Clothing Designed Not To Be Seen, but Inhabited (EXCLUSIVE)
When I was first glimpsing Berner Kühl's Spring/Summer 2026 collection, which premiered in August at Copenhagen Fashion Week, one phrase leapt out from the label's press release. This is "clothing designed not just to be seen, but to be inhabited," it said. I love that. All garments should be so lucky.
"This philosophy emphasizes garments as lived experiences, not just visual statements," designer Frederik Berner Kühl tells me. "Architectural silhouettes softened by movement, structured tailoring contrasted with tactile, interior-inspired materials. Public and private, utilitarian and emotional, worn and lived-in."
A good wardrobe is like a house; it's where you live. And if it doesn't make you comfortable, what's the point?
Kühl's SS26 presentation reflected this intentionality, positioning models in and around replications of "domestic interiors," he explains. This reinforces "the idea of clothes as private sanctuaries, like wearable interiors."
Foucault wrote about the "infolding of exteriority," wherein the interior is acted upon and shaped by outside forces. Kühl's new collection is a modest retort: what if the interior fought back? Shape your own softer world through effortlessly intentional dressing.
To that end, Berner Kühl SS26 proposes midlayers in ultralight Super 120s wool and high-gauge merino, congenial enough to be pajamas but cut too classic to be sloppy. Cotton-silk knitwear wears a delicate ribbing "inspired by old undergarments." Slouched corduroys and denim jeans sand down the hard edge of workwear as lived-in counterpoints to fluid field jackets and car coats that frame the form.
But not everything is just-so. Several jackets wear frayed seams as if to expose the innate tension of getting dressed, though not so exaggerated as to undermine the elegant forms from which they spring.
"Obviously, we need to reinvent ourselves and develop new things to push our abilities further and stay relevant," Kühl says. "Every collection is rooted in continuity, [building] upon the previous one through deeper material exploration, sharper tailoring, and more intentional sparsity. Fabrics determine form."
Kühl's adherence to "modular structures" means that his work, like a living space, is reliable. His innovations are modest and gradual, like any natural evolution, and they only enhance the delicious purposefulness of his collections.
This is at odds with fashion industry norms, however, because simply making quality wearable clothes is not a fashion-industry norm.
"We consciously opt out of the fast-cycle trends. We value quality over production volume," Kühl enthuses. "This slower pace [resists] the pressure to constantly churn out trendy stuff. It’s a deliberate antidote to the industry’s speed. We don’t believe in fast trendy explosions. We believe in making what we feel is right."
Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase. Want to shop the products our editors actually love? Visit the HS Style Guide for recs on all things fashion, footwear, and beauty.
