The key trends I'm stealing from Copenhagen Fashion Week

With Copenhagen Fashion Week wrapping up today, I'm looking to those Scandi streets for a bit of style inspiration for the season ahead, and as always, you can truly rely on designers such as GANNI, Cecilie Bahnsen and Baum & Pferdgarten to set the trends.

Baby blue

If you thought pastels were just for spring, you're wrong. For autumn/winter 2020, it seems like baby blue is the colour du jour. Cecilie Bahnsen took inspiration from the landscape Martina Hoogland-Ivanow took in the north of Russia for her show, translating it into delicate dresses mixed in with chunkier wool, and outerwear that blends the lines between masculinity and femininity. As for the hues, it was all about browns and sky blues. Over at Baum & Pferdgarten, the soft colour was everywhere too.

Practical dressing

AW20 is all about pairing back and investing in no-fuss pieces that you'll be able to wear every day. At GANNI, this translated into uniform-like utilitarian sleeveless blazers alongside slouchier offerings, like a tweed grandad blazer and trousers styled with oversized shirts. At By Malene Birger, there was plenty of oversized knitwear, paired with leather trousers and more tailored coats.

Quilted coats

It's time to dust off your old Barbour jacket, because quilted coats are back in a big way if the chic show attendees are to be believed. I love this butter yellow take on the trend, but I also spotted more wearable brown and black duffle coats.

Colourful leather

Leather, whether real or faux, has been big news on the catwalks for the past couple of seasons, and it's not going away anytime soon. For the Copenhagen Fashion Week shows, the street style set opted for bold colours such as pink, green and blue over the more classic shades of caramel and browns.

Sustainability

Whilst not technically a trend, it's important to talk about sustainability, and it's a subject Copenhagen Fashion Week is taking very seriously indeed. It unveiled an ambitious three-year plan to ensure its brands are taking action against the climate crisis.

It is the first fashion week to reduce its environmental impact, with single-use plastic bottles already banned, and operational carbon emissions are being offset, whilst the ultimate goal is to be zero waste by 2023. It is also looking at banning plastic hangers by 2021.

Copenhagen Fashion Week is also asking all of its brands to comply with sustainability standards. By 2023, all its designers should comply with 17 minimum standards, which include zero waste set designs, using at least 50 per cent certified organic, upcycled or recycled textiles in all collections and pledging not to destroy unsold clothes.

Certain brands are already leading the way, with Baum & Pferdgarten producing an AW20 collection that is over 50% sustainable, whilst GANNI is using reworked pieces as part of their pop-up this year.