Copenhagen wants to cement itself as a sustainable fashion mecca

Fashion weeks around the world are dominated by four main shows: New York, Paris, Milan, and London. But in 2020, Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPHFW) made a bold move that helped it garner attention. It launched a framework with nearly 20 sustainability standards that fashion brands must meet to participate.

The choice came at a time when fashion’s sustainability practices were under increased scrutiny. Every year the industry contributes up to 10% of global carbon emissions, pollutes billions of cubic meters of clean water, and produces metric tons of textile waste. 

Copenhagen’s fashion week was applauded for its forward-thinking approach. However, over the next few years, that facade started to crack. Brands that had helped establish Copenhagen as an up-and-coming fashion mecca departed for bigger fashion weeks (see Ganni and Cecilie Bahnsen). And its sustainability claims came under fire.

This year marks the 20th year of CPHFW, and with the anniversary, the city and its fashion scene are ready to double down on the idea that Copenhagen is one of the best cities for sustainable, emerging fashion.

The sustainability debacle

Danish anti-greenwashing specialist Tanja Gotthardsen and the Danish Consumer Council (Forbrugerrådet Tænk), as well as consultancy firm Continual, brought a complaint to Danish Consumer Ombudsman (that overlooks marketing and consumer protection laws) against CPHFW and some of its participants for greenwashing.  

It alleged the days-long Danish fashion event made misleading claims about its sustainability requirements, and the brand Baum und Pferdgarten admitted to failing to meet its pledge against polyester. While there could have been severe ramifications from the complaint, the Ombudsman ultimately dismissed it since CPHFW is not directly consumer facing and instead gave something of a warning to strengthen its oversight. 

“The dialogue with the Ombudsman was constructive and valuable, and it has allowed us to stay focused on further developing the Sustainability Requirements as a strong screening and development tool for the fashion industry,” Cecilie Thorsmark, Copenhagen Fashion Week’s CEO, tells Fast Company. As a result, the Fall/Winter 2026 season saw two new minimum standards “focusing on circular design principles and responsible purchasing practices, and overall, the bar has been raised across the existing Minimum Standards taking many of them from a commitment level to an actual implementation level.” It maintained its “green” reputation within the industry, too. 

It’s important to acknowledge that the most sustainable choice would be to not make new clothes, but that’s not realistic. CPHFW’s framework aims to tame the beast, encouraging upcycled materials, decreasing virgin plastic-based fiber use, and having transparent supply chains that aren’t fueled by exploited labor. For many designers gunning to show at CPHFW, this culture determines how they design, and they often work to incorporate framework tenets into their brand from day one. 

“It was very important for us that we had a thoughtful production from the beginning,” OpéraSport co-founder Awa Malina Stelter says. The contemporary womenswear brand, which she created in 2019 with Stephanie Gundelach, met the framework and survived the screening by CPHFW partner Rambøll on the first try. 

The impact of the sustainability-aware culture is also evident for Forza Collective’s Kristoffer Kongshaug. Four years ago when he started the brand, the founder and creative director says, “It was a given that if you were to start a brand, it had to be sustainable. You’re not doing it right if you leave that out of the conversation. Secondly, I wanted to be a part of the [CPHFW] calendar.” 

Exits and homecoming 

This go-round, some homegrown talent made a return. For the Fall/Winter 2026 show season, CPHFW debuted a “homecoming slot,” specifically targeting Nordic talents that left CPHFW to calendars in other cities. Brands returning to the event act as proofpoints that CPHFW can indeed help launch an emerging brand, and it remains a valuable place to keep growing. 

Oslo-born ready-to-wear label Holzweiler led in the inaugural spot, after a few year’s hiatus away from Copenhagen while showing at London Fashion Week. Andreas Holzweiler, co-founder of the label, says the team worked closely with Thorsmark for the return. “There was a shared understanding that returning should feel meaningful, not symbolic,” he says. 

“Leaving Copenhagen wasn’t about stepping away from the platform itself, but about following a natural progression at the time. London offered a different scale and challenged us in new ways,” Holzweiler tells Fast Company. “What brought us back was clarity. After taking time to strengthen the brand internally, Copenhagen feels aligned again with where we are today.” Its scale, he adds, feels best right now for the brand to cut through.

Thorsmark doesn’t take brands leaving the schedule as an insult. “[It] underlines that we have built a platform that allows these brands to grow and thrive, which we are incredibly proud of, as well as being proud of these brilliant brands themselves,” she says. For other brands that have left the schedule and not returned to it, some have found ways to still have a CPHFW presence. Ganni, for example, put on an event with Disney. 

Leaving the schedule is often a business question and more about getting in front of the right people to sell the pieces and create culture. Staying or returning to CPHFW signals the right people are more consistently showing up in the Scandi city. 

More than a launchpad

CPHFW is becoming a platform for emerging brands to start—and stay. It’s always been where you can “go and see the cool kids,” Forza Commercial Strategy Head Ariana Milton says. This is aided by the fact that the org is dedicated to emerging talent through programs like its Newtalent directive, which launched in 2022 and provides three seasons of support, including money, mentorship, and more. 

Its “One to Watch” label also helps the industry know who to keep an eye on. This all helps brands find their footing, and then what? Historically, they leave. 

“Five to ten years back in Copenhagen, it had always been like that the brands that grew big enough to leave would eventually do it,” Kongshaug explains. “[But] if we keep up the pace and the level of fashion that comes out of the city right now, there would probably not be any reason to leave because the right people are here. The exposure is here. Today, honestly, the platform is here.”

For young brands like Nicklas Skovgaard’s eponymous line, founded in 2020, Copenhagen is home. It’s where he feels most creative and where he wants to stay. Plus, it seems to be working for the balance sheet. His womenswear label is already in several stockists across Europe, Asia, and the U.S. 

Another way it’s supporting its designers and new talents is by working more closely with the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair (CIFF), which takes place at the same time bi-annually and has expanded over recent years. 

To CIFF Director Sofie Dolva, the two group’s fates are intertwined. For both to succeed, and help boost Nordic fashion brands, it’s important they keep working together. The key is “to be close and to coordinate also with the schedule across so you get the right mix,” according to Dolva, who’s been at her post since 2022. “Both for us and Copenhagen Fashion Week, it is really important to support the new talents. Without the new talents and new brands showing some innovativeness, it gets boring. Our industry needs excitement and newness.” 

The Fall/Winter 2026 season was an example of how that can be done. Not only did the two orgs host events together and sync on timing so that buyers and press were in town for both, but many CPHFW designers, including those in the Newtalent program, had booths at CIFF. Two on-calendar labels, Forza Collective and Fine Chaos, even had their runway shows at the fair’s massive location just outside Copenhagen’s center. 

CIFF also plans to increase its partnerships with retailers, which could have a positive ripple effect on designers looking for wholesale partners. This season, it debuted a partnership with Milan’s 10 Corso Como, hosting a mini version of the conceptual store at the trade fair. Dolva says she wants to “go from a transactional relationship to a more partnership level [with retailers] because if we don’t work together, we will not win together.”

For a homecoming Holzweiler, it’s about what you can get in the Danish city that the others, like Paris and London, can’t offer. “Copenhagen operates at a different scale,” he says. “It allows for more focus and continuity around the collections, which can be valuable depending on where you are as a brand. Both [larger and more intimate] contexts matter—they just create different conditions.”

View the full article