Fashionable Copenhagen
As director of the Danish Fashion Institute, six months of intensive work by myself and my colleagues culminates with Copenhagen Fashion Week, which premiers on catwalks across the city on 7-11 February. Glittering models, exciting new designs, camera flashes, sweaty palms and Evian bottles in designer handbags will be part of the Fashion week which will make the Danish and international fashion communities turn their attention to the Scandinavian capital of fashion: Copenhagen.
Copenhagen Fashion Week has established itself as the biggest event of its kind in Northern Europe, with over 50,000 buyers and members of the media visiting Copenhagen each February and August.
Copenhagen is unique within the fashion industry. The city and its politicians support Copenhagen Fashion Week in a very real way; one example of this is the Town Hall, rich in tradition and one of our most beautiful buildings, which is made available for fashion shows during the week. This February, you can watch Munthe plus Simonsen, DAY Birger et Mikkelsen, Inwear, Ivan Grundahl and Rützou premiere their collections under one roof (although at different times) in the striking, spacious hall.
From a personal point of view, I believe that Danish fashion is extremely exciting to be involved with. Denmark and Copenhagen have a unique opportunity to become a new centre of power within the industry, while the burgeoning potential for growth and an extensive pool of creative talent means that Denmark at the moment is considered to be a fascinating market in which the next designer may be discovered at any time.
Fashion is already Denmark’s fourth largest export industry, and all sectors, from budget to high fashion, continue to grow.
Budget brands such as Vero Moda, b.young, Vila and Soaked in Luxury are growing quickly, opening stores all over the world. The industry includes a growing number of powerful mid-range brands like Inwear, Mads Nørgaard, Bison, Matinique, Blue Willi’s and Designers Remix, while various high-profile Danish brands are also distinguishing themselves in the upper echelons of the fashion and luxury industries - Baum und Pferdgarten, By Malene Birger, DAY Birger et Mikkelsen, Noir, Georg Jensen are just a few examples.
Added to this is the increased potential for growth in many new brands like Annhagen, Nur Rock, Ole Yde, Hübsch und…, Best Behavior and so on.
New talent is easier to find now: the newest designers are showcased in the Designers’ Nest, hosted by CPH Vision in Øksnehallen.
Danish fashion is best-known for clothes but let us not forget the wonderful accessories: Danish jewellery houses such as Dyrberg/Kern, Pilgrim, Arena Cph, Jo Riis Hansen and Georg Jensen are all known and sought-after worldwide. Danes can also be proud of their shoes: Ecco sells over 12 million pairs of shoes a year, while newer, more expensive brands such as Toklum and Mermaid Shoes are also gaining recognition.
Copenhagen Fashion Week is traditionally a business to business event, but thanks to the many initiatives by nightclubs, bars and stores, the city buzzes with life during the fashion week long after the shows have finished and the models have ceased their trek down the catwalks.
As a bonus for Copenhagen residents and visitors, the Danish Fashion Institute is bringing Copenhagen Fashion Week to the streets. Anyone can watch the collections live on the big screens that have been placed in the city’s central squares and in its largest department store, Illum.
From 29-31 March, Copenhagen’s other fashion week rolls out the red carpet: Copenhagen Catwalk is open to anyone who likes shopping and wants an insight into the new collections before putting their spending trousers on.
All that remains for me is to wish our readers a fashionable stay in Copenhagen – I hope you shop till you drop.
February 2007