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Guide / Copenhagen
”I’m proud of the insatiable creativity of the city”
On maximising your Copenhagen Fashion Week experience
ISABELLA ROSE
6 Aug 2021

Just in time for Copenhagen Fashion Week, starting Tuesday 10 August, we let Isabella Rose guide us through the creative and lively Danish capital. Isabella is the head of communications and digital at Copenhagen Fashion Week, as well as a writing contributor and freelancer for titles such as Ark Journal, Twin Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and much more.

— Having spent a few years at the British Fashion Council creating the show schedule and heading up Design Talent, I grew a huge passion for supporting emerging visionaries across the creative industries, so I am super lucky to find myself at Copenhagen Fashion Week working with Cecilie Thorsmark and supporting the next generation of Nordic voices, she says.

This season, Copenhagen Fashion Week will also reach a global audience through a new partnership with YouTube. The full schedule will be live-streamed across YouTube.com/fashion, YouTube.com/Copenhagenfashionweek, and YouTube.com/live, alongside their own live stream on their website.

My favourite thing that makes me proud of Copenhagen: 

The insatiable creativity of the city! 

My favourite weekend routine: 

Routine here is 1000000% slower than when I lived in London, so hopping on my bike, having a swim with my neighbours, grabbing coffee at the café beside my apartment, Kompa 9, then seeing what the day unfolds. 

Photography: Astrid Maria Rasmussen / VisitCopenhagen

I am lucky to live in the old part of town, which means even taking your glass bottles to the recycling feels magic. Spending time getting to know my neighbourhood has been a big lesson for me and letting things roll and manifest.

My favourite place for a summer bath:

I love outside the Opera! It’s such a sunspot and barely any people, even on the hottest day! 

My favourite place for ice cream or other refreshments:

If it’s before lunch, an affogato. After lunch on a Saturday, then a cold glass of something at VinHanen.

My favourite place when visiting Copenhagen Fashion Week and you just need a break:

The national library garden. I can sit there for hours, it’s so peaceful.

My favourite cultural spot:

Louisiana, hands down. The architecture, sculpture garden, the exhibition curation, the view, even the lobster bisque: all spectacular.

My favourite place for dining out:

Fabro + beers from across the road + pals + sitting in the warm dusk of the summer. Bare legs, spaghetti, ice cold Tuborg, and tiramisu! 

The Fabro tiramisu.

My favourite place for a creative or business meeting:

Royal Garden! Hands down! 

My favourite breakfast place:

Breakfast I find hard in Copenhagen, being Australian we approach it very differently, but a cheese salt and pepper roll from Buka Bakery can hit the spot.

My favourite city escape:

When I escape I normally flee the country, but the past year has highlighted the beauty of the summerhouse — such a Nordic tradition. I have had some pretty fun nights under balmy evenings and mosquitos with friends and new acquaintances, so I would say wherever the summer house wind takes you! 

Louisiana. Photography: Ty Stange / Visit Copenhagen

My favourite local entrepreneur or creative I want to promote:

So many! But my friend’s Danish luxury knitwear brand Para Moda takes the biscuit.

My favourite hotel for a staycation:

The Audo. I feel like that part of town is kind of like stepping out of Copenhagen.

My favourite route for a run or walk: 

Fælledparken every time. Incredible place for a run! Reminds me of home in Australia strangely.

My favourite place for fashion:

The CPHFW office! *laughs at lame joke*. If I had to hit up somewhere I would say Storm Copenhagen.

My favourite space for great design: 

Arne Jacobsen’s petrol station is my favourite! The cycle there is certainly a fabulous ride, with the view to Sweden and Arne Jacobsen’s incredible design set against the view.

My favourite local media:

Nuda Paper in Sweden and The Favorite Magazine in Copenhagen.  

My favourite thing at home: 

Ah, there are so many! My record collection, with a couple of first edition gems, my Murano glass lamp that looks like a massive butt plug, the super rare Nicki de Sant Phalle book my dad gave me, my lucky greenstone necklace from my kiwi family, but maybe what wins is my Mark Leckey ’Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore’ limited edition signed print. Leckey did a big commission for the Tate Britain before I was relocated out here to Denmark, and there was a very small run of these big prints signed by Leckey of his seminal work Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore. Best thing I ever bought — for some reason whenever I feel a little homesick that makes me feel like London is right in my lounge room.