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From (Di)vision’s viral tablecloth dress moment to a cameo appearance from Real Housewives star Lisa Rinna at Rotate, Copenhagen Fashion Week’s Autumn/Winter 2023 edition produced the kind of click-worthy spectacles typically reserved for New York, London, Milan or Paris. However, as Scandinavia’s mid-size brands mature, smaller players are grappling with economic challenges and a lack of support from buyers.
CPHFW, which drew to a close on 3 February, featured 25 shows for AW23, including heavyweights like Ganni, Rotate, Saks Potts and Norwegian brand Holzweiler. As of this season, brands have to meet 18 minimum standards for responsible fashion production to be included on the schedule, including zero-waste shows, no single-use plastic and producing collections from at least 50 per cent certified recycled, upcycled or deadstock materials, as well as building more diverse and inclusive teams. It’s the first fashion week to require any such standards, while sustainability is still largely missing from the major cities.
Guests were driven in electric cars, invitations were recycled or reusable, and the food served at official dinners was vegan. Confetti used during Ganni’s show was recycled, while the Stine Goya and Rotate sets could be deconstructed and reused.
For those visiting, it felt much the same as previous seasons. “That’s what I really love about it, it proves it’s still possible to do a fashion week in this [more sustainable] way,” says CPHFW CEO Cecilie Thorsmark. “Our brands are not compromising on aesthetics or fabrics or creative expression. But, they’re living up to 18 minimum standards that cover the entire value chain and doing business in a more responsible way.”
It’s been a gradual process for brands to get to this point. The minimum standards were announced in 2019, giving them time to evolve; and CPHFW checked in with a survey to read their progress over the last two seasons. “I'm relieved this season,” admits Thorsmark. “I remember being at some shows just a year back, beautiful shows, but after I would consult with CPHFW’s head of sustainability, saying should we be worried about X brand? We really need X brand on the schedule. Is there anything we can do?”
While some of the standards might seem like minor changes, every little helps, says Nicole Rycroft, founder of environmental nonprofit Canopy, which has worked with the likes of Stella McCartney. “That said, we need to focus on implementing solutions that drive significant change proportional to the ecological challenges that we’re facing. For brands, that means addressing the impacts of their supply chain's sourcing of raw materials, where 90 per cent of their impact currently lies.” Redesigning businesses to decouple financial performance from raw materials so that brands are using 50 per cent less raw materials by 2030 is key, she adds.
Talent and spectacle: Building international awareness
On the first night of CPHFW, genderless upcycling label (Di)vision invited guests to sit at tables covered with spilled wine and cold fries, like there’d been a gala the night before. Models walked between the tables, wearing a grungy reimagining of Woodstock ’99 fashion, including dyed denim, leg warmers and low-slung waistbands (a jazz band played classics from the 2000s, like Linkin Park, Numb and Skater Boi by Avril Lavigne). As the show drew to a close, model Sarah Dahl, co-founder Simon Wick’s partner, clinked her glass with a spoon, stood up and walked away from the table, revealing that her dress was attached to the tablecloth and taking its whole contents with her. On Wick’s last count, videos of the moment across its social media accounts totalled “way beyond” 100 million views.
“We created this moment because we wanted to do something that went viral,” says Wick. “After the Coperni show last year that went crazy, it inspired us to see how we could create something that speaks to our culture and fits the brand story, to build more awareness internationally. Being from Copenhagen and showing here, sometimes you're not getting your voice heard all over the world.”
(Di)vision has global stockists including LN-CC, Browns and Bloomingdale’s. However, its leading market is still Denmark, where Wick, his sister and co-founder Nanna and Dahl have a strong community (often, the brand’s shows are punctuated with roaring cheers, as people spot their friends on the runway). Wick is hoping this global attention will translate into more of an imprint abroad.
Bolstered by a €50 million investment from Sequoia Capital last summer, Norwegian brand Holzwelier presented a large-scale show this season, as it continues to take aim at the US and wider European market. The brand hired high-profile creatives including stylist Francesca Burns, movement director Yagamoto and casting director Julia Lange to work on the show. TikTok star (and partner of Romeo Beckham) Mia Regan walked the runway.
“It's important to change setups once in a while to get other eyes on the collection and constantly evolve, even though we love to build long lasting relationships,” says co-founder Andreas Holzweiler. “The main goal is obviously to strengthen our brand position and community on our global journey, we are expanding with 5-6 new retail locations globally this year and believe that the shows create a path and sets the tone for our communication throughout the season.”
Smaller brands struggle to reach the international stage
One of the first shows on Tuesday was menswear label Latimmier, now in its second season at CPHFW under the New Talent programme. Founder Ervin Latimer hosted a salon-style show, where he sat in the middle of the runway and talked about each look as models walked, explaining everything from fabric provenance to production technique.
Before the show began, Latimer delivered an emotional speech about the difficulties he’s faced building his label. “Three months ago I had a burnout and I wasn’t sure if I could do this show,” he said. “It’s so hard to be an emerging designer right now. For all the emerging designers out there, I dedicate this show to you.” Showgoers, including Bergdorf Goodman buying director Bruce Pask, rushed backstage, many thanking Latimer for his honesty.
Latimer also thanked CPHFW and Thorsmark personally for making his show possible this season. The CPHFW Talent Programme, launched last season to foster new Scandinavian brands, financially and strategically supports Lattimier, PLN and Iso.Poetism with mentoring and business support, Thorsmark says. However, sometimes incubation isn’t enough. Latimmier and other emerging talents on the CPHFW schedule have been struggling to attract new buyers, the designer says.
It’s difficult for new and emerging brands to find stockists right now, as buyers are reducing their buys or can’t take on new brands amid the economic downturn, says Thorsmark. “It's such a shame. Also, if you're a small designer facing a crisis or a time of crisis, it can be challenging to find time to engage in dialogue with a mentor.”
It’s not just Scandinavia: young designers the world over are having a tough time scaling their businesses right now, says Julie Gilhart, chief development officer of Tomorrow London Ltd, who manages sales for (Di)vision among a host of other brands across Europe. “Not only are costs high but many talented creatives are struggling because when they get out of school, they are not educated in how to run a business,” she says. However, Gilhart notes that Scandinavian designers generally have patience when it comes to scaling.
In the current economic climate, some more established labels are reassessing the role of fashion weeks altogether. Copenhagen brand Soulland has always been a mainstay on the CPHFW schedule, typically staging big runway shows, featuring live music or impressive sets. However, this season it pulled out two weeks before the event. “It wasn’t related to any specific challenge,” says founder Silas Oda Adler. “It was more based on looking at the wider perspective of what we are doing in a time where a lot is going on in the world. Sometimes I think it makes sense to take a step back and reflect, to make sure you have both feet on the ground… I don’t want to be in a situation where I can’t handle challenges because I am driving myself or my team too far.” He has not yet decided whether he will show next season.
Consolidating Copenhagen’s position
Trade fair CIFF also takes place during CPHFW, attracting a bigger cross-section of press and buyers. CIFF has a new chief executive, Sofie Dolva, who joined in August 2022, and acquired its main competitor, Revolver, in January. From next season the two will be merged, Dolva says, creating one super-trade show and consolidating Copenhagen’s position next to big events in France or Italy.
Dolva launched this edition of CIFF with a fashion show of the event’s key brands, inviting 700 consumers to join buyers and press for the occasion. “The response was amazing,” she says, explaining that building out consumer attendance is part of her long-term vision to raise awareness of the brands present. “My ambition is to really make sure that the brands that show here get a return on investment,” she says. “Particularly now, in a recession. Most of them want to do trade. But, we say: ‘You're spending a lot of money on building a universe, let's make the most of it.’”
For CPHFW’s Thorsmark, the ambition is to keep developing the minimum standards and helping brands achieve them, no matter their size. Currently the goal is 50 per cent “preferred” materials for example, which could go further as time goes on.
After a successful season, this could be a blueprint for other fashion cities. “This is definitely a model that we hope to see adopted by other fashion weeks and conferences. In this turnaround decade for our planet, it’s all hands on deck,” Rycroft says. “Forums like Copenhagen Fashion Week, help set and reinforce expectations of brands that can accelerate the fashion industry’s transition to low-impact, circular alternatives. This enhances the cache of Copenhagen Fashion Week, so I can’t imagine why others wouldn’t follow suit.”
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