The notion of everyday couture springs to life in UNIQLO&rsquo;s and Cecilie Bahnsen&rsquo;s Spring/Summer 2026 collection, which features womenswear and childrenswear in jersey with feminine motifs and flourishes.

Fresh, versatile, youthful. <a href="https://www.lofficielsingapore.com/fashion/uniqlo-x-cecilie-bahnsen-collaboration-fashion-collection-clothing">UNIQLO&rsquo;s and Cecilie Bahnsen&rsquo;s collaborative Spring/Summer 2026 collection</a> is many, many things, but perhaps above all, it is a full circle moment for the two brands. Earlier this week, journalists from around Asia gathered at Fast Retailing Global Headquarters in the Ariake district of Tokyo, and Yukihiro Katsuta, the group&rsquo;s Senior Executive Officer and Head of R&amp;D for UNIQLO, shares with us that he first met Bahnsen, who is best known among the fashion cognoscenti for her &ldquo;everyday couture&rdquo; signatures of floral motifs, and poufy sleeves with frills and shirring, about seven years ago, when the Japanese brand opened its first store in Copenhagen. What followed was a foundation of mutual admiration between the two seemingly disparate brands &mdash; Katsuta says that while romance, softness and femininity can be found in the works of other designers, Bahnsen shows a true &ldquo;love for clothes and love for the women wearing them&rdquo;, which sets her apart.&nbsp;

Fast forward to the end of 2025, UNIQLO and Bahnsen began to turn their enduring connection into this tie-up, which took around six months to complete. It is quite the feat, merging <a href="https://www.lofficielsingapore.com/fashion/digital-cover-story-singapore-radio-dj-sonia-chew-uniqlo-denim-fashion-celebrity-interview">UNIQLO&rsquo;s essence of practicality</a>, and simple yet considered design with Bahnsen&rsquo;s knack for sculptural silhouettes, ultra-feminine flourishes, and intricate textures. The result is what Bahnsen calls a &ldquo;big step&rdquo; for her brand &mdash; an offering of women&rsquo;s tops, skirts and dresses, with prices starting at S$19.90. With this collection, the Danish designer also makes her foray into childrenswear, with a range of tops, skorts and dresses. &nbsp; &nbsp;

In Tokyo for the collection preview, Bahnsen details that while she is no stranger to <a href="https://www.lofficielsingapore.com/fashion/cecilie-bahnsen-charles-keith">creative tie-ups</a>, she truly learnt a great deal through this one. Bahnsen says, &ldquo;For this collection, we decided to work just with jersey, which is quite a new fabrication for us. We have it in our own collection, but I was really curious about how to create the best T-shirt, how to create a piece that will last the test of time. When we did the fittings of all the products, the [UNIQLO] team was so aware of the customer and the woman wearing UNIQLO, what she is like, and how the pieces would fit. Everything went into consideration in making the collection, and that made a really exciting dialogue for creativity and decision making.&rdquo; She adds, &ldquo;It is interesting to push the boundaries together. Adding the ruffles and sculptural quality to the jersey. Some of the pieces have details that we normally make in other fabrics.&rdquo;

It is this experimentation and level of intricacy, which makes the collection stand out from <a href="https://www.lofficielsingapore.com/fashion/exclusive-interview-clare-waight-keller-uniqlo-c-capsule-collection-fashion">UNIQLO collaborations</a> that came before Bahnsen. &ldquo;I always look at textures in textiles and I think that&rsquo;s what is special about this metalass&eacute;. Especially on the gingham, creating this texture, how fine the folds are, working on the elastication, and creating pieces that are sculptural and feminine. They fit the body yet have an ease that allows you to move. Translating the ruffle details that we normally do in organza into something different,&rdquo; she says.

Ultimately, what brings Bahnsen the most joy is knowing that the collection is timeless and can be shared and&nbsp; passed on, and the thought of the wearer putting the collection together in the way that she wishes to. The designer says, &ldquo;The oversized jersey, for me, is perfectly timeless. I can see someone wearing it today and in 10 years. For me, that is important.&rdquo; As the press conference comes to an end, she adds, &ldquo;What is exciting about the collection is that you can put it together and make it your own. I like how you can mix the pieces together differently.&rdquo;

L&rsquo;OFFICIEL SINGAPORE&rsquo;s Editor-in-Chief Ian Lee speaks to Cecilie Bahnsen in Tokyo

Hi Cecilie. What were your key considerations when designing &ldquo;everyday couture&rdquo; in the context of UNIQLO?
For me, it&rsquo;s important to add romance and femininity to the garment. We worked with the iconic material of jersey, which we all have in our wardrobe. We figured out how we can change the code of it into something that is very Cecilie Bahnsen.

What do you typically look for in a creative tie-up?
When we do a collaboration, we need to add something new and also learn something. With the collection&rsquo;s childrenswear, you really get to learn a lot by tapping into a new category.&nbsp;

What was the best moment in the creation of this collection?
When things started to work and we got the fit right, you could see everyone getting excited about it together. We were working together &mdash; people from Copenhagen, Japan and Paris, and there was so much excitement.

Was there any pressure?
There was a lot of learning together to make sure the techniques could work. We did a lot of fittings in Copenhagen with our pattern cutting team and the UNIQLO team to make sure everything is comfortable and easy to wear, but also has the right DNA.

Jersey is the backbone of this collection&hellip;&nbsp;
From the beginning, concentrating on one fabric worked well creatively because we narrowed things down. We knew we weren&rsquo;t going to do trousers or outerwear, for example. It made us focused, which is important.

You&rsquo;ve chosen to wear the humble T-shirt for this event. Why did you pick it out of all the pieces in the collection?
The ease of wearing it with our brand&rsquo;s embroidered skirt. I really love the small embroidered icon as well.&nbsp;

How did the decision to do childrenswear come about?
The fabrication lends itself very well to childrenswear. And a playful way of designing. There was also the idea of &ldquo;mini me&rdquo;, and that you could dress together with your daughter. The collection is for all ages of femininity &mdash; young, old, child. I really enjoyed designing the childrenswear as a challenge. I couldn&rsquo;t help thinking about my sister and my nieces, and that sisterhood feeling &mdash; myself being a mother, and my sister having two daughters.

What was most challenging about designing childrenswear for the first time?
It was interesting seeing the proportions and how things are on that scale. A lot of our details are already so refined and delicate. To make them smaller took even more refinement. It translated very well. My nieces have been wearing the collection and I love how they put it together. There is this child-like expression, which is very inspiring.&nbsp;

What is your first memory involving UNIQLO?
One of my best friends is Japanese. She was always talking to me about UNIQLO and buying UNIQLO when she was in Japan. That is how I got introduced.&nbsp;

The UNIQLO and Cecilie Bahnsen Spring/Summer 2026 collection is available from 22 May at UNIQLO. Read L'OFFICIEL SINGAPORE's full interview with Cecilie Bahnsen in the June-July issue.

Interview Exclusive: Cecilie Bahnsen on UNIQLO Spring/Summer 2026 Collaboration

Tags

Related Articles

Fashion

Everything You’ll Want From the Uniqlo x Cecilie Bahnsen Collab

Fashion

Digital Cover Story: Sonia Chew Lives Life on Her Own Terms

Fashion

Every Outfit Jennie Wore in Her SOLO Debut MV

Recommended posts for you

Fashion