The Garment - SS26

The Garment’s SS26 show practically trotted into Copenhagen Fashion Week. Set against the 18th-century grandeur of the Royal Stables (a space the brand had been quietly vying for “for years,” according to creative director Charlotte Eskildsen) the setting alone felt like a victory lap. “Christiansborg burned down a few times, but the stables have always stayed the same.” A fitting metaphor, it seems, for a label quietly holding its line while letting its silhouette evolve. The references are deliberate: a 1960s Jane Birkin ease (basket-in-hand and sun-faded cotton) tightened by the original ‘Horse Girl’ Caroline Bessette-Kennedy’s cool, clean 1990s lines.

This season’s jumping-off point? Horses. Or rather, the romantic idea of them. “I have them in my backyard,” she says, “and hearing them reminds me of weekends and summers.” It’s this sun-dappled nostalgia that gallops through the collection, but not in the hackneyed, horse-girl-on-holiday way. Instead, the equestrian theme is translated through crisp capri pants worn like riding trousers, angular little jackets with stiff collars, and an emphasis on fabric that moves: sheers in Portuguese crepe, whisper-weight knits, and diaphanous layers styled like you're leaving the paddock and heading straight to a gallery opening.

It’s also where the collection’s sense of ease and structure meet. A bustier top draped “like one huge pillowcase” was layered over wide trousers, peplum waists nodded to the 1990s and men’s trousers were cleverly reconstructed into a blazer – waistband and back pocket now repurposed into a centre-back detail. Elsewhere, an oversized sack-like skirt was gathered into a paper bag waist, while sheer embroidered organza in oyster tones gave florals a sharp new context.

There’s even a whisper of bohemia. “A challenge for a minimalistic brand,” Eskildsen admits, but one that feels logical upon review. Summer demands looseness, after all. The addition of accessories (a first for the brand) leaned in, softly: small saddle bags in leather without hardware, with subtle stitching; straw totes delayed in transit but planned nonetheless. “It sits really nice next to the equestrian theme,” Eskildsen says. She’s right.

At a time when fashion weeks teeter between noise and novelty, The Garment stretches toward a breezier, Birkin-in-Saint-Tropez summer without losing track. The tailoring’s still there; the rigour’s still there; but there’s aerodynamic airflow. If the brand keeps threading this bohemian line (measured, not meandering) our bet is that it’s going to convert the trend-fatigued but particular crowd in one season flat. And yes, I’ll take the blazer with the backward waistband. Obviously.

See all the looks from The Garment's SS26 collection below.