The Copenhagen It Girls behind the “Copencore” Aesthetic

As Copenhagen Fashion Week finally wraps up, it’s safe to say that the world’s undeniable obsession with Danish fashion has grown even further than before. According to Barbara Potts, designer of world-renowned Danish fashion brand Saks Potts, “Two seasons ago, people didn’t take Copenhagen Fashion Week seriously” and now CPFW Spring/Summer ’24 has become the season that showed the world what quintessential luxury fashion means for Copenhagen.

Additionally, with the help of social media platforms, many have dubbed Copenhagen to be a city of elite style and influence. Whether it’s the rising popularity of the term “Ganni Girl” deriving from the infatuation of Danish fashion brand Ganni or the admiration of one of the well-known Scandinavian style influencers, Matilda Djerf, Copenhagen has created an aesthetic that everybody is buying into. The rise of the term “Copencore” created by Vogue Scandinavia and the magnified lens towards the past few seasons of CPFW has brought popularity to some of Denmark’s most influential it-girls. Women who have redefined the very epitome of the modern Copenhagen ‘cool girl’ and created the inimitable aesthetic that has a chokehold over the fashion community.

Josefine Hanning Jensen 

Just like Alexa Chung was the symbol of the ultimate London style icon, or Camille Charlie that of Paris, Copenhagen has Josefine Hanning Jensen. With over 1.2 million followers on Instagram, fashion content creator and co-founder of fashion brand 79 Hour, Josefine has effortlessly woven her influence into the very fabric of Scandinavian style. With an innate ability to fuse timeless elegance with minimalist allure, she has left an indelible mark on the Copenhagen fashion industry. Notably, her collaboration with NA-KD brought to life a collection that converges her distinctive aesthetic with the brand’s ethos, resulting in a tapestry of attire that’s as wearable as it is alluring. Josefine has also curated partnerships with a pantheon of Scandinavian fashion brands like Ganni, Acne Studios, and By Malene Birger.

Barbara Potts

Featured in Forbes 30 under 30, Barbara Potts is the co-founder and designer of one of the first iconic luxury fashion brands that helped define the modern Danish aesthetic. Potts co-created the brand in 2014 through the debut of their signature Foxy coat that has been seen on the likes of Cardi B, Lady Gaga, Lily-Rose Depp, and Kendall Jenner. Since then their brand has become synonymous with the wardrobe for the cool girls of Copenhagen.

Thora Valdimars 

Danish fashion influencer turned co-founder and designer Thora Valdimars was usually seen attending a number of fashion week events and collaborating with luxury brands like Tiffany and Co, Chanel, and Mugler. Since then, she has launched what was once an influencer-led capsule for the 150-year-old Danish brand Birger Christensen in 2020, turned premium party wear label Rotate, which has now quickly matured into one of Copenhagen’s biggest fashion labels, currently stocked in 450 retailers including Browns, Net-a-Porter, and Mytheresa.