On an overcast day of Copenhagen Fashion Week's Fall 2025 season, I walked out of my first show and was immediately blinded by a sunny yellow designer bag. I'd locked eyes with brand development consultant Jessica Hoy's vintage Prada, an oversize, top-handle nylon style hanging in the crook of her arm with a beaded BonBonWhims strap and CareBears charm attached to the handle.
I couldn't leave for my next show without introducing myself and asking where she'd picked it up. Aside from her bag charms—a movement carried over from 2024—it's unlike anything happening in runway trends right now. And for Hoy, it was a deeply personal purchase. "I'm obsessed with the nylon Prada bags from era [around] 2004 to 2008, because that's when I lived in New York and I was obsessed with all of those collections and couldn't afford it," she told me. A Poshmark treasure hunt led her to the one she has now.
This was a Copenhagen street style moment with a backstory, and it wasn't the only one. As I bounced from the moody minimalism at Birrot to the sporty-spice exuberance of Baum und Pferdgarten, I started counting more vintage designer bags retrofitted with playful charms and knickknacks. Archival styles vastly outnumbered anything new—whether from a local brand or a conglomerate-backed luxury house—and they appeared with a frequency only Scandi essentials like Pico's hair clips and scrunchies could rival. There were Balenciaga City Bags and Le Cagoles in shades of navy blue and lemon yellow; denim Chanel flap bags a Simple Life-era Paris Hilton would carry; and Louis Vuitton Speedy bags in every shape, size, and rare collaboration. (Stephen Sprouse graffiti bags and colorful Murakamis were the most prevalent.) An editor I sat next to at one show carried a sequined Prada bag circa 2005; another displayed a Celine by way of Phoebe Philo.
Street style—and celebrity style—has lately regarded a rare vintage pull as the ultimate flex: a sign that you've got deep sourcing connections (and deeper pockets) to go with your grasp on fashion history. In Copenhagen, sourcing a bag at Poshmark, Rebag, or one of the city's many vintage shops also aligns with the runway programming.
Copenhagen prides itself on being the fashion world's first schedule with sustainability requirements for participating designers—a model that London Fashion Week just adopted, too. As guests think about their environmental impact, they're naturally going to champion bags already in circulation over the latest TikTok-famous trend. (Designers also incorporate pre-loved materials and pieces into their collections. Labels like Bonnetje craft most of their designs from upcycled fabrics; fan-favorite Caro Editions used deadstock Chanel tweed to coat its runway's fall boots.)
A flood of vintage designer bags has given Copenhagen's already lively street style an extra dose of personality. Seeing guests carrying a Galliano-era Dior bag with their Elle Woods pink leather jacket, or toting a Tom Ford Gucci with their 2025 fisherman sweater, gave me more of a window into who they are than copy and pasting an It-bag from Instagram ever could. Because these styles come from decades ago, they have to be tracked down—and oftentimes, like Hoy's Prada bag, they connect the person carrying them to a piece of personal style history.
Ashlyn Delaney, Marie Claire's own social media editor, carried a vintage Louis Vuitton Papillon 30 with her to the shows. She told me that while other accessories have come and gone in the zeitgeist, this one has never let her down.
The bag was also her ticket to bonding with other guests who carried Murakami Louis Vuitton styles (sourced before the re-issue and Zendaya campaign) around Copenhagen Fashion Week. "I absolutely love spotting all the archival Louis Vuitton silhouettes out there," Delaney says. "While new releases have their appeal, nothing compares to the classic designs. These pieces hold significant value and character." Guests aren't bonding over showing up to the same event in the same outfit; they're bonding over a connection with the same past collection.
As fashion month rolls on into New York, Milan, and Paris, there will undoubtedly be sightings of "everyone has it" accessories like last fall's Gucci Blondie or the ascendant Miu Miu Aventure bag. Wearing a designer's bag to their show is like wearing a team's sports jersey to their home game: It's a matter of pride.
Still, Copenhagen Fashion Week street style's emphasis on vintage says bags don't have to be reserved for a single show or location. You can make (and appreciate) new designs while keeping the old.
