Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPHFW) Autumn/Winter 2025 is in full swing. And already, we’ve seen an energetic runway return from Nicklas Skovgaard, a large-scale presentation and dinner from Icelandic outerwear label 66North and a well-received runway debut from New Talent programme designers Bonnetje.
Despite the excitement, the schedule at CPHFW this season looks very different compared to a year ago. In the summer, Copenhagen’s crown jewel, megabrand Ganni, followed Danish export Cecilie Bahnsen and moved to Paris Fashion Week for SS25. Then, in November, Danish label Saks Potts permanently closed after 10 years of doing business. (Founders Cathrine Saks and Barbara Potts said it wasn’t financially motivated and that sales had never been better, but acknowledged that wholesale is “having a hard time right now”.) Weeks later, contemporary label (Di)vision, perhaps most famous globally for its viral table cloth dress show moment for AW23, announced it had filed for bankruptcy, citing a failure to scale “beyond Denmark’s borders” as the cause.
“I’m not too hung up on the size of the brand, rather than what their world is,” says Laird Borrelli-Persson, who has been covering Nordic fashion for Vogue Runway for many years. “Yes, Ganni’s CPHFW shows were dazzling, Cecilie Bahnsen’s dreamy, Saks Potts had the best locations, and (Di)vision delivered genuine community spirit, but my focus is on appreciating what remains.”
She’s right. As some doors close, others open. Taking up some of the space, Icelandic outerwear brand 66North joined the schedule for the first time this season, to celebrate its 99th anniversary with a large-scale exhibition, a gifting suite for influencers and press, and a 40-person dinner on Tuesday night. Swedish label Filippa K also hopped on board, with a debut on-schedule presentation on Thursday.
As the tectonic plates of CPHFW shift, Nordic fashion is left in a state of flux. But with challenge comes opportunity, and via new exciting formats, fresh brands, investing in young talent and keeping in touch with its most famous exports, CPHFW is adapting to what Scandi fashion is in 2025.
Nordic fashion’s unique challenges
Nordic fashion is facing specific challenges as the global retail market falters, which has caused some of the shifts we’ve seen at CPHFW, says Tina Svoldgaard, founder of PR firm TS-AGCY, which represents many of the city’s top talents. “We have so many small independent brands and a very small home market. This makes us highly dependent on the global market — both in terms of the economic climate and buying trends. There are only a limited number of Danish consumers to cater to, so even for successful Danish brands, a stable global market is necessary to secure a solid business,” she says.
What’s more, the Scandi fashion industry is characterised by contemporary brands [at a mid-level price point], says CPHFW CEO Cecilie Thorsmark, creating challenges amid the luxury slowdown. “This particular market segment has definitely suffered from consumers prioritising the more affordable fast fashion or [high-end] luxury,” she says. “This polarisation of the fashion market has left a little less room for brands that are defining the Nordic fashion industry. But on the bright side, Copenhagen brands have a high level of innovation, agility and resilience, she adds. “So I’m foreseeing that this will also see many of these brands adapt to this new reality and be able to explore new opportunities.”
Keeping up momentum with new formats
CPHFW attracts a high calibre of global press and buyers, with around 50 to 60 guests each season, from top publications and stores across APAC, Europe and the US. Investing in the guest programme and enriching the schedule to keep global attendees interested is key to its success, experts agree.
CPHFW introduced the presentation format to the official show schedule back in August, to attract even more brands. “This has proven to be a successful tool for enrolling new brands into the schedule and maintaining momentum,” Svoldgaard says. “Keeping momentum is a balance between Copenhagen staying fresh and brands continuously playing with the format of what the city has to offer,” she adds. “Creating memorable brand moments — from runway shows in unique venues to dinners in unattainable locations — is key.”
The event’s strong press and buyer attendance allows brands to justify their investment [in CPHFW], knowing their participation will likely result in further growth or expansion into new markets,” Thorsmark says. “Plus, 66North and Filippa K are really good examples of brands that have joined us because our sustainability focus resonates with their DNA and their own strategies.”
“Copenhagen Fashion Week was a deliberate choice for celebrating 66North’s 99th anniversary. It’s a fashion week that mirrors our own ethos. Our exhibition and collection preview during CPHFW are examples of how the city creates space for brands like ours to present something deeper than just aesthetics. It’s about sharing a story that connects heritage with innovation and showing how functionality can be elevated to art,” says 66North CEO Helgi Óskarsson.
Looking ahead, however, Svolgaard feels “there is room for, and a movement towards, throwing more culture into the mix. We’ve seen tonnes of running clubs, brands taking guests to concerts and festivals. Everything we can do to keep things light and fun adds to the momentum, which is essentially good for the business.”
Staying connected to strong exports
Some of its strongest exports may have decamped to Paris in recent years, but CPHFW is staying connected to them through other means.
CPHFW launched its New Talent scheme in 2023, with Ganni as a patron, supporting three emerging designers financially and logistically each season. This year’s cohort includes design duo Bonnetje, streetwear label Stamm and menswear brand Berner Kühl. “The New Talent scheme makes our platform all the more dynamic and forward looking,” says Thorsmark. “As much as I love brands that have stuck around for the past decade or more and they carry a very special heritage, new names also add vitality to the [event].”
“When we first decided to become a patron back in Autumn 2023, we had already made the decision to take a season off after a decade of shows in Copenhagen,” says Ditte Reffstrup, co-founder and creative director of Ganni. “We wanted to reconsider what shows would look like for us. But back then, as it is now, the economic landscape was becoming increasingly challenging, and we saw how this was affecting independent brands. It felt right to leverage our position at CPHFW and give a platform to emerging designers spotlighting innovative materials.”
This season, Ganni is co-hosting a breakfast with CPHFW in the official New Talent showroom space on Friday. It also created a portrait series with the programme’s designers, which will feature on the brand’s global channels, giving a platform to elevate their work, Reffstrup adds.
Cecilie Bahnsen also remains connected to the week via brand events. “As a Copenhagen-based brand, it’s always lovely to be a part of Copenhagen Fashion Week in some capacity: a dinner, a presentation or a studio visit,” the designer says. “With a slower pace, It’s a nice opportunity for us to connect with our friends and to meet with different partners who are in town, share new ideas, invite them by the studio and give them an inside look at our brand and how we work.”
Elsewhere, Danish outerwear mega-label Rains has recently reconnected with CPHFW via Alis, the skate brand it acquired last year, which showed on Tuesday under new creative director Tobias Birk Nielsen.
In addition to New Talent, Copenhagen also has multiple incubators and prizes, including the Wessel Vett Fashion Prize and the Alpha talent programme for emerging designers. There’s also the Zalando Visionary Award, launched in 2023, which helps a guest designer show in Copenhagen each summer (previous winners include Paolina Russo and Sinéad O’Dwyer). “I think we’re starting to see a slight shift from mainly focusing on raw talent to also including brands that are a bit more established and ready to scale their businesses. It’s equally important to support the brands that have been in business for three to five years.”
Revaluing smaller scale
Svoldgaard says there’s an apparent shift in market strategy in response to the challenging international wholesale landscape, as Danish brands partner more with small boutiques rather than “putting all their eggs in the baskets of big department stores and retailers”.
“A lot of Danish brands have been opening very personal retail spaces in Copenhagen over the last few years. I think that is another super interesting move. When asking around in the stores, the feedback is that around 50 per cent of sales are to foreigners visiting Copenhagen, as the city has become such a strong destination for food, art, design and fashion,” he adds.
The question is, will another Danish talent ever be able to reach the heights of Ganni, in today’s climate? “The landscape is very different today, but I definitely think that newcomers can succeed,” Reffstrup says. “If I think about our approach, we didn’t follow a set playbook; in fact, we did the opposite. We followed our gut, experimented, failed, learnt. There was a naivety to our approach, which in turn led to us persisting, something that I think is very entrepreneurial. I would say that what is needed today versus back when we started out are two very different scenarios, but I think that hard work, grit and a visionary approach to sustainability are a must in today’s fashion landscape.”
“Maybe I’m old school, but there is only one Ganni,” says Borrelli-Persson. “Can brands aspire to have such reach and turnover? Sure. But even if you were to try to follow Ganni’s playbook, there are certain elements that resonated in popular culture at a certain time that contributed to the brand’s success and could not be replicated, for love nor money.”
But maybe that’s OK, she adds. “There is room for more niche labels like Nicklas [Skovgaard] or Bonnetje. I find both really encouraging because of their unique attributes and because fashion — as we all know — is too big and does so much damage to the environment. Maybe a way forward is to have a greater number of unique voices producing fewer garments.”
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