One to Watch brand SSON makes its Copenhagen Fashion Week debut with an autumn/winter '26 collection crafted entirely from secondhand materials and peppered with a witty critique of our access to excess
In January 2025, Sweden implemented a new law that required textile waste to be sorted separately from the general household rubbish. The ruling quickly proved ineffective, with the overflow of textile waste clogging the new system. “It was such a thought-provoking moment, because it’s such a proof of the current situation where people have these huge piles of clothes that they’re just trying to get rid of,” says Yulia Kjellsson, creative director and co-founder of Swedish brand SSON.
Yet this is hardly news for labels like SSON, which exclusively works with secondhand materials. “The charity shops we’ve been working with over the past years to source materials and use items that even they can’t sell, they tell us about the overload of textiles and how difficult it’s for them to manage the constant stream of them,” Kjellsson continues. Though she acknowledges that the brand isn’t the first one to highlight this issue, she and co-founder Ellinor Håkansson felt it was the perfect concept – forming SSON’s foundation – to explore for the label’s Copenhagen Fashion Week debut as a One to Watch brand.
Dubbed ‘The Fortunate Ones’, SSON’s autumn/winter ‘26 showcase unfolded as an immersive presentation staged in Nørrebro’s snug gallery space inter.pblc. Against a soundscape dreamt up by Benjamin Lavén, the looped performance invited guests to wander around the exhibition and examine the garments up close. Looming in the centre of the room, a mountain of discarded clothes nodded to the collection’s title, reflecting our position of having access to excess – a time where consumerism and a craving for shiny new things still reigns supreme, while we, as Kjellsson puts it, “are drowning in our own piles of objects.”
It is fairly absurd that, even with the enduring buzz around sustainability, these issues still persist. “The collection is a bit ridiculous and absurd in the same way,” Kjelsson notes. “We were like, ‘What can we do with all of this excess stuff then? Okay, we could make a garment where you’re wearing a bunch of clothes at once.’” Enter the fur-trimmed jacket, fashioned from multiple fur-lined hoods, transforming a winter staple into an avant-garde creation, and the navy knit skirt, crafted from draped V-neck sweaters (favourite secondhand finds of Kjelsson).
“The name ‘Fortunate Ones’ also bears some references to the upper class and a posh aesthetic,” she adds. Crisp, preppy shirting paired with plush knits. A prim, powder-pink shirt-turned-A-line-dress that would feel right at home in Blair Waldorf’s wardrobe. Bratty Polo T-shirts that exude trust fund energy. “The ideas also come with the garments. It’s really fun, because working with second-hand materials gives you so many different ways of finding inspiration,” Kjelsson muses.
As SSON’s ethos stresses: “relevance in fashion does not depend on producing more.” The brand is undoubtedly pulling its weight, striving to make the industry more sustainable. “We're still a fashion brand – we work with innovation, storytelling and we push fashion forward. We want to enjoy what fashion is, but to do that in the future, we have to find ways to do it sustainably,” Kjelsson says. The label’s AW26 collection certainly proves that upcycled clothing can still be just as inventive, interesting, and fun.
See the full SSON AW26 collection below.
