touch. The 204V sat among Atelier September's signature blue-and-white porcelain, while handwritten branding appeared on windows, cups and glassware as though it had always belonged there. Towering blue delphiniums echoed the cool tones of the trainer, bringing a burst of colour into the otherwise understated interiors, without disrupting the café's cosy atmosphere.
Photo: Courtesy of New Balance
Photo: Courtesy of New Balance
Photo: Courtesy of New Balance
That restraint felt intentional. Rather than temporarily consuming Atelier September, New Balance embraced its existing identity, recognising the café as one of Copenhagen's most important creative meeting places. Throughout the week, it will continue to serve as a stop between shows, a place to meet over coffee or linger after an evening event, with the 204V harmoniously woven into the experience.
Photo: Courtesy of New Balance
Photo: Courtesy of New Balance
Photo: Courtesy of New Balance
And the Atelier September residency (which continues until Saturday) is only one part of this city-wide activation. The 204V can be spotted all over town, such as when it walked down OpéraSport's spring/summer '27 runway. Styled throughout the show which opened CPHFW, the hue of the new style complemented the botanical inspiration of the collection, adding an extra layer of wearability to the collection.
At the same time, an editorial campaign photographed by Sascha Oda Adler and styled by Rikke Wackerhausen, featuring various women from Copenhagen's creative community, appears across the city in retail spaces, printed matter, and public touchpoints.
Photo: Courtesy of New Balance
Photo: Courtesy of New Balance
Photo: Courtesy of New Balance
This is an approach that feels perfectly suited to Copenhagen. Here, Fashion Week has never been about gathering everyone under one roof. It takes place in the spaces between the shows – in cafés, on street corners and along bike routes – as much as it does on the runway. By making Atelier September the anchor for a launch that extended across the city, New Balance created an activation that mirrored the way Copenhagen itself is experienced: one neighbourhood, one conversation and one coffee stop at a time.