This minimalist setting eschewed the decadence of last season’s venue (Thorvaldsens Museum), reflecting a more vulnerable approach that puts the focus wholly on the clothes. No sculptures, no ornate ceilings, no mosaic floors, and no distractions — just a lulling soundscape of waves gently crashing on the shore. Even being on the second floor (third, by non-European standards), with nothing but gray, rain-engorged clouds in view, I can imagine a languid day spent on the beach — the flight of sea gulls, the sun-warmed sea, the craggy coastlines, the moist, salty air, and the feel of sun overhead and sand underfoot. 

This feeling is immediately validated from the moment the first model steps onto the runway in head-to-toe yellow. A distinctly laid-back, vacation vibe is imbued into a softly tailored suit teamed up with a metallic knit, strappy shoes, and a beaded bag. Then, more lemon-y tones: a pale-yellow silky tunic worn over easygoing wide-legged pants, with a spray of raffia cascading down one side. This is summer dressing that’s both sophisticated and beach-savvy, a perfect coming together of opposite attitudes, which just happens to be what Saif Bakir and Emma Bakir Hedlund, the husband-and-wife duo behind Swedish brand Cmmn Swdn, are so good at. 

Finding Stillness

The designers first met during their studies at Central Saint Martins and the London College of Fashion. After stints at several fashion houses, including COS and Wooyoungmi, they headed up design at a well-known studio in Paris before charting their own course with Cmmn Swdn in 2012. Since then, the brand has carved out a distinctive niche — collections defined by an instinct for marrying opposites — masculine and feminine, structure and ease, nostalgia and experimentation. Although they started with menswear, Saif and Emma forayed into womenswear with their first showing at Copenhagen Fashion Week earlier this year. 

The brand approached womenswear with such ease and confidence, it felt as though they’d been doing it all along. The designers know what they like: well-tailored, fabric-forward garments that reflect the founders’ diverse cultural backgrounds and experiences. Although last season centered around the collision and intersection of their identities, this season’s show focuses less on tension and more on harmony — an exploration of how stillness can exist within motion. “We wanted to create a collection that feels like a deep exhale, a quiet moment of clarity in a world that’s constantly moving,” Saif explains in the show notes.

And The Livin’s Easy

Summer’s true promise is the lightness it brings — the feeling that, for a moment, our worries lift and life softens and opens up. Dubbed “Shifting Light,” the collection taps into the carefree spirit of coastal escapes and long, languid days in the sun. Everything starts with fabric, of course. Natural, lighter-feeling materials permeate the collection. Think: light cottons, breezy linens, and some sumptuous silks. Throughout, there’s a lovely dialogue between drape and form. The tailoring is fluid but clean, lightened up with airy knits and deliciously soft shirting. Loose, easy-fitting silhouettes invite air to move freely between body and garment. Long layers drape on the body, like metallic knit dresses thrown on top of relaxed bottoms with just enough of the hemline peeking through.

Then there’s raffia! Nothing conjures up images of a coastal vacation quite like raffia — a fiber that’s quite literally derived from the fronds of palm trees. Here, the designers wield it in a way that’s new and clever. Some of the collection’s most standout looks feature graceful torrents of raffia flowing down the sides of tailored pant suits. In another favorite, a hem of raffia fringe adds textural interest to a black suit. Whether woven into accessories, incorporated into garments, or used as delicate trims, it lends each look an understated, beachy elegance that feels both natural and elevated. 

Changing Light

Summer has its own light at almost each hour of the day, and through its color palette, Cmmn Swdn takes us from dawn to midday to dark. First, there are the yellows — some bright and creamy, others pale and faded, as though they’ve been left to bake for hours in the sun. One floor-grazing dress is cut in dappled desert clay, like ochre-toned villas shadowed by a canopy of leaves. There’s honey, like the last strands of the sun’s amber glow, before the collection moves into browns and inky blacks. Elsewhere, earthy greens bring to mind verdant valleys flush with centuries-old olive trees and yellow wildflowers in the lush grass. Floral prints make their way into a zip-up blouson jacket, cinch-bottom pants, and a bralette-and-shorts co-ord set.

Finishing off every look: Beaded bags and raffia totes. Almost all of them are oversized and roomy enough to hold whatever you need for the day ahead — whether you’re headed to the beach, dinner, or drinks. In the end, the comfort and convenience that the designers imbue into each look doesn’t go unnoticed. Vacation or not, there are always those days when you need a fuss-free formula that doesn’t fall short on polish, and Cmmn Swdn provides just that. “It’s about softness with intention, and strength that comes from being grounded,” Saif explains in the show notes. “These are clothes for when you feel most yourself, unforced, present, and open to possibilities.”