Backstage beauty: This is what went down just before Caro Edition's CPHFW debut

Danish model-turned-designer Caroline Bille Brahe's playfully prismatic Copenhagen Fashion Week debut of Caro Editions was one of the must-see events of this spring/summer season. A love letter to the Danish It girls, there were plenty of fabulous (and well-known) faces getting ready backstage before the show. And who better to doll them up than runway-veteran Cim Mahony?

Mahony has known Bille Brahe since she first started modelling as a young teenager, so it's no surprise he's describes the show as being a "very personal affair." "We have done countless shows and shoots together over the past 15 years, and I did her hair on her wedding day," Mahony reminisces. In fact, he even shared a New York City apartment with Bille Brahe and her husband, Frederik Bille Brahe, for a while. "So it felt like a family event, both backstage and in the audience," he says. An audience that was packed with the best and brightest in the industry – out and about to supper Bille Brahe's "huge" talent, as Mahony puts it.

What makes Bille Brahe stand out in the sartorial crowd is her incredible eye for detail – a trait that traced both the collection (styled to perfection) and the direction of the beauty. "For the hair we decided to go in a natural bohemian way, enhancing each girl without losing their personality," says Mahony.

Makeup artist Trine Skjoeth created the flawless face and fluorescent lips, while Mahony and his team "used the new Dyson Supersonic R Pro hairdryer throughout to create shine and richness to the hair." He continues, noting how they used Less is More's Proteinspray to prep the hair and finished with a spritz of Oribe's Superfine hairspray.

Due to the personal nature of the show, Mahony decided to capture the usual backstage chaos himself using an analogue camera. "A befitting ode to the beautifully crafted clothes," he summarises.