The Danish Clothing Brands We Won't Gatekeep Ahead of CPHFW
At Highsnobiety, we're always on the lookout for the top fashion talent from every corner of the world. This time, setting our sights on Northern Europe, we define the Danish clothing brands every Highsnob reader should know. For more related reading, check out the best Scandinavian brands, British clothing brands, and Swedish fashion.
In more ways than one, Denmark is a bastion of well-designed products. For such a compact Nordic country, it has birthed an unprecedented number of design successes that go beyond sleek furniture and architecture — Denmark's famously minimalist approach to menswear.
But Danish fashion is more than oversized shirts and loose-fit tailoring in black-white-beige neutrals. With streetwear brands like Norse Projects and Soulland widely craved, the scope of Danish design has come crisply into focus in recent years. Combining comfort and functionality with fashion and street style, paired with sustainable practices, Danish clothing brands have something unique to offer.
Perhaps it's the Greta Thunberg effect, but Scandi fashion labels, including Danish brands, are starting to pioneer responsible design, becoming synonymous with slow fashion. What's likely to create considerable motivation is Copenhagen Fashion Week's Sustainability Action Plan, which details specific ethical criteria all brands must fulfill to take part in the Copenhagen Fashion Week show.
So, if you're on the lookout for some sturdy staples to wear all year round, scroll below; they'll last you a lifetime. From smaller designers like Heliot Emil to more established streetwear brands Wood Wood, here's a list of the best Danish clothing brands you need to know in 2024.
Discover the best Danish clothing brands in 2024 below.
Wood Wood
Designer Karl-Oskar Olsen has been at the helm of Wood Wood since day one, and few would debate the brand's stature as synonymous with Danish streetwear. Since its founding in 2002, Wood Wood's design philosophy has been remarkably flexible from season to season, marrying a fresh set of inspirational cues with each new collection.
Wood Wood's numerous collaborations include partnerships with over 50 well-known brands, including adidas, Timberland, Champion, Asics, Barbour and Eastpak, or perhaps more surprisingly, Disney. The Danish clothing and lifestyle brand have flagship spaces in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Berlin, and London.
Astrid Andersen
Astrid Andersen's poignant creations are one of the best examples of high fashion colliding with and even embracing street culture — they certainly merit the fascination they have drawn thus far. The Danish designer excels at recognizing boundaries and subsequently smashing them to bits by challenging accepted notions of masculinity, branding, and proportions.
Norse Projects
Functional minimalists Danish streetwear brand Norse Projects are hallmarks of the notedly stylish Nordic country. One of the first within the menswear sphere to appropriate military-style branding, the Copenhagen-based label, founded in 2004, possesses an acute sense for gear that is "good for all seasons." By re-tooling cues from architecture, design, and outerwear, Norse Projects continues to establish itself as a first-mover, setting trends on a regional and global scale. Norse aren't making an overt effort to lead, but people are still following.
Tekla
Established in Copenhagen in 2017, Tekla is the go-to Danish brand for all things related to bedding, pajamas and sleepwear. All bedding and towels are made using 100% organic and Oeko-Text certified cotton, and they pride themselves in having oversized proportions, to minimize the sense of constriction and bypass genders for a unisex feel and a great sense of comfort and homeliness.
A predominantly online brand, they also have a few select outlets in London, Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Antwerp, New York and Seoul.
Soulland
Soulland, among the most renowned Danish fashion brands like NN.07 started with hand-printed T-shirts in 2002; its founder Silas Adler has since lofted the name into a full-sized menswear imprint. The apparel offers a distinctly minimalist European look mixed with playful graphics, which have debuted at fashion weeks around Europe, including London, Paris, and, of course, Copenhagen.
Using its recent capsule collection to spark conversation about mental health, ethical topics are no stranger to Soulland. Brushing on ethical initiatives, the Danish clothing brand has previously explained the intricacies of sustainable fashion production and its own efforts and initiatives in ethical fashion. While agreeing one brand alone won't make a difference, Soulland takes a chance in the hopes of inspiring people to think differently.
Henrik Vibskov
Formally trained at the famed London design school Central Saint Martins, Henrik Vibskov is one of only a handful of Danish designers associated with runway fashion. His avant-garde and forward-thinking expressions in the fields of clothing, as well as furniture, art, and music have drawn considerable praise from around the world. Vibskov is commonly associated with the "New Nordic Movement" of young creatives.
NN. 07
Everything in the collection of NN.07 captures the essence of what makes Danish fashion special. Clean lines, highly refined fabrics, functional yet elevated designs are combined with a sense of authencity that is hard to find in today's fashion as a whole, forget Denmark.
If anything, being Danish is of little importance to the mission and existence of NN07, as NN stands for No Nationality but a belief in personalities above nationalities.
Libertine Libertine
Established in 2009, Libertine-Libertine straddles the fence between skate culture, streetwear, and conventional menswear, best described as an existentialist fashion entity at its core. As both seasonal collections and the label's fan base have grown steadily since its humble beginnings, Libertine-Libertine can certainly be counted among Copenhagen's most visible apparel companies.
What once consisted solely of a handful of shirts is now complemented by a full women's line in addition to their popular men's line, including high-quality wool overcoats and loose-fitting tailored trousers. In addition, the brand's catalog contains confident and effortless designs that simultaneously represent Scandinavian sensibilities and a flair for the new and funky.
Nicklas Skovgaard
With inspirations ranging from baroque aristocratic portraiture to Madonna’s music videos, the Copenhagen-based brand Nicklas Skovgaard creates luxury womenswear, by merging unique material and classical form.
An unexpected yet fresh narrative that makes Nicklas Skovgaard a brand able to be relevant, forward-thinking and elegant, all at the same time. You should definitely have it on your radar!
Han Kjøbenhavn
Known for its eyewear offering in the early days, the Danish brand quickly expanded to encompass a full line of men's ready-to-wear. Han Kjøbenhavn was founded in 2008 in Copenhagen by Jannik Wikkelsø Davidsen, the brand's current creative director.
Han Kjøbenhavn's clothing retains a penchant for adventurous design without abandoning the brand's keen sense of timelessness. Crafted for the Danish gentleman, the brand's laurels are fundamentally tied with Nordic design principles, down to the silhouettes and materials of each collection.
Pas Normal Studios
Honoring the cycling tradition, Pas Normal Studios is a Danish brand offering contemporary, technical cycling clothing. Through innovative designs, brand collaborations such as the one with Salomon, and sourcing of new sustainable production methods, the mission of Pas Normal Studios is to create technically perfect apparel, combined with visionary aesthetics. Bringing out collections that place modern cycling in a different context, Pas Normal Studios is a leading brand for highly technical wear and athleisurewear.
Sunflower
Sunflower is a label designed in the Danish capital by a collective of menswear superpowers with the aim to tackle the ever-growing passing fads and fashion trends. Sunflower brings a refreshing approach to men luxury clothing by focusing on lasting garments and understated designs that complement layering and always offering the best quality fabrics and technical innovations.
RAINS
The ascent of the Danish clothing brand RAINS, created in 2012, to the top of the rainwear market has been relatively swift. Given Denmark's maritime climate and purported 121 days of yearly rainfall, it's not a shock to see this brand emerge from Scandinavia. To bring new life into otherwise dreary raincoats, RAINS functional yet good-looking rainwear has become uber popular and increasingly fashion-driven without sacrificing the quality.
Merging fashionable silhouettes with technical materials, RAINS initially broke into the market with simplistic and basic rain jackets, later diversifying into other product categories, including waterproof pants and accessories. RAINS' multifunctional waterproof coats are some of the best — as perfect for mushroom picking as for a city stroll on a rainy autumn's day.
Samsøe & Samsøe
Samsøe & Samsøe is one of the most well-known Danish clothing brands, dating back to 1993 when brothers Klaus and Preben Samsøe opened a jewelry store in downtown Copenhagen. It wasn't long before the siblings began making basic T-shirts, now a trademarked article of the Samsøe & Samsøe brand.
Chief designer for the men's line, Gitte Wetter Olufsen, describes the brand's early creations as "stylish and democratic." Now, the brand's nicely balanced catalog of essential and trend-inspired design have allowed the brand to be heard within the international scene. More recently, in the direction of gorp core, Samsøe & Samsøe partnered with the brand GORE-TEX on an AW22 collection featuring weatherproof functionality and breathable features without sacrificing its minimalistic Scandinavian design.
P.L.N.
Forget the Danish clean and polished look here and embrace materials like reworked denim, oilskin canvas, frayed edges, raw hems and combine them with references to goth, antique religious attire, and workwear. What you will get is P.L.N., a young brand created by Peter Lundvald Nielsen that is exclusively working with upcycled materials and black colours. P.L.N. is giving a much needed raw energy with dark undertones to Danish fashion and pushing the genderless boundaries of what fashion can be.
Won Hundred
Before embarking on Won Hundred, designer Nikolaj Nielsen was an industry veteran with a considerable background in denim. 2004 heralded the beginning of the brand and Won Hundred was established with the ambition of challenging the way fashion was grasped in Denmark, with a strong collection focused on high-quality jeans and an emphasis on craftsmanship.
Never shying from the opportunity to take risks, Nielsen and the team at Won Hundred draw upon music, cinema, and art to serve as a foundation for the goal of defining modern style. More recently, Won Hundred has become more active on sustainability, busily working towards better packaging, sustainable production methods, and using recycled fabrics.
ANOTHER ASPECT
With a core of classic minimalistic cuts made exclusively from recycled, organic and surplus fabrics, ANOTHER ASPECT is a wonderful Danish brand that presents a selection of seasonless circular garments that will last you a very long time. Their mission is to "make it easier for the customer to make better and more sustainable choices by providing a superior product at a reasonable price point".
forét
Forét (inspired by 'forest' in French) is a Danish clothing brand founded in Copenhagen in 2014 by two childhood friends, Jesper Finderup and Jeppe Alexander Meier. The story of forét goes back to their youth, inspired by good old times when playing in the forest replaced social media screen time.
Inspired by the Danish countryside and all-things-simple, forét offers functional contemporary designs made of high-quality fabrics. Mixing street fashion with the outdoors and multifunctional silhouettes, forét clothing is suitable for a city dweller as well to be worn in the wilderness.
Dancer
“Ethical clothing is a driving force, but mainly it’s about drawing graphics, living, skating and creating weird content.” That is the motto for Hjalte Halberg, Anton Juul and Kevin Walter in founding Dancer in 2019.
It's a skating and apparel brand searching for fun creative freedom and cooperation. It is the perfect grassroots brand that combines quality materials and minimalist design with a skatewear edge.
Tonsure
After graduating from Central Saint Martins, Malte Flagstad first cut his nails at Maison Margiela before spearheading Tonsure. Slowly but surely etching his name into the fashion sphere, Flagstad is not fixated on a certain aesthetic; rather, he prefers to organically grow the brand from one collection to the next.
Tonsure's catalog remains largely wearable, yet the apparel - and the seasonal lookbooks - are far from boring. The Danish labels' runway collections feature classic Nordic clean-cut silhouettes mixed with utility.
di(vision)
On a mission to give old clothes a new life, (di)vision, a brand reshaping youth culture, is inspired by the word's meaning of becoming two. The small Copenhagen-based Danish fashion label, founded in 2018 by sister-brother design team Nanna Wick and Simon Wick, takes second-hand items and re-designs them into something new and unique.
With sustainability in mind, all items are locally constructed in Copenhagen, Denmark, giving deadstock textiles a second life. In addition, all designs are unisex and offer a multifunctional aesthetic. If you're looking for something individual, opt for a (di) vision's reconstructed trucker caps or contemporary split-color patchwork jackets.
Heliot Emil
The design duo of two brothers, Julius Juul and Heliot Juul from Copenhagen, teamed up to showcase their first-ever collection in Milan in 2017 under the fashion label HELIOT EMIL™. The innovative Danish clothing brand is synonymous with attention to detail and creative expression.
Each HELIOT EMIL™ item, from outerwear to accessories, features unique detailing, including the use of technical elements such as buckles and carabiners, custom-designed with functionality in mind. Merging style and utility with hardware detailing to create futuristic-looking silhouettes, HELIOT EMIL™ monochromatic looks come with a touch of minimalistic Scandinavian design.
A.A. Spectrum
Oversized comfort is one way to describe A.A. Spectrum's designs. Made in Beijing, China, and designed in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Chinese-Danish clothing brand's first collection was launched in August 2016 as a cross-cultural collaboration featuring jackets and outsized puffer coats with buckles and strap detailing.
The brand, primarily focusing on outerwear, offers a wide range of contemporary designs with functionality in mind, utilizing only ethically sourced materials made of high-quality performance fabrics such as down feather and Thinsulate insulation — timeless and made to last. A.A. Spectrum's futuristic loose-fitting silhouettes are perfect for cold urban climates as well as the great outdoors, marrying style with performance.
mfpen
Mfpen is one of the more classic Danish clothing brands with a focus on classic Scandinavian design, characterized by sleek and subtle minimalist normcore vibes with the added element of 90s influence - wide-legged jeans and trousers. Founded by designer Sigurd Bank, mfpen clothing is simple, with silhouettes stripped of all unnecessary detailing. Most of the clothing is made of deadstock fabrics and eco-conscious textiles, whereas the collections also consist of a limited number of items, keeping only a core range to cut down on unsold products at the end of each season.
O.FILES
O.FILES, the brainchild of the visionary Oscar Jardorf, emerged onto the fashion scene in 2018, casting a fresh light on Copenhagen's design landscape. At the heart of O.FILES lies a celebration of the beautifully imperfect. Each piece tells a story, embracing flaws and reminiscent of vintage treasures.
The designs carry a militaristic edge, and it's this fusion of the old-world charm with contemporary boldness that defines O.FILES.
Imagine vintage vibes meeting streetwear's bold energy, all wrapped up in a luxurious package. It's a blend that speaks both to nostalgia and modernity.
