Copenhagen Fashion Week

Jens Laugesen

Denmark, the world’s ninth largest exporter of fashion, recently celebrated its established and newest design talent with a packed show and party schedule at Copenhagen Fashion Week 2007 (CPW), sponsored by Moët & Chandon.

More than 50,000 designers, buyers and press attend CFW, Northern Europe’s largest fashion event, which happens twice a year in February and August.

This August the shows, which were perfectly timed, proved wrong the widely-held belief that Danish fashion and Scandinavian design has to be minimalistic or classic.

The silhouette seemed to be very important to most designers and the ultra-hip label Baum und Pferdgarten (a brand stocked by Helena Christensen in her New York store, Butik) was no exception. At the National Gallery of Art, the somewhat rebellious design duo displayed a collection with a focus on the waist, oversized puffy sleeves and crocus-shaped skirts. This was the only show attended by HRH The Crown Princess of Denmark who recently gave birth to a daughter, HRH Princess Isabella.

Girlfriend of Prince Joachim of Denmark, French-born Marie Cavallier, sat front row at the By Malene Birger show, which had both slim and lavish silhouettes sliding down the runway on the Friday evening. The show was divided into two acts: the first showed a Riviera Chic collection with long pants, slim vests, short loose dresses and giant white sunglasses. Act two was built up around her tailored collection: Salon by Malene Birger. The show revealed Malene’s experimentation with different shapes and lines, which were very elegant and sophisticated. Black, white, gunmetal and drops of coral-orange were the colors of the parade.

In July, Giles Deacon played DJ at a London party celebrating the winners of the Fashion Forward Designers of 2007. Dane Jens Laugesen, who was Fashion Forward’s winning designer, presented his collection for the first time at CFW. His designs were classic in solid black and white with a strong symmetrical and graphic look. The YSL/Chalayan-esque show closed with Danish über beauty and top model, Lykke May Andersen, in a low-cut dreamy evening gown.

ASW was also represented at CPW by designer Bruun Bjorn whose label, Bruuns Bazaar, was one of the largest shows of the week. ‘City casual’ was the theme, in black, white and burnt colors. Lykke May Andersen also graced Bjorn’s spring/summer 2008 show with her mesmerizing runway presence.

In six months the fashion circus returns with even more spectacular shows and even more Moët-fuelled parties. Stay tuned.

— Pily Morten Maks Ottesen