Nicklas Skovgaard: Redefining Copenhagen Fashion Week with Playful, Personal Runways
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By PAGE Editor
Backstage, relief is often the most honest emotion in fashion. For Nicklas Skovgaard, that feeling arrived the moment his latest show concluded—an exhale that carried both gratitude and ambition.
“I’m feeling really good. Very relieved,” he said shortly after the runway cleared. “I always get so nervous before a show. I just want everything to happen quickly and fall into place.”
That tension—between control and surrender—has become part of Skovgaard’s design language. Since launching his namesake brand in 2023, the Copenhagen-based designer has cultivated a practice that favors intimacy over spectacle. His shows resist the traditional hierarchy of runway seating and instead invite proximity. This season, guests were asked to stand, shifting their vantage point and encouraging direct eye contact with the models.
“It makes fashion feel personal,” Skovgaard explained. “You see the clothes from another perspective. It becomes more democratic.”
Democracy, in this context, is not a slogan but a staging strategy. Skovgaard’s ongoing collaboration with performance artist Brit Liba reinforces that ethos. Liba, who has been involved in every show since the brand’s debut, directs movement in a way that prioritizes expression over rigidity. Models are given space to interpret rather than simply walk.
“I like creating a show where there’s room to play,” Skovgaard said. “Where the models can almost do whatever they want. That freedom is what makes fashion fun.”
The partnership began with what Skovgaard describes as a “naïve” first show in August 2023—produced largely with friends and fueled more by instinct than infrastructure. Yet that rawness became its strength. The presentation marked a defining moment during Copenhagen Fashion Week, positioning the young designer as a talent to watch within the city’s evolving creative landscape.
Support from the platform has been instrumental. Skovgaard is quick to acknowledge that institutional backing, mentorship, and critical feedback have shaped his growth. Conversations with judges and industry leaders, he notes, have influenced not only his collections but also the way he thinks about scaling a brand in a competitive market.
That recalibration intensified after receiving the Vesuviet Prize, which he describes as a turning point. “It gave me renewed energy,” he said. “Like, let’s do another round. Let’s take it even further.”
In an industry often driven by rapid cycles and louder-than-life debuts, Skovgaard’s ascent feels measured. His focus remains less on virality and more on building a world—one where performance, community, and craftsmanship coexist.
Relief may follow each show, but for Skovgaard, it is quickly replaced by momentum. The runway is not an endpoint; it is an invitation to push forward.
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