Buoyed by the church’s reverberance, her performance is haunting, raw, and deeply emotive from the first note. “I can think of a thousand ways I call you a lover,” she sings, her voice unfurling in a delicate run. My eyes dart back and forth around the building — from the slender columns splaying gracefully into the ceiling to the soft light bleeding through the lancet windows. This is no ordinary venue. Once a medieval church (one of the oldest in the city), Nikolaj Kunsthal has been transformed into a contemporary art space that plays host to everything from concerts and performances to dinners — and yes, runway shows like Stockholm-based Rave Review’s spring-summer 2026 outing at Copenhagen Fashion Week.

As soon as the first model emerges on the runway, all attention turns to the opening look: a window-pane check blazer with shoulders pulled dramatically wide and high. Its angular silhouette is given a more casual slant thanks to the skirt, which features double layers of fabric, one boasting ever-so-dainty florals and the other delicate blue stripes. The pairing is further softened by a polka dot scarf that looks as though it’s been freeze-framed while billowing in the wind — oh, and the wispy lace bows that adorn the model’s ballet flats. Ditsy florals make another appearance in the following look on a sheer dress that falls like running water on the body, pooling beautifully at the ankles. It all looks idyllic and pretty — a lovely moment of summertime bliss. 

The Power of Flowers

To understand the collection, first, let’s rewind — back to the 1960s in Sweden, when three young designers, Helena Henschen, Veronica Nygren, and Kristina Torsson came together to create Mah-Jong, a radical feminist fashion design company. Although the brand was very short-lived, it had enormous staying power and influence in Sweden. After all, they were early pioneers of sustainability as a core brand value, designing clothes for all ages and sizes with vibrant prints and a high-pitched color palette. To combat overconsumption, they were also early to embrace high-quality natural materials and produce their garments locally. In a way, they weren’t just designers — they were political activists looking to make the world a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable place with beautiful and uplifting clothes. 

Rave Review founders Josephine Bergqvist and Livia Schück discovered Mah-Jong after Josephine ran into Swedish artist Marie-Louise Ekman — who once modeled for the label — in her neighborhood. Unsurprisingly, the duo felt a connection to Mah-Jong’s entire philosophy. They, too, built their brand around upcycling pre-existing materials in 2017 — turning household textiles like curtains, tablecloths, and blankets into eclectic garments. “I always thought that [Rave Review] is like Mah-Jong but at another time,” Josephine says in the show notes. “Their work was quite political, they wanted to make the fashion industry more feminist and more sustainable. In the ‘60s, sustainability was primarily focused on preserving Sweden’s textile industry. While the challenges we face today have changed, the goal remains the same.”

So, the duo borrowed from Mah-Jong’s design language, especially the flower — which is, as ever, an emblem of warm-weather season, but within the context of this collection, it’s also a symbol of resistance through beauty. “Flowers have been celebrated around the world for generations — clearly they have a big impact on people,” Josephine says in the show notes. “For [Rave Review], it’s a theme we are always returning to and it became a big part of our design identity.” This season, they’ve conjured up the motif with a delicate hand. Sprigged florals appear on a handful of separates and a ribbed dress with a relaxed-fit waist and a layered, asymmetrical bubble-hemmed silhouette.

Throughout the collection, romantic florals abound: from tiny, scattered blooms; to painterly watercolor blossoms in soft colors; to bold botanical prints; to illustrative roses rendered with fine detail. In one look, all of these iterations are collaged together. This patchwork-style approach remains Rave Review’s hallmark — and one of the inventive ways the designers are able to get creative with using deadstock and upcycled materials, which this season are sourced from Fabric House, along with the brand’s own archive of vintage home textiles.

Revisiting Tradition

The collection’s theme led the designers to research flower festivals — from tulip festivals in the Netherlands to the designers’ own memories of small-town celebrations in Skåne County, which sits in the southernmost part of Sweden and is known for its vast fields of blooming flowers. Even more specifically, the designers were drawn to Volendamse Klederdracht — the traditional folk costume from the Dutch fishing village of Volendam. In many looks, apron-style overskirts are layered on top of underskirts, which is characteristic of Volendamse Klederdracht. In one gray ensemble, the skirt’s apron is touched with broderie anglaise, lending the otherwise tailored look a homespun appeal. 

Elsewhere, the designers rig several pieces with boning to create shapes that stand away from the body — from the hems of flouncy skirts to the curves of a pair of bloomers. The technique is also seen in several tailored jackets and blazers (no, those aren’t shoulder pads!). The high angle of the shoulders vaguely remind me of the kraplap, a traditional Dutch garment that’s made of starched cotton so it stands stiff when it’s slung around the neck. (Though I can’t tell you with certainty if that’s what the designers were going for.) Another striking, bold-shouldered dress brings to mind the puffed sleeves of traditional folk costumes. Finishing off almost every look are wired scarves, ties, and hats that are twisted and manipulated into fun shapes.

Of Every Stripe

In Volendamse Klederdracht, stripes show up in several layers — especially on skirts and aprons. To add to that, Mah-Jong was also known for its use of stripes in bold colors. So, it’s no surprise that the pattern turns up on the runway in everything from crisp asymmetrical button-ups to flirty dresses. The designers pull color inspiration from the oranges and blues of traditional costumes, but also add their own spin with grays and soft, powdery pinks. One of my favorite moments in the show includes a sharp pink blazer and a striped pencil skirt with deep wrinkles created by heat-pressing bed linens. The result looks like crumpled sheets right after you’ve rolled out of bed. 

The show-closing look jigsaws all of the aforementioned ideas in one showstopping skirt: creased fabric, a smattering of ditsy florals, and patches of broderie anglaise. Overall, the collection’s ruffles, frills, and dustily romantic colors could’ve veered too far into the coquettish territory, but I love how these bohemian impulses are toughened up with more structured tailoring this season — leading to a collection that’s nostalgic but still very contemporary. Did I forget to mention? This is the first time Rave Review has been back on the Copenhagen Fashion Week schedule in five years — and it’s safe to say that the wait was worth every second.