Copenhagen Fashion Week has been steadily gaining traction among the next generation of fashion lovers looking to up their sartorial game, especially when it comes to street style—but, as insiders know, it’s what’s on the runways that really matters.
Today, CPHFW announced this year’s lineup of 31 designers who will showcase their spring/summer 2024 collections come August. With a highly selective screening process that examines both fashion design and sustainability criteria, the roster is a unique and progressive look at the future of fashion and sustainability.
Favorites like Ganni, Stine Goya, and Saks Potts are making their triumphant return, along with newcomers who either all meet or are on track to meet the annual event’s rigorous 18 Minimum Standards, developed in conjunction with CPHFW’s 2020-2022 Sustainability Action Plan, put in place to better the fashion industry’s effect on the environment.
Eco-friendly practices aside, it’s mainly the designs themselves that make CPHFW an influence on what’s new and next. Before the runway shows commence at the end of the summer, these are the names you need to know.
Paolina Russo
As a finalist for the 2023 LVMH Prize and winner of the prestigious Zalando Visionary Award, London-based brand Paolina Russo is definitely one to watch. Founders Alex Russo and Lucile Guilmard modernize craftsmanship by combining artisanal design methods with industrial technology. The designers then work with manufacturers to invent new, more sustainable methods for producing collections, which allows for exciting designs that are also environmentally responsible.
A. Roege Hove
Founder Amalie Røge Hove launched her eponymous label in 2019 after earning her master’s degree in textile design from the Royal Danish Academy and designing knitwear under brands like Cecilie Bahnsen and Mark Kenly Domino Tan. Innovative, conceptual, and yes, skimpy, Hove’s knitwear brings a modern and decidedly sexy twist to classics and even stereotypically cozy materials. Her designs are knitted directly into shape, which not only minimizes waste, but also develops shapes and textures that look both organic and technological at the same time.
Latimmier
One of three recipients of the emerging designer support program CPHFW NEWTALENT supported by Circulose®, a 100 percent recycled material, Latimmier offers a fun approach to masculinity in fashion. Designer Ervin Latimer worked under Matthew M. Williams at Alyx as well as Copenhagen-based designer Heliot Emil and was awarded the Young Designer of the Year Award in Finland. The brand combines environmental sustainability with social sustainability in its efforts to uplift queer and POC creatives through more flexible working conditions and its goal to reach 60 percent recycled or sustainable materials by 2025.
OpéraSPORT
The flirty and sporty aesthetic of OpéraSPORT lends itself to a timelessness that is essential in sustainable fashion. Its collections exude confidence and fun, with bright colors, prints, and knotting and ruching details, but they also boast fabrics produced from industrial waste. The label only works with factories that are GOTS-, BSCI-, and WRAP- certified, which ensures that workers are treated and paid fairly.
Helmstedt
Vibrant colors and fabrics that could be mistaken as tableaux are the signature of Helmstedt’s collections. These pieces are for the bold. Founded in 2018, the brand is in a constant journey to improve its sustainability efforts, from its supply chain to its continuous support of local businesses.
Lovechild 1979
Chic softness and unapologetic femininity take form in Lovechild 1979. At just over a decade old, the label isn’t exactly new, but its embrace of the Scandinavian aesthetic will be even more appreciated in this current era of “quiet luxury.”
Nicklas Skovgaard
A Copenhagen-based brand founded in 2020, Nicklas Skovgaard has both a vintage and modern aesthetic that purposefully creates a strange visual effect. Handcrafted fabrics, romantic silhouettes, and unexpected design combinations are meant to evoke a “dreamlike” state that continues with each new collection. Skovgaard is also part of CHPFW’s New Talent group for the upcoming seasons—for good reason.
