by COPENHAGEN — Copenhagen Fashion Week is known as the fifth capital of fashion – the sustainable one – but even it is not immune to brand closures and the luxury slowdown.
The country’s oldest clothing brand Brandtex from 1935 returned this year and was quickly succeeded by Godske Group A/S. Two other major Danish fashion companies – Ganni and Birger Christensen Collective – have also stepped in to rescue or lend a helping hand to struggling local brands.
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Still, the overall mood around town during the spring 2025 season remained optimistic, as several companies reported continued strong growth.
For the jewelry brands, everything was gold glitters, or diamonds.
Sophie Bille Brahe, famous for her collection of diamond pieces, delighted guests in her showroom with a collection that focused on the minimalism and purity of pearls.
“Our channels are growing strongly. We see more and more customers who want to invest in special pieces, jewelry that can tell a story and pass it down from generation to generation,” she said in an interview, indicating that expectations overseas expansion, which will be revealed later. year.
Tom Wood’s heavy silver and gold rings were moved this season with diamond strings across rings, while bracelets and necklaces became sharper and heavier.
“Since our establishment in 2013, we have operated profitably every year and are proud to never need loans or credits. We are experiencing significant growth in our retail and e-commerce business,” said creative director Mona Jensen.
The wholesale market for the brand declined in 2023, but things are improving.
“Consequently, we estimate turnover growth of around 25 percent in 2024,” Jensen added.
She strongly believes that she will stay within a price range that does not become too demanding for her customers. Tom Wood jewelry ranges from 69 British pounds for a silver ear cuff to 9,939 British pounds for a recycled 9-carat gold ring bracelet with diamonds.
Tom Wood also has an advantage in the Japanese market, as do many other luxury brands and designers. The brand is stocked by more than 70 retailers in the region.
The company opened a retail space at Dover Street Market in Ginza last week following the success of its flagship store in Aoyama.
Adding a touch of silver or gold to sunny outdoor runways in Copenhagen was Pandora. The Danish jewelry company teamed up with Rotate, the brand synonymous with flirty pair clothes – and for consecutive seasons has hosted the best fashion week party.
Pandora ambassador Pamela Anderson sat front row to see a dress that featured 2,000 silver tennis bracelets and belts handcrafted using more than 300 14-karat gold necklaces from Pandora.
Rotate designers Jeanette Madsen and Thora Valdimarsdottir have a lot to celebrate.
“Despite the slowdown in luxury retail, we have found that Rotate has maintained its growth momentum. While the current challenges in the retail landscape are impacting some markets, others are growing, such as the Middle East, where the brand has a strong customer base that continues to grow,” said Madsen.
“We are delighted to open our first flagship store in Copenhagen [coinciding with fashion week]. It’s a huge moment for the brand,” Valdimarsdottir added.
In a city as small as Copenhagen, retail is not just an exercise in brand building, but rather organically growing a community. This includes within airports as most Danes travel frequently to neighboring countries.
That’s one reason why the sustainable outerwear brand 66° North in Iceland has opened its second store in Copenhagen Airport.
The brand is putting a lot of effort into Copenhagen. They have just moved into their first headquarters outside of Iceland in Copenhagen which will be used partly as an office for 66° North’s international teams, as well as a showroom and space to host events and activities.
“We ended 2023 with 18 percent growth, which I am happy about considering the challenging environment. During the first six months of 2024, growth slowed but we recovered, with strong double-digit sales growth in July,” said Helgi Oskarsson, the brand’s chief executive officer.
His next goal is to improve 66° North’s global wholesale business.
Even as many brands continue to grow, there’s an honesty about business during Copenhagen Fashion Week – brands big and small are willing to share their struggles, offer their solutions and lend a helping hand.
The Stockholm-based Deadwood brand, for example, has seen its first decline in recent years. “We saw a 13 percent year-over-year decline in sales,” said Felix von Bahder, the brand’s co-founder and creative director.
“We didn’t put too many eggs in the wholesale basket, placing our bets on a handful of online giants. When their sales started to decline, budget cuts and orders were canceled as a result,” he said.
The brand’s direct-to-consumer sales absorbed some of that penalty, but not enough to offset it.
In March, things looked bleaker than before.
“But to channel my inner Tony Robbins, ingenuity is the ultimate resource. We mustered our last bit of energy and with the help of a crowd-led investment round we pulled Slaughter out of the ditch and turned things around,” said von Bahder.
Helle Hestehave, who signs Baum und Pferdgarten with Rikke Baumgarten, showed that with the rise of inflation and interest rates in 2022, the brand had a decrease that affected the results of 2023, which amounted to 11 million Danish kroner, or 1.47 million euros .
Then there’s Copenhagen hot ticket Ganni, who sat out another season and instead encouraged the city’s talent by supporting them financially with Birger Christensen Collective, the parent company of Rotate and Remain.
Remain is changing as its creative director, Martin Asbjørn, strengthens the voice and message of the brand, according to Denise Christensen, CEO of Birger Christensen Collective.
“Obviously the luxury slowdown has had an impact on global businesses. However, within 2024 Remain is still increasing the number of retail partners to a total of 120 partners. While we do not currently have plans to open a permanent retail space, this is definitely something we are looking forward to in the future,” she said.
It’s been a comeback season for Danish rebel sibling designers Nana and Simon Wick of (Rann)vision – they’ve had their runway shows on hiatus for the past two seasons.
“We are getting better and better every month, but from 2023 to 2024 revenue has decreased. The result of this is that we are focusing on selling direct to the consumer and stop selling wholesale to focus on our core business and our community,” said Simon.
Her show this season was made possible through a collaboration with The Ordinary; The duo showed off a dress design made entirely from the beauty brand’s packaging.
Even with the demanding market, some brands have grown up quickly and are now deciding where to go from here.
Another Feature, which specializes in modernizing the 9-to-5 uniform, is one of them with close to five years in business.
“We are better than ever with a physical store and a well-functioning online and retail network. We’ve grown 60 percent in the first seven months of 2024. We’re about to grow and we’re no longer in the early stages. Last year was a wild ride, and we have absolutely crazy demand in Denmark and the world,” said Daniel Brøndt, co-founder of the brand.
Eyewear designer Vincent Catani took the luxury slowdown as a cue to slow down and carefully consider next steps. Since launching his first collection two years ago, the brand has “grown exponentially”, according to the designer, and has established a core customer base in Denmark and Finland.
“We have doubled our retail partners in the last year and the best sales so far have been this spring and summer,” said Catani, who is stocked by Copenhagen concept store Studio Stars.
Another fresh face on the scene, Kristoffer Kongshaug of Forza Collective, presented his sophomore act, an ode to the ’60s, ’70s and ’90s haute couture ready-to-wear.
A former designer at Raf Simons, Christian Dior Couture, Balmain and Lanvin, he is not surprised by the decline of the luxury market and is “strategically priced to be more affordable than many of the premium luxury brands”.
The Forza Collective nylon T-shirt dress is priced at 6,060 Danish kroner (or 812 euros) and a cotton canvas cocoon coat is on sale for 9,700 Danish kroner, or 1,300 euros.
“We’re off to a good start, and I’m so excited to work toward more wholesale and online channels in the next year or so, especially expanding our client base in the US,” Kongshaug said.
The brand is opening a pop-up store at Printemps in Paris in October and plans to expand into the knitwear category next fall.
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