Soeren Le Schmidt Opens the Gates
September 16, 2026
We were invited to Søren Le Schmidt’s latest show – and so was the rest of the Copenhagen fashion scene.
After missing Søren Le Schmidt’s extravagant Paris runway just a few months ago, there was no way we were missing this one. In June, the Danish designer brought his work to Maison du Danemark on the Champs-Élysées, placing Scandinavian fashion, innovation and Nordic heritage in the heart of Paris.
Known for his precise tailoring, couture, eveningwear and bridalwear, Le Schmidt makes clothes for entrances, celebrations and moments when looking extraordinary is very much the point. His designs have been worn by Danish public figures, notably Queen Mary of Denmark and former prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
There are fashion shows, and then there are public statements.
Le Schmidt’s September show was both.
His vision extends beyond the clothes themselves. He has often spoken about wanting fashion to bring people together — across walks of life and social classes — and to create moments where fashion, art and culture can exist as a shared experience rather than behind the closed gates of an elitist fashion industry. For this show, he decided to take that idea literally: open the gates and invite Copenhagen in.
The show was free and open to the public, deliberately putting fashion insiders, celebrities, creatives and Copenhageners who simply wanted to see the show in the same space.
And where better to do it than the King’s Garden?
Commissioned under Denmark’s King Christian IV, whose appetite for spectacle, fashion and beauty was hardly modest, the historic gardens became the setting for Le Schmidt’s latest collection.
For one evening, Kavalergangen and its enormous old trees became the backdrop for around 48 looks, as the Danish Boys’ Choir performed beneath the trees and the collection brought together the things the designer has become known for: sharp tailoring, dramatic eveningwear, couture silhouettes and the kind of glamour that refuses to apologise for itself.
And the casting made the concept even more apparent;
Different generations appeared on the runway, alongside people whose lives extend well beyond the fashion world. Most notably, Danish celebrity couple Gun-Britt and Torben Zeller traded their seats in the audience for the catwalk itself, with the legendary hairstylist and actor becoming models for the evening. Fashion model Laila Hasanovic closed the show in a dramatic bridal look, while Forræder personalities Noah Umur Kanber and Loke Lund also appeared.
It was an unusual cast for a couture show — recognisable faces, established personalities and people from entirely different corners of Danish public life sharing the runway with professional models.
There was, however, one rather large variable that no designer could control.
The weather.
There was a delicious element of risk to staging couture outdoors in Copenhagen in September. At any moment, rain could have wiped the smiles off every face.
Because this is Copenhagen. September weather is not exactly known for respecting fashion editors, couture gowns or carefully constructed hair and makeup. Yet nothing can stop Copenhagen’s residents from showing up.
Luckily, the weather played along, and the show transformed King’s Garden into something between a runway, a garden party and a Copenhagen night out.
Nothing about the clothes was understated. Nothing about the setting was ordinary. And yet everything about this show itself felt remarkably down to earth.
There was no velvet-rope mythology separating the fashion world from the city.
The city was the venue.
