COPENHAGEN FASHION WEEK
Day 3 Autumn / Winter 2015
January 31
LONG LIVE FASHION ELSEBETH MOURITZEN Editor-in-Chief
Normally you would say that fashion and eco-friendly thinking are contradictory, as the industry is all about moving (fast) forward and creating the need for more new things. However, within the last couple of years, a new buzzword has joined the vocabulary. After years of talk about going green, CSR, and sustainability – terms that can sound a bit abstract, and perhaps lead to a collective bad conscience – the more understandable and easily acceptable word “longevity” is on the agenda: Clothing should last.
Sustainability has been a hallmark of Danish Fashion Institute for several years now, with the unremitting CEO Eva Kruse spreading the word through summits. Physical action has been taken with fashion swaps of used clothes – The Global Fashion Exchange – whose concept and execution was exported from CFW to Los Angeles last autumn. And it has paid off. Copenhagen Fashion Week is regarded as greener than any similar institution, and with more and more high-profile designers making a long-term commitment to changing the perception of what conscious fashion looks like, there is hope that consumers will no longer hesitate, but choose the wise alternative naturally. A prime example of the longevity trend is reborn fashion brand Fonnesbech, which opened fashion week. They produce new but few styles for each season, in contempo-classic design from the perspective of mixing and matching individual pieces to make the wardrobe bigger than it really is. Most importantly, the clothes are made in long-lasting fabrics that – when the day comes – will be at one with nature.
The same thinking has entered the jewellery world, where fellow Danish brand Kinraden raises awareness through recycling metals and using diamond-cut wood instead of traditional exclusive materials. These frontrunners take green thinking to a new promising level, but the question is still what consumers are willing to pay for a better world in the long run. In a recent opinion piece in a national newspaper, fashion academics mused over several new business models that are popping up around the world. Anything from renting instead of owning clothes to an advanced form of crowdfunding, where merchandise is not put into production until a given number of consumers have placed their orders on the internet. The latter to save money on transportation, retail and stock… This solution will probably not be relevant in the immediate future, as it will cost jobs both locally and internationally. But it puts things into perspective. The thought of implementing longevity definitely sounds much more appealing and beneficial for all involved parties in the industry. Long live fashion!
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CONTRIBUTORS
PUBLISHER: Copenhagen Fashion Week
GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Liv Caroline Hotvedt Laursen
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Elsebeth Mouritzen
SUB-EDITOR: Magnus Jorem
PROJECT MANAGER: Ottilie Landmark
EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Anne Christine Persson
ART DIRECTOR: Marie Brodersen
copenhagenfashionweek.com
THE DAILY
WRITERS: Moussa Mchangama, Lotte Freddie, Sille Henning, Charlotte Antschukov Kjær, Frederik Højgaard COVER PHOTO: Thomas Degner PHOTOGRAPHERS: Thomas Degner, Helena Lundquist, Victor Jones. All runway photos provided by Copenhagen Fashion Week
SALES: Sophie Noreng DISTRIBUTION: Julie Steenstrup PRINT: Berlingske Avistryk
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