Body Politics At Copenhagen Fashion Week

From corsets to the relentless pressure of diet culture, the pursuit of the ideal body, historically dictated by male designers, has long been a burden for women worldwide. In the last decade, the body positivity movement has sparked significant change, with models like Paloma Elsesser breaking barriers as the British Fashion Council’s Model of the Year. However, as Elsesser herself noted in an essay for The Cut, online backlash following her award highlights a disturbing resurgence of regressive attitudes toward body diversity.

In an era where buccal fat removal and Ozempic dominate beauty discussions and Gen Z embraces the aesthetics of the late 2000s (displayed by Berlin brand Namilia’s S/S 25 collection), it’s evident that fuller figures are once again being sidelined. This shift is underscored by the return of the ultra-thin ideal, personified by the impending reunion of The Simple Life stars, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie who were at the forefront of ‘thin is in’.

So, is a full-blown return to the era of size-zero on the horizon in fashion? Looking at Copenhagen Fashion Week the complex ebbs and flows of the idealised body was clearly on the mind of the city’s designers. A Vogue Business report of the A/W 23revealed that body diversity on the runways in The Big Four was on a sharp decline, while Fashion Forum found that Copenhagen Fashion Week saw a risefrom 2.9% to 7.39%of curvy models that year.

This season, keeping that momentum was London’s very own Sinéad O'Dwyer has been at the forefront of body diversity since she launched her label in 2018. As this year’s winner of the Zalando Visionary Award O’Dwyer presented at Copenhagen’s Opera Park leading the charge for body positivity with a diverse cast of models, including musician Mahlaia and TikToker Lucy Edwards who has built a following showing the realities of being blind. Her signature skin bearing webbed bodysuits were showcased along with short bubble skirt dresses and denim skirts with hip-grazing slits. The genius of the Irish designer’s approach is in her reframing what we have long been conditioned to believe is flattering for bigger bodies.

Taking a similar stance was Awa Malina Stelter and Stephanie Gundelach's OpéraSPORT who have long cast their shows as a reflection of the world around them, including friends and collaborators. Their S/S 25 offering was inspired by the precise lines of the Exillion Garden’s Italian Renaissance and French Baroque areas. This was seen in versatile wardrobe staples with ruched straps that blended playful femininity with practicality. With inclusivity at the core of their business show notes explained the collection would be produced in sizes ranging from XS to XL.

Of course, casting wasn’t the only marker of our current body fixation. At both Remain and Nicklas Skovgaard, it was the body obsessed 1980s and 1990s that served as this season's inspiration. The former saw creative director Martin Asbjorn utilised his background in tailoring to merge exaggerated suiting with body-conscious minimalism. ‘While researching I became interested in the different ways the era proportioned the body,’ told me backstage. The collection dubbed ‘Superbody’ embodied all the excess, confidence and authority of the 80s with bold shoulders and cinched waists. Paired with body-conscious lines indicative of 90s minimalism – a continued reference since Asborn took creative control of the Birger Christensen label last year.

Skovgaard was similarly inspired by the idea of the 90s ‘superbody’ with aerobic dressing taking the forefront. Inspired by images of his mother in 1994, the presentation saw models donning backcombed hair, colour blocked leotards, and lace tights paired with padded shoulders and bouncy bubble skirts. ‘When looking at these images I see her dressed either super sporty or super formal. They hold a fun contrast,’ he explained in the show notes.

In Copenhagen’s Meatpacking District Amalie Røge Hove's A. Roege Hove presented her take on the body explaining, ‘I was inspired by framing the female body, working on the principles of iterations - starting from the strict lines of the rib to a messier, almost disturbed line caused by the body.’ Fluidity defined the collection with Hove’s knitwear and organza overlay mini dresses this season that clung to the body emphasising curves.

Copenhagen Fashion Week painted a complex picture of the fashion industry’s ongoing obsession with the body. Designers like Sinead O’Dwyer and brands like OpéraSPORT are continuing to showcase a range of body types and challenging outdated norms about what is considered ‘flattering’ with their take on body-conscious designs. Amidst pop culture's harmful Ozempic obsession, it's a stance important in challenging a broader cultural shift that could potentially undermine these gains.

As the fashion world moves forward, the challenge will be to balance these conflicting impulses — to honour the progress made toward body diversity while resisting the temptation to revert to restrictive beauty standards of the past. Copenhagen Fashion Week serves as a reminder that the conversation around body inclusivity is far from over. Let's just hope The Big Four follow suit come September.