The Danish designer bows out of the official Copenhagen Fashion Week circuit with a collection of suitable grandeur and a cast of heavyweight industry names
“One, two… four, five, six… this is the ninth!” Soeren Le Schmidt exclaims – seemingly surprised – after quietly counting off the number of shows his namesake brand has presented at Copenhagen Fashion Week. The reason for the tally? Tonight’s show is his last, but thankfully only in the context of the official bi-annual schedule. “I don’t have structured autumn/winter and spring/summer collections. I do drops whenever I feel like it,” Le Schmidt reasons over the phone, hours before the show. “I would rather do my collections when it matches my customers’ needs and my needs. I think it’s more sustainable than producing collections two times a year.”
Titled ‘The Final Dance,’ the show was bound to offer some dramatics, but no one was entirely prepared for what Le Schmidt had up his sleeve. The first model to stride down the runway? Former Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, followed by renowned royal stylist Anja Camilla Alajdi, esteemed actor Trine Dyrholm, Denmark’s favourite on-screen and off-screen heartthrobs Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen and Alex Høgh Andersen, not to mention Vogue Scandinavia’s very own editor in chief Martina Bonnier. “My designs match all genders, all types of personalities, all body types, and I need to show that for my cast as well,” Le Schmidt says. "So I decided to include personalities in the cast that have been supporting me since day one. People that I admire.”
The setting of Axelborg Hall wasn’t Le Schmidt’s intended venue, with a revision to the original St Paul’s Church setting necessitated due to Copenhagen’s weather, in his words, “being a bitch". But Axelborg proved a fitting backdrop to what was a collection of grandeur: sweeping proportions of evening gowns, signature clean-lined tailoring. Le Schmidt’s usual play with black, white, and a simple colour splash – “this time it’s green,” he says – and a smattering of sequins throughout too.
While talk of shows brings up chatter about his fondest fashion week memories – the brand’s first runway show marking its fifth anniversary, the first model walking out on the runway last summer as the sun set – Le Schmidt is steadfast in his decision. “It’s now. It’s time to change,” he says.
Discover the full Soeren Le Schmidt collection below:
All images by Camilla Vodstruo-Øverup
Soeren Le Schmidt - SS24
