Fashion week is as much about trading gossip as it is editors, writers, influencers, and celebrities laying eyes on and critiquing the latest collections. Secrets are whispered with wild abandon on the front row as guests wait for things to kick off – the more salacious the better, whether they turn out to be true or not. Now, did you hear the one about Alectra Rothschild, the designer behind Masculina, who got Caught In Her Fishnets at Copenhagen Fashion Week’s SS26 edition last month?
Okay, so this particular rumour is pure fact: Rothschild brought to a close her three-part fashion show in the Danish capital with a massive rager that brought the Masculina family together on the dancefloor, at the bar, and in the smoking area. Having originally teased the Caught In Her Fishnets offering earlier this year, the designer descended on London as part of the Victoria & Albert’s Fashion in Motion showcase. With Alexander McQueen and Yohji Yamamoto among those showing as part of the initiative in the 90s and 00s, Masculina was joined by a swathe of Danish talent, including Bonnetje, Stamm, and Stem.
The final chapter, held off-schedule as August’s CPHFW came to a close, saw frequent runway models and friends of the brand DJ g2g and Proxy Server, as well as Britney Speed and DJ nah care step behind the decks and “took things back to the roots of Masculina”. “The party was intense!” explains Rothschild. “The queue outside snaked around the building all night. The club is a space for liberation for many people, including trans people – it’s one of the only places trans people can be celebrated. All the Masculina dolls were there, so we had a kiki and then some.”
The Caught In My Fishnets collection itself pays homage to the power of nightlife and the chapters that make up a night out: the hours spent in front of the mirror piling on the make-up, the rowdy pre-drinks and gossip shared over homemade cocktails, the euphoria felt on the dancefloor later on in the night, and the sometimes ill-advised idea to keep things going at the afters. The idea manifests in coquette-y little corsets, sliced and diced slip and bandage dresses that leave little to the imagination, teeny tiny minis and tanks, and more.
Take a closer look at photos from the SS26 Masculina party in the gallery above.