We make our way down a wide staircase and into a sprawling, warehouse-like event space. I take a moment for my mind to unfreeze before taking it all in: the traffic-yellow floor markings, paint-splattered center beams, and meaty exposed pipes running along its walls. Displayed throughout, I spot some peculiar sculptures by Sweden-based artist Kajsa Willner: furniture pieces made from small wooden blocks resembling legos and others with scraps of overlapping leather.

The artist’s “continuous questioning and challenging approach align with the continual process of ‘surrender’ and following one’s true journey,” according to the press release. “Journey” is a good word to describe Won Hundred’s fall-winter 2024 show at Copenhagen Fashion Week, titled “Surrender.” A journey into its past. A journey into its heritage, house codes, and evolution. A journey into the present, and subsequently, into the future. This is my first Won Hundred show — and what a great one to start with. 

Not too long after settling into our spots along the perimeter of the room, lights dim and heads turn toward the first look to step onto the runway: a long, calf-grazing coat buttoned only at the collar, revealing a pair of heroic-blue denim pants. Shoulders are rounded, and the silhouette is structured yet effortless. The model embodies that cool-girl attitude to the core, short hair slicked down the middle, a pair of jet-black shades sitting on the bridge of her nose. She walks with a don’t-mess-with-me matter-of-factness. 

Right off the bat, the look is an immediate hit — and also, a visual distillation of what Copenhagen-based Won Hundred is all about. 

DENIm From The Archives

What makes Won Hundred’s garments unique is that they’re emblematic of skills only a trained hand can perform. A trained hand like Nikolaj Nielsen, a precocious talent who dropped out of school at 16 in pursuit of a career in fashion. He cut his teeth working for denim-centric labels like Diesel and Miss Sixty, and in 2004, decided to start his own brand. Unsurprisingly, he focused on denim — his bread and butter to this day — and long-lasting minimalist garments. 

Won Hundred’s autumn-winter 2024 collection draws from the brand’s 20-year-old history, plucking references from its archives and refining them — no, evolving them. Denim takes up quite a bit of the runtime. This is expected. “For this season, we are igniting the very heart and soul of Won Hundred, denim is the focal point of our jubilee collection,” Nikolaj writes in the show notes. “We’ve delved deep into our archives to reimagine iconic denim styles that were pivotal in our early years.” 

In the denim category, there are several winners. I absolutely love the clean lines and free-flowing silhouette of a strapless black dress, the layered collar of a denim jacket, the long side slits and ankle ties of a time-worn denim bottom. Among these clever cuts, hero pieces shine just as brightly. There are well-constructed bottoms and jackets that sit perfectly on the body. There’s the favorite all-around jean, finished with a gentle, barely-there sheen. There’s the tried-and-true moto, leveled up with unzipped cuffs. There’s the stalk-slim skinny dusted off and refreshed with high boots and cool styling. 

You’ll often hear that a good pair of jeans will not attempt to draw attention to itself; it will, however, work to elevate everything around it. I have to disagree here. Won Hundred’s denim pieces are so lovely in their construction that it’s hard not to notice. “I’ve always been captivated by denim’s unique ability to unite diverse individuals,” Nikolaj told Vogue Scandinavia. “This collection leverages that power. By featuring cross-gender styling on the runway, we are not just showcasing designs. It’s a statement about inclusivity.”

Beyond Jeans

I’d be remiss not to point out that Won Hundred has managed to nurture a strong persona that doesn’t just rely on its denim roots. Classic suiting appears in both single- and double-breasted constructions with traditional proportions. Outerwear pieces like overcoats are cast in plaid and solid-color wool with single-button, pyramid-shaped closures. A highlight here is that plaid coat, with its oversized shoulders and a folded-over lapel that fastens with a chunky button. It’s a stunning piece that I’d purchase right here, right now. 

Elsewhere, we see some knitwear in the form of sweaters and cardigans. More impressively, there’s a strong leather component to the whole collection that almost competes with denim. Almost. Full-look leather features a trusty moto jacket with an asymmetric front zipper. We later see an abbreviated version of the piece styled differently, layered on top of a sheer, underwear-revealing dress and cowboy boots. 

Won Hundred isn’t reinventing the wheel here — and it’s not trying to. The brand’s jubilee collection taps into non-trend trends (or “normcore,” which was coined back in 2013 and is responsible for kicking off the “-core” expression that’s so ubiquitous now). It takes what the brand already does well and does it even better. “We’ve taken time to understand what Won Hundred truly represents,”  Nikolaj writes in the show notes. “Now, we’re ready to unleash the full potential of our work, channeling our collective experiences into the Autumn/Winter 2024 collection and drawing inspiration from the past two decades.”