Editor’s note: This story is part of CNN Style’s ongoing project, “The September Issues: An inspiring hub to spark conversations about fashion’s impact on people and the planet.”
CNN —
This August, fashion editors and buyers from over 120 of the world’s most influential fashion magazines and retailers flew to Denmark and sat on wet stools in the pouring rain.
Was there an immersive new trend with the newly named “Watercore”? No, but in fashion, you can’t deny anything. They were indulging in the elements at Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPHFW), painting a slightly different scene from the candlelight and serenity usually associated with this midsummer event.
This is hardly surprising, given that these days few in the fashion industry miss out on the Danish capital’s twice-yearly shows in January and August. Following in the footsteps of New York, London, Milan and Paris fashion weeks, Copenhagen is now widely regarded as the “fifth city of fashion.” Vogue Business delivered its praise this year, but top fashion critics from iD to the Financial Times to Hello! Too High Snobiety were also singing the same hymn under their umbrella.
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Copenhagen is now considered the “5th city of fashion.”
Why: With 18 sustainability criteria that each designer must meet to participate, multiple investment avenues open to designers allowing for diverse offerings, and the proven It-girl credibility of global phenomenons like Ganni, Steen Goya and Saks Potts, Copenhagen Fashion Week has created a showcase that resonates across continents.
The statistics show it: CPHFW reported that this summer’s Spring/Summer 2024 shows, which were extended from the usual three-day schedule to four days and featured 31 shows, saw a 117.5% increase in seasonal online media exposure. The event also saw an increase of more than one million social media impressions compared to the same period last year.
These figures are in line with the recent upward trend in Danish fashion exports, which have grown 84% over the past decade (compared to an 8% increase in domestic sales), according to data analytics organization Statistics Denmark, meaning fashion now accounts for 5% of total Danish manufactured goods exports.
CPHFW’s significant investment, and continued investment, in its pool of emerging talent is frequently cited as the reason for this ever-growing success.
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Brands like Ganni, whose Spring/Summer 2024 collection is being shown here, are now recognised globally.
Acting as an incubator for not only Danish but all Nordic fashion designers looking to take their first steps into a notoriously challenging industry, it has facilitated an unprecedented number of collaborations with government-funded independent arts organisations, providing designers with mentorship, investment, all-important press and retail exposure to get them on the starting line.
Globally recognised Danish brands such as Ganni, Steen Goya and Cecilie Bahnsen have all built successful businesses with the support of Copenhagen Fashion Week, and where these brands have set the pace, the Council is paving the way for many more to follow.
To that end, CPHFW has teamed up with the non-profit initiative ALPHA, which, together with a panel of industry experts led by director Ane Lynge-Jorlen, will support designers immediately after graduation. Ten brands will be selected to present their graduate work at an awards ceremony held during Fashion Week.
This year, CPHFW partnered with retailer Zalando to create the Copenhagen Fashion Week x Zalando Visionary Award, which offers a cash prize of 50,000 euros (approximately $54,000) for business development and a further 35,000 euros ($38,000) for show production, among numerous mentorship opportunities.
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Copenhagen is home to a wide range of new talent, supported by scholarships and prize money to help young designers cover the costs of shows.
Other initiatives include a scholarship scheme that will provide funding for up to three seasons to four brands that are less than five years old.
This creates a support network unmatched in other fashion hubs and is invaluable as designers build their businesses.
“The Danes have made a concerted effort to work closely together and like one team, rather than isolating their agendas,” said Ida Petersson, buying director for women’s and men’s wear at online fashion retailer Browns.com, which has shown its continued support for Danish designers.
“Copenhagen being the fashion capital means that the world is watching Denmark,” Awa Marina Stelter told CNN in an interview. Stelter co-founded the zero-waste Danish brand Opera Sport with Stephanie Gunderach in 2019. “[Fashion week]is a key platform that allows us to attract a global audience and, through that, raise our profile and build relationships with key players in the fashion industry.” As a result, Stelter said the brand has experienced “significant year-on-year financial growth” of 50-80% each year.
“Being named as a newcomer to the CPHFW New Talent program has given me the opportunity to receive scholarship support to do a fashion show,” Niklas Svofgaard agreed in an interview with CNN. Winner of the 2022 Wessel & Bett Foundation Prize, Svofgaard made his critically acclaimed debut in August with an ode to Victorian costume realized using sustainable weaving techniques. “I’m very happy to announce that I’ll be launching in partnership with a major online retailer this fall. I’m really excited,” he added.
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Stine Goya is another Danish brand that is quickly becoming well-known outside Denmark.
PLN, the label launched by Peter Lundvald Nielsen in 2021 (and also a New Talents award winner), has had a similar experience. “This funding was a great investment to boost us as a brand,” says the company’s COO Olivia Danielsson. “It also allows us to turn to great people with a wealth of experience in the industry for advice. It’s important to make the right strategic decisions. The wrong ones can be disastrous, the right ones can lead to success.”
For the Danish Arts Foundation, its investments are made to foster creative expression, not just for commercial gain.
“We see value and potential in their work and would love to see it fully developed in the future,” Anne Damgaard, head of the Danish Arts Council’s grants committee, told CNN in an interview. Damgaard, herself a fashion designer, received support from the foundation early in her career.
“We believe that fashion enriches and challenges the fields of design, craft and fashion, and also challenges and enriches the wider society,” she continued. “Fashion can contribute much more than keeping us warm, stylish and beautiful.”
As the fashion industry awaits a new mandatory EU framework on sustainable practices, Copenhagen remains the only fashion week to voluntarily implement strict standards for ethical and sustainable practices. Renowned for using vintage, deadstock, recycled and repurposed fabrics in their trend-setting collections, designers are increasingly attracting support from a wide base of consumers both in Denmark and abroad who want to hold their brands accountable and enjoy wearing the latest cult trends.
“The work that Copenhagen Fashion Week CEO Cecilie Torsmark and her team have done to establish Copenhagen Fashion Week as a leader in sustainability has set them apart,” Peterson says, “and in turn has inspired other European fashion councils to rethink how they do things.”
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A model walks the runway at the PLN show during Copenhagen Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2024.
Torsmark, who is currently on maternity leave, told Monocle last year that that was why she took the role in the first place: “I felt there was an opportunity to question the very purpose of fashion week, and to test whether we could use our platform to actively accelerate a transition in the industry.”
Community is also key to success here: everyone interviewed for this article credits the Danish spirit of cooperation and camaraderie, rather than competition, as the main driver of their drive and success. Giving people the opportunity to succeed is as much a hallmark of the Danish Fashion Council as Denmark’s egalitarian social ethos.
Case in point: it’s not just fashion organisations that invest in emerging brands, but also established designers who have the means to promote young designers.
Elisabeth Stam, who won the Copenhagen Fashion Week x Zalando Visionary Award in January 2023 for her eponymous brand STAMM, has found her first retailer in fellow Danish designer Henrik Vibskov, a long-time legend in Danish fashion.
“Henrik Vibskov Boutique has represented STAMM since the first collection, which is a much-needed support for emerging brands and designers,” Stamm told CNN in an interview. “Sometimes everyone wants to be the first to discover something, but who has the guts to actually be the first to do it?”
Others have done the same: Stam joined genius brand (Di)vision, recently mentored by Ganni co-founder Nikolaj Refstrup, to create a brand with the same Dane’s support that aims to foster creativity in a way that is as democratic as point-of-sale purchases.
Overall, that means fashion that speaks to consumers who want to spend their money on things that matter and be part of a club that looks and feels good — not to mention that those who sit down at fashion week are inspired to spread the word, wet or not.
