The deadstock denim-adorned pop-up café offers space for fashion week attendees to gather while connecting with the Copenhagen-based brand’s core values.

Key features

During SS25 Copenhagen Fashion Week, fashion brand Samsøe Samsøe is hosting a pop-up coffee shop and community space situated inside Paper Island, a newly constructed urban area facing the harbour. The current iteration of Kaffebar, the pop-up coffee bar was first introduced by the brand during Paris Fashion Week in 2023, is designed by the brand in collaboration with local set designer Fatima Fransson. Featuring a communal table and seating installation made of discontinued Samsøe Samsøe denim, the space is an articulation of the brand’s circularity and community initiatives. The design team opted for this shared set-up to encourage interaction between attendees, in deliberate opposition to the traditional café with single tables. Further supporting community development, the space will be programmed with events like a panel discussion about spatial design and immersive experiences at the location. 

FRAME’s take

Fashion Week goers are constantly inundated with presentations of new collections. Samsøe Samsøe’s decision to activate a space to connect with attendees without adding to the sensory overload that the week presents. By decentralizing its collection, the brand still manages to articulate its values. The chosen typology reflects the local café customs, further rooting the brand in the city's culture. The collaboration with a young, local creative has a similar effect, demonstrating Samsøe Samsøe’s position as a leader in the local Copenhagen – and global – fashion design scene. Additionally, putting deadstock material at the centre of the installation references one of the brand’s core garments without directly presenting its new collection. It proposes a less transactional experience than other more traditional Fashion Week activities, pointing to how fashion brands can creatively activate space to connect with their communities in less predictable ways.

The Samsøe Samsøe Kaffebar pop-up will run until 11 August 2024.