Rolf Ekroth Spring/Summer 2026 at Copenhagen Fashion Week

Rolf Ekroth Spring/Summer 2026 / SS26 at Copenhagen Fashion Week entitled 189 DAYS LATER — ENCORE

Rolf Ekroth – narrative takes a turn towards pragmatism for Spring/Summer 2026. Under the banner of Encore, Ekroth interprets his design methodology as a survival strategy, set against the backdrop of global uncertainty and personal breakthrough. The collection’s hand-sewn pearl garments, laser-cut breathing holes, and reimagined rescue vests all express a philosophy of constant improvement through brutal self-assessment.

Exploring themes of iteration and renewal, the collection draws inspiration from the designer’s own working process, ‘90s British aesthetics, and an eclectic mix of thoughts from horror film soundtracks to the morning routines of The Sopranos, blending gritty visuals with his signature references to the past. Ekroth’s vision embraces both destruction and reconstruction, filtered through his commitment to improvement over sentiment. The collection’s roots delve into this methodology, where last season’s successes and failures become raw material for this season’s foundations.

While conceptually rigorous, the collection takes creative liberties in reimagining waste as premium material. In Ekroth’s hands, six discarded pairs of jeans are reborn as cloud-landscape trousers, their cut-out circles creating atmospheric formations.

The rescue vest’s protective silhouette, seen in previous collections, undergoes a metamorphosis into flowing tubular garments. Morning robes emerge in five variations, from red checkered pieces to versions that echo protective padding. Collaborating with Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto (LSJH), a Finnish municipal waste management company, Ekroth gives vintage Finnish fabrics and discarded denim their own “encore” through this partnership, transforming discarded materials into elevated resources and embracing Finland’s pragmatic relationship with material reuse.

Details of Rolf Ekroth SS26 / Spring/Summer 2026, Technical pieces and fabrics—including Japanese nylon and coated cotton—anchor the collection’s aesthetic, created in close collaboration with stylist Emma Saarnio. Another anchor is found in prints, with long-time collaborator Matilda Diletta continuing the exploration of florals with a new attitude, combining soft, romantic tulip motifs with defiant brushstrokes. Alongside florals, iconographic prints evoke themes of burning the old to make way for something new, directly referencing the concept of an encore. The muted palette of workshop greys and vintage denim blues, punctuated by emergency orange and pearl white, reflects the collection’s philosophy of confident iteration.

Hand-crafted details punctuate each piece: 1000 handmade pins that form a flame that lives as the garment moves, laser-cut logos placed upside down, rough hand-stitching that nods to DIY aesthetics, polka dot elements that appear as breathing holes, pins, and prints across garments, and 15 000 hand-sewn pearls that create iridescent texture. An underlying botanical theme extends into alphabet jewellery created with Ildar Wafin and Diletta, where silver pieces inspired by roots take on organic, twisted forms.

In Encore, Ekroth encapsulates not just survival but the designer’s most confident iteration yet: the familiar process of refinement, the comfort found in methodical improvement, and the determination to create something enduring from what remains. Rather than dwelling in retrospection, this collection propels forward, each piece a refined evolution that builds upon the foundation of what came before while reaching toward something new.