If you told me last month that I’d be packing a pair of hands-free, ‘step-in’ sneakers for a high-profile fashion press trip to Denmark, the epicenter of Scandi-girl coolness, I probably would have laughed. As a fashion editor, my standard for travel footwear is what some would call brutally high: It has to look aspirational, blend in with the locals, and survive a 20,000-step itinerary.

So, when Kizik invited me to test-drive their latest drops, I’ll admit I had some trepidation on how I would style the sneakers for a pre-summer escape. I put the brand’s Juno 2 snowboots to the test in Iceland last fall, which were perfect for those icy treks, but I had never thought about wearing the trainers with my frilly dresses and skirts. All of those doubts vanished when I opened the boxes.

Enter: The Monaco and the Siena.

Not only do these sneakers feature Kizik’s famous hands-free tech, but they also nailed the retro trainer aesthetic that’s piercing through fashion right now. After four days clocking 10,000 through 20,000 steps a day, navigating international waters, and facing my deepest fears on two wheels, I’m officially a convert. Here is how they survived the ultimate Copenhagen gauntlet.

My first test came via The Monaco, a sleek, chunky black-and-white trainer that is the type of shoe you want to wear with everything. I paired mine with a black mini dress, and the silhouette looked instantly cool, not overly-sporty.

When I first slipped them on, I noticed a roomy feel in the toe box. It wasn’t that they were too big; they just provided enough room for my toes to feel free and not cramped, which is a must when you’re walking and sightseeing for hours.

The real magic, though, is the set-it-and-forget-it design. When you first take them out of the box, a one-time lace-up to get the perfect fit is all you need. After that? You never have to touch those laces again. It’s just a simple point of your toes to get them on and off—laces still tied.

To put that secure fit to the test, the itinerary threw me into the deep end: cycling.

Let me caveat this by saying I am not a pro at biking whatsoever. In fact, it had been over 10 years since the last time I rode a bike, and on that day, I promised myself it would be my last time for the rest of my life. But I decided to face my fear.

Stepping into Copenhagen’s buzzing bike lanes, the absolute last thing I wanted to worry about was my shoes slipping off the pedals. Knowing I was locked into my Monacos helped ease the nervous jitters a bit. That way I was able to focus on keeping my balance and getting those hand signals right.

Immediately after biking, we hit the water for a boat tour. Even with a drizzle in the forecast making the docks a little slippery, the grip held up perfectly. And I was able to hit the deck without a single slip.

For a day dedicated to eating my way through the city, I switched over to the Siena. This pair comes in a stunning pastel mauve colorway that fits seamlessly into the muted, minimalist palette Copenhagen is famous for. I styled them with my windbreaker skirt, a simple double-layered tank top, and a pair of ruffled socks for a look that felt elevated yet entirely practical.

We started our food marathon at a local food hall, enjoying traditional open-faced sandwiches and fresh on-tap kombucha, walked through a bustling Thai festival filled with food vendors, stopped by a traditional Danish hot dog stand, and ended the day at a pastry shop. Through all the standing, snacking, and strolling, the Sienas kept me entirely cushioned and cute.

International travel comes with plenty of built-in pressures, from the tight schedules to long lines. If you want to alleviate the stress of bogged-down customs lines and frantic TSA checkpoints, these are the shoes to pack.

They are versatile enough to style with everything in your suitcase from day to night, cute enough to star in your vacation photos, and absolutely comfortable enough to hike 6 miles and walk 20,000 steps in a single day.

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Despite having a good phone with a high-quality camera, sometimes a girl needs a flash going off in her face to prove that her outfit is actually matching the vibe of the day.

When I was 12 years old, my grandparents bought me an underwater digital camera. I don’t think they realized that years later, in 2026, it would turn into me carrying an SD card adapter in my bag at all times just to quickly upload blurry flash photos onto my phone. But maybe that’s exactly the point.

Digital cameras were never really about quality. They were about capturing a feeling before it disappeared. Unlike our phones today, where we take hundreds of photos trying to curate the perfect image, digital cameras always felt much more in the moment, capturing people before they had the chance to pose or perfect themselves. From blurry flash photos to colorful digital cameras hanging from wrists at parties again, old technology is slowly becoming part of our personal style. In a time where every iPhone photo looks ultra-polished and ready to post, digital cameras feel imperfect in a way people deeply miss, almost like the Y2K effect returning not only through our clothes, but through the way we document our lives online too.

As mentioned in Canon’s analysis of why Gen Z love digital cameras, younger generations are slowly moving away from overly polished imagery and gravitating toward photographs that feel more spontaneous and atmosphere-driven instead. That’s exactly why flash-heavy, grainy, and sometimes technically imperfect digital camera photos are gaining value again within fashion and nightlife culture. It’s a constant documentation of the behind-the-scenes moments of your life.

At the same time, this has evolved into a movement running parallel with fashion itself. Digicams small enough to fit into tiny bags, wrist straps wrapped around hands, and forgotten SD cards sitting at the bottom of pockets have all become part of personal style, almost like sunglasses or jewelry. The world of fashion lately has been chasing the exact same feeling these cameras create; less perfection, more instinctive emotion, and a style shaped by fleeting moments rather than trends.

Juergen Teller’s photographic language has especially become a major reference point within fashion once again. Teller’s long-standing use of harsh flash, natural lighting, moving compositions, and technically “raw” imagery offers a more honest alternative to overly produced fashion photography, almost as if the images themselves were taken on digital cameras. One of the strongest examples of this is Teller’s Vivienne Westwood SS13 campaign. The campaign’s harsh flash photography, movement-driven framing, and spontaneous imagery are still continuously referenced within fashion photography today. 

More recently, Balmain’s Spring/Summer 2025 campaign also embraced imagery that feels more immediate, caught in motion, and intentionally less flawless. Because sometimes the blurry flash photo ends up feeling more real than the memory itself. 

Celebrities like Kendall Jenner and Sabrina Carpenter have also gravitated toward digital cameras. In Dua Lipa’s “In My Bag” Vogue interview, a black Canon IXUS 285 HS casually appears between her everyday essentials, proving how digital cameras have slowly shifted from tech objects into fashion accessories. According to the singer: “It’s, like, the perfect party companion.” More recently, Zara Larsson also shared on Instagram Stories that she used the same camera model to capture her Cannes outfit photos, showing how digicams are becoming just as important to personal style as the outfits themselves.

Today, a variety of digital cameras can be found for a range of personal tastes and aesthetics, and even for the most amateur photographers. They’ve truly become a handbag staple. Somewhere between the lip gloss, sunglasses, and tangled headphones, the digicam quietly became fashion’s favorite accessory again. And with summer around the corner, they’ll be tucked into beach bags everywhere. Flip flops, bikinis, oversized sunglasses, baby tees, and digicams start shaping the everyday summer uniform.

As silver, black, red, and pink digital cameras become essential accessories again, the responsibility of carrying the SD card adapter and AirDropping everyone’s photos at the end of the night somehow always becomes yours… So this is your reminder to bring your digicam on a girls’ night out.

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