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| Fine tailoring and whimsical detail were at the heart of the collection by Caroline Engelgaar's MKDT Studio. Photograph (above) and cover by Jay Zoo for DAM |
One of the highlights of Copenhagen Fashion Week was MKDT Studio’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection which explores the space between memory and imagination, where the familiar is reshaped into something subtly unexpected. With a focus on form, texture, and the art of imperfection, the season reflects a deliberate play between structure and fluidity. It is a study in how clothing can feel both precise and instinctive, grounded in tradition yet open to reinvention. Story by Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photography by Jay Zoo
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Crisp white, high-collared shirt with a long, loose cream jacket. |
Founded in 2014, the label's collections are designed and developed in Engelgaar's Copenhagen atelier. This season's Echoes of the Known, takes its cues from two seemingly unrelated sources: the surreal landscapes of American painter Kay Sage and the AI-generated work of Jean Jacques Balzac. Both artists create spaces that are almost real, yet subtly distorted, a concept Caroline Engelgaar applies to the brand’s tailoring.
Structured blazers, sculpted trousers, and fitted dresses remain at the core, but are reworked with seams that open to reveal skin while uncut threads disrupt the polish creating garments that appear at once refined and undone.
The collection’s colour palette of black, mink, ivory, and stone is lightened with pastels such as sage, yellow, and grey which soften the architectural silhouettes. Fabric innovation plays a key role, with shredded ramie forming three-dimensional check patterns, woven bands integrating into sleeves and skirt lines, and the interplay of natural fibres like hemp-linen, and cotton calico with wool and silk blends. The result is a tactile, layered collection that shifts between softness and rigidity.
Collaboration remains a defining feature of the season too. Dahlman1807 contributes a sculptural new belt design, while Parisian shoemaker Calla transforms MKDT Studio’s own production cutoffs into fringed babouches. The label also enlarges its denim, adding the high-waisted cigarette-style pants and cropped, voluminous pieces. Rather than revisit the past with sentimentality, Echoes of the Known approaches reconnection as an act of looking closely, reconstructing meaning from existing forms and finding interest in the deliberate, almost imperceptible, deviations from the expected.
Scroll down to see more highlights from the MKDT Studio SS26 collection in Copenhagen
