The AW26 collection begins with the frog: a modest, transformative creature deeply entwined with the living world.
The journey started on a small Danish island known for its fire-bellied toads and unfolded through unexpected connections: the word criterium, the film Magnolia with its raining frogs, studies of frogs carrying one another, conversations about social structures, and even the company’s veteran van, Betty, which after eight years had to be carried out of a parking space by many hands.
From the fire-bellied toad to the rare backpacker frog, where the female carries her mate, amphibian life became a poetic and human lens. Frogs exist between worlds, shifting from egg to tadpole to airbreathing being. They signal environmental change and populate myths and fairytales as symbols of metamorphosis, luck, fertility, and quiet wisdom. To look at the frog is to look at ourselves — interdependent bodies in constant transition, navigating thresholds and the weight of what we carry. What began as an interest in frog colors, habitats, and life cycles grew into a reflection on shared weight. Emotional baggage, collective labor, bumblebees improbably lifting their own bodies, fungal networks sustaining entire forests — all speak of cooperation beneath the surface. These ideas shape both the silhouettes and spirit of the collection. Earthy pond greens and soil browns are disrupted by flashes of warning orange, echoing nature’s own signals.
Henrik Vibskov
Photos: James Cochrane
Signature textiles distill this universe: etched toad-skin textures that honor imperfection; glowing mycelium-inspired patterns hinting at hidden cooperation; monochrome jacquards concealing tadpoles and dancing frogs; playful graphics of weightlifting frogs, swamp typography, and stacked creatures.
The collection invites a shift in perspective away from the distant overview and toward ground-level intimacy. Tailoring plays a central role, with suits and structured pieces informed by frog faces, eyes, and webbed feet. Rounded volumes and fluid transitions echo metamorphosis, while layered garments suggest carrying, supporting, and sharing. Silhouettes interlock and depend on one another.
This season actress Linnea Berthelsen (Stranger Things) opened the show. The show takes place at Østre Gasværk Theatre in Copenhagen, where the audience looks down onto a circular stage, mirroring how humans often view frogs from above. This altered vantage becomes part of the story: an invitation to reconsider scale, hierarchy, and what we overlook. Performers carry towering ladder-like structures built around sculptural wooden spines, visualizing the core that supports the whole body. As these structures tilt, sway, and unfold, they form a shared pattern assembled collectively through loading, unloading, and redistribution of weight.
In Frog Carry Frog the runway becomes a portrait of shared strength. A reminder that every height reached rests on many shoulders — and that together, we carry more than we ever could alone.
Thank You
HV Design Team – HV, Judith Klingenfeld, Andreas Hermann Bloch, Lærke Engelshardt, Baptiste Comte, Jens, Cara and Swantje
Management, Logistics, Accounting – Anja Gordon, Elvira von Wieding
Development & Production – Joost Jansen, Anna De La Cour & Valerie Bonn
HV Installation Team – Baptiste Comte & Elvira von Wieding
Sales Team – VALD Agency & DUNE Japan
Press – Nat Studio
Lookbook photography – Alastair Wiper @alastairwiper
Backstage photography – Emily Wilson @ewphoto
Videographer – Mads Christensen @bymadschristensen @nordicagency
HV Boutiques – Dorthe and other sweethearts in Copenhagen Moto and the Svipsies in NYC
Casting – Tuono Casting @tuono_casting
Makeup – Lead artist: Jenny Jansson using @idunminerals @jenny_jansson
Hair – Lead hair: Amalie Holmqvist using Maginista, @amalie.holmqvist @maginistahaircare
Music by Steve Reich -Music for pieces of wood – Edit by Mikkel Hess, Light professional Joshua Kroon
Sound tech Tim Høyer
A special thanks to – Østre Gasværk Theatre for the support and location
