Fashion’s Fine Line: MKDT Studio’s Architecture of Softness and Poetry of Precision in Copenhagen

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 

Crisp white, high-collared shirt

with a long, loose cream jacket.

CREATIVE Director Caroline Engelgaar examines the fine line between the familiar and the unfamiliar with her new MKDT collection where precision tailoring meets subtle disruption. She uses the season to challenge perceptions of polish, introducing garments that appear immaculate at first glance but reveal intentional differences on closer inspection. 

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

Utilitarian Poetics: In the Refshaleøen Forest, Finnish Designer Rolf Ekroth Blends Function, Fashion and Form

Backstage before the Rolf Ekroth SS26 show, models wear the designer's signature, padded vest with tulips in vivid hues of fuchsia. Photograph by Andrea Heinsohn for DAM

Copenhagen Fashion Week’s Spring/Summer 2026 schedule brought together a broad range of visions, but Finnish designer Rolf Ekroth’s 189 Days Later – Encore stood out for its measured blend of conceptual depth and wearable execution, writes Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Backstage and runway photography by Andrea Heinsohn

Rolf Ekoth's show was held in a woodland,

which enhanced the otherworldly aesthetic. 

ROLF Ekroth's new collection worked through themes of renewal, revisiting designs to refine and evolve them rather than presenting a retrospective Staged in the lush Refshaleøen forest, the show signalled a lighter and more pragmatic turn for the label.

Core influences ranged from Nineties British street style to the cinematic tension of horror film soundtracks, with nods to The Sopranos and the designer’s own methodical working process. Utilitarian outerwear, detailed handwork, and inventive upcycling anchored the line-up, offering a balance between function and craft.

The collection’s technical execution was equally notable, with Japanese nylon, coated cotton, and repurposed vintage denim transformed into silhouettes that alternated between structured and fluid. Highlights included hand-sewn pearl garments, padded shirts with sportswear references, and the return of the brand’s signature rescue vest in newly sculpted forms. 

A collaboration with Finland’s Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto gave discarded textiles a second life, turning waste into runway material. Prints by long-time collaborator Matilda Diletta introduced bold fuchsia tulips and abstract flames, contrasting with muted greys, blues, and bursts of emergency orange. Whether through laser-cut breathing holes, 1,000-pin flame motifs, or 15,000 pearls applied by hand, the detail work reinforced the season’s message: progress comes through precise, deliberate design. In this forest setting, Ekroth delivered a confident evolution of his ideas that pushed his vision forward without abandoning the foundations of his work. 

See all the highlights below from backstage and the runway of Rolf Ekroth's SS26 show