Nicklas Skovgaard is the crowning jewel of Copenhagen Fashion Week

When LVMH Prize-nominated designer Nicklas Skovgaard was growing up in Thurø – a small Danish island with under 4,000 inhabitants – he’d chart his fashion obsessions and DIY outfits on his now defunct style blog, the straightforwardly named My Clothing Blog.

​“In Denmark, I had a very naive way of thinking about clothes. It was character building,” Nicklas says, today, wearing a black T‑shirt and trucker hat, sitting, relaxed, in his Copenhagen office, less than a week before his anticipated show at Copenhagen Fashion Week. ​“Trying to search for people who felt the same [way about fashion], you developed a personal approach.“

The internet is where Nicklas nurtured his curiosity for garment-making, archiving, and writing about fashion. And more than a decade on, that very blog has shown its influence on the designer’s SS26 collection.

​“It all connects with my brand today,” he says, referring to this season’s animated and pop culture references. ​“The Nicklas Skovgaard woman is headed to the opera, but she’s blasting Madonna through her headphones on the way there. She’s intuitive – someone who’s thrown on some clothes without thinking about it. In some ways, that childish, almost naive way of approaching dressing has followed me.”

Since launching his eponymous label in 2020, Nicklas’ talent has landed him on fashion’s main stage. Alexa Chung took a shine to him back in 2023 when she wore a feathered set for Vogue World. Ssense and Dover Street Market Paris both stock the brand, and he was among 20 designers shortlisted for this year’s prestigious LVMH Prize. Whimsical references are often woven into Nicklas’ work (last season was inspired by Andy Warhol’s screen prints of Hans Christian Andersen), but his designs always feel high-octane and elevated: last season, striking bubble skirts skirts were juxtaposed with button-up leather jackets, and voluminous dresses with built-in wire complemented leather gloves.

And that childlike intuition hasn’t yet failed him. Nicklas’ love for ​’80s silhouettes, billowing, bulbous skirts and baroque prints has solidified his status as a designer to watch, with crowds queuing up to see his CPHFW shows each season. This year, his fourth, was no different.

Underwear, worn over trousers, was provided by Swiss brand Sloggi, while bras were doubled up. Duvet-inspired A‑line dresses were rampant, tulle underskirts amplified floral prints, and menswear – a pleasant surprise – encompassed frilled shorts. One look consisted of a pillow and nothing more.

​“I wanted to explore underwear as outerwear to create [a narrative around] this woman rushing out of the door, preparing for a day of meetings… There are all these rituals. There’s a big contrast between the pieces.

​“Apparently, we spend roughly 25 or 30 years of our lives sleeping,” he continues. ​“You get up in the morning and you get ready to face the day, and you go into your wardrobe. I started thinking about an outfit that feels easy and gives you comfort.”

The show also marked an official foray into Nicklas’ newly minted essentials line: pieces that feel more refined and wearable than some of his bolder silhouettes. ​“The catalyst for essentials was that we had these techniques and shapes that kept repeating themselves,” he says. But basic white T‑shirts and jeans were nowhere to be found. Instead, the line provided an amalgamation of minimalist dresses and slouchy tops and bottoms, including heavily draped silhouettes, snap button detailing and nipped-in waists.

It’s all about ​“doing essentials but in a Nicklas Skovgaard way,” the designer adds. For some people, it’s just intuition.