10 BRANDS TO KEEP ON YOUR RADAR FROM COPENHAGEN FASHION WEEK

COPENHAGEN FASHION WEEK fetching our industry with the oomph of runways and celebrating the contemporary style of nordic fashion. During COVID-19, we saw the impact in Copenhagen with lighter schedules and a lot of brands opting for digital and hybrid presentations.One of the things that position CFW from the former weeks is the brands showing the promise towards sustainability and diversity on the runways.From the brother and sister duo at (di)vision exploring a DIY aesthetic to Henrik Vibskov with psychedelic prints and advanced silhouettes, here are our favourite 10 designers from CFW that defined the adversities of a covid era through the style window of danish fashion in flowing silhouettes, striking prints and conscious fashion approach.

1. HAN KJØBENHAVN

Han Kjøbenhavn is a fashion house and community of creative nerve, emotions, and innovation. With a clear vision to develop and facilitate modern culture and arts. Han Kjøbenhavn has a gritty aesthetic with an emotional core. The design fuses raw suburban culture with avantgarde Scandinavian design. An uncompromising style of using cultural conflicts as a driver of innovation and storytelling, characterises

Founder and Creative Director, Jannik Wikkelsø Davidsen.

2. (DI)VISION

(di)vision works in multiple forms of sustainable fashion design and production - mainly in reconstructing, upcycling, cut-and-sew production and creative sourcing. (di)vision’s unisex collections take inspiration from classic silhouettes with a conceptual and multifunctional DIY aesthetic. Using high quality deadstock fabrics discarded from exclusive designers and existing materials, (di)vision is reimagining how clothes is created.

3. A. ROEGE HOVE

A.Roege Hove challenges the traditions with a modern and artistic approach to original craftsmanship. The unique designs are created each season by founder Amalie Røge Hove. Defined by an experimenting and intuitive way of working with traditional knitwear techniques, the brand challenges the perception of shape and pushes expectations of the materials and their behaviour. Every knitted style is created through the vision of bringing life to the material. Different dimensions are created by the bodies that wear them. Like sculptures, they showcase different stories for every style, and as the pieces frame the body the real shape is brought to life by its owner.

4. ROTATE

Rotate Birger Christensen was created in 2018 by the stylist and influencers Jeanette Madsen and Thora Valdimarsdottir in partnership with the Copenhagen concept store Birger Christensen. As a response to the creative directors’ musings over the gaps in their own closets, the brand focuses on bold and vibrant party wear that doubles as stables in the everyday wardrobe. Since its founding, the brand has become synonymous with covetable evening wear, big sleeves, and daring hemlines.

5. SAMSØE SAMSØE

Samsøe Samsøe dates back to 1993, when the small namesake jewellery shop in Copenhagen’s Latin Quarter opened by the Samsøe brothers expanded to include premium T-shirts and knitwear, primarily for men. Wit a nod to its Scandinavian heritage, Samsøe Samsøe is defined by a wearable aesthetic that combines the utilitarian ease of Copenhagen street style with a quintessentially Scandinavian spirit. Collections transcend trends, drawing on Denmark’s renowned design tradition to result in a minimalist, affordable, and accessible fashion. For SS22, Samsøe Samsøe has reached a level of 75,5% more responsibly sourced materials for the styles in the collection: a big step closer to their 2024 goal of reaching 100% responsible materials across all collections. For the upcoming SS22 collection, the brand has reached 80,8%.

6. MARK KENLY DOMINO TAN

Mark Kenly Domino Tan launched his eponymous brand in 2014 after developing his craft in international fashion houses Dior, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen. Setting to create vibrant and refined collections founded on tailoring, construction, and fine textiles, impeccable quality and craftsmanship are at the heart and soul of the Mark Kenly Domino Tan aesthetic.

7. HENRIK VIBSKOV

Henrik Vibskov is a renowned danish fashion designer, artist, curator and musician. Commonly associated with the fashion brand carrying the same name, the designer's work is known for its enticing universes and crossover into art installation, scenography, costumes, video, performance and exhibitions. He has been a member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Mode Masculine since January 2003 and is currently the only Scandinavian designer on the official show schedule of the Paris Mens Fashion Week. Henrik Vibskov has also designed costumes for numerous operas and performances, including collaborations with Hotel Pro Forma, the Oslo Opera House, the Brussels Opera House and The Swedish National Ballet, where Henrik Vibskov most recently designed the costumes for the ballet ‘Escapist’ by Alexander Ekman. One to look out for.

8. MARIMEKKO

Marimekko started making empowering dresses in abstract prints and vibrant colors, for women who are bold in expressing their personality. Marimekko translates as “Mari’s dress” in Finnish. Over the years Marimekko's anti-fashion became not only fashion but also a lifestyle approach. Marimekko is considered one of the first lifestyle brands in the world, and it combines ready-to-wear, bags, and accessories, as well as home decor, into an expression of joyful living. Timelessness is in the brand’s DNA, and Marimekko designs are renowned for being passed on from one generation to the next. Ultimately, Marimekko's story revolves around the art of printmaking. Each Marimekko print represents a collaboration between the designer and the company's printing factory in Helsinki, which one of the only ones in the Nordics to operate on an industrial scale.

9. LOUISE LYNGH BJERREGAARD

Founded on a desire for textiles and meticulous attention to detail, Louise Lyngh Bjerregaard is a young emerging brand based in Paris, that holds a strong focus on technical sensibility while uniting art, fashion, and subversion. The brand works across seasons blurring the boundaries between ready-to-wear and couture and has been recognized for expanding the definition of knitwear while the appreciation of material and artisanal techniques remains the core of the atelier. Louise Lyngh Bjerregaard has since the beginning implemented surplus materials, craftsmanship and longevity as a part of their sustainable practices within their exploration of textiles.

10. RAINS

Rains is an outdoor lifestyle brand creating waterproof designs steeped in contemporary culture.Based on an initiative to reinterpret the raincoat in a novel way, Rains launched in 2012 with just one product: a poncho. The season after, Rains delivered a full collection of waterproof apparel, bags, and accessories. Influenced by Scandinavian heritage and the Danish landscape, Rains practices an uncompromising approach to clean, functional design articulated for the global citizen. Rooted in wet-weather performance, the collections from Rains have since expanded to offer four-season functionality tocover the great outdoors regardless the forecast.

BY SHINAL MAHESHWARI