Mary @ Designer's Nest & Gallery

Crown Princess Mary attended the Gallery exhibit in Forum on Sunday (February 10) and after the Designers' Nest show, presented the 2008 Designers' Nest prize as patron to the most promising young Nordic design student in Øksnehallen, as part of the final events for this season in the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair. The recipient of the Designers' Nest February 2008 prize is Joonas Saari from the University of Art and Design Helsinki.

CIFF is the umbrella for a number of activities including the industry exhibitions, seasonal designer couture shows and encouragement of up and coming designers through participation of fashion schools. The textiles industry is also involved. Twice a year (Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter) the CIFF events attract industry fashion buyers to Danish and other European exhibitors in the biggest fashion fair in Europe. This time 60,000 visitors have attended. The Danish fashion business has been expanding for nearly ten years straight and has become the fourth largest export earner for Denmark, with Crown Princess Mary as patron for the last four years. The next season CIFF is scheduled for next August.



The Copenhagen Post - The Fashion Week's new clothes (February 7 2008)
A festive atmosphere reigned at Copenhagen Fashion Week's grand opening, but designers can see storm clouds on the horizon.
Copenhagen Fashion Week got off with a bang on Wednesday, with dozens of shows at around the city pointing out new directions for trendsetters.
For people on the move with sporty, fashion houses predict graphic patterns and colours that ranged from raspberry red and curried yellow will be a hit. Designers also recommended mixing rustic woollen sweaters with a high-tech look. They even introduced a new black: dark fiction.
Green fashion's efforts to produce garments in a less environmentally destructive way have also gained attention. The Danish brand Jackpot, for example, has introduced 'a track and trade' system which allows consumers to follow all the production steps in their garment's creation - from where the cotton for a shirt was grown, to the factory it was processed in and to the store where it sold.
In addition to showing off upcoming collections, the weeklong showcase provides a chance to network and envision ways to expand the domestic fashion industry, which currently is Denmark's fourth largest export. Even though annual sales top about DKK 36 billion (EUR 4.86 billion), fashion exports predict there's room for even more growth through better co-operation.
Uffe Buchard, creative head of Style Counsel, criticised private and public institutions for gouging prices instead of providing exhibition space for smaller designers.
'It's a major problem that fashion isn't taken seriously,' Buchard told metroXpress newspaper. 'There are too few people who see opportunities in fashion. If we pulled together, our returns would increase tenfold.'
Signs of a global slowdown in retail sales have also given leading fashion houses reason for concern.
'We'll know a lot more when we see how much we sold at Fashion Week,' Jan Stig Andersen, president of BTX Group, the country's second-largest clothes producer. 'We can sense some reservation in stores after a holiday season that didn't completely live up to expectations.'

The Copenhagen Post - Copenhagen Fashion Week: a model of Scandinavian efficiency (February 11 2008)
When the nation's fashion industry draws attention to itself, it does so with professionalism and organisation - and dressed in black of course.
The organisers of Copenhagen Fashion Week - the semi-annual style extravaganza that wrapped up on Sunday - expect that attendance and interest in the event once again set a record for the number of participants.
An estimated 60,000 buyers and other industry insiders from around the globe travelled to Copenhagen for the five-day event. In all, buyers and fashion reporters from 50 countries were registered to Fashion Week activities, most of them from Scandinavia and other European countries.
While Copenhagen remains one of a host of cities vying for the title of 'fifth fashion capital' after New York, London, Paris and Milan, clothing exports have become the country's fourth largest export.
Foreign fashion insiders said that as the country's designs begin to appear on the streets of other major fashion cities, the show itself has also become more refined.
'Other fashion weeks are so chaotic,' Kathyrn Kenny, a reporter for international on-line fashion magazine WGSN, said. 'The attitude here is more professional, and I've been really struck by how well organised things are.'
Kenny said that while Copenhagen Fashion Week will never compare with the likes of New York or Paris, she said her first visit to Copenhagen had made an impression.
Searching to put the country's fashion look into words, she described it as 'streamlined and sophisticated'.
'Women here dress much more sophisticated than in London. You have a definite deconstructionist look that's characterised by layering, thin silhouettes below and oversized tops. And it seems as if black is the Danish way.'
Despite the interest in Danish design, many of the country's thick underbrush of small designers have had difficulty attracting the investors to fund their leap to the big time.
Business experts point out that many designers focus too closely on crafting the look of their creations and forget to build up a viable business.

Photo galleries:
Maledeine Glindorf Gallery
Madeleine Glindorf Designer's Nest and CPH Vision
Søren Steffen

TV2 video clip (00:56)
TV2 video clip (00:28)
DR.dk news clip (02:18)

Photos by Torben Stroyer © /Jyllands Posten:



CIFF press release - Crown Princess Mary wrapped up Copenhagen Fashion Week (10 February 2008)
The hectic fashion days have truly highlighted Copenhagen Fashion Week as a comprehensive event. With 40 fashion shows, the city has been abuzz with clothing, action and trends, and both CIFF and Gallery received a visit from HRH Crown Princess Mary.
Thousands of square metres of fashion wear. Foreign journalists with a flair for fashion. Forty creative fashion shows of all types.
Copenhagen was transformed into a true fashion Mecca this week. With bright sunshine and impressive temperatures for the season, the numerous events truly demonstrated that the Nordic region's fashion capital is located in Denmark.
The focus of Copenhagen Fashion Week is the three successful fairs: Copenhagen International Fashion Fair, CPH Vision and Gallery in Forum Copenhagen, the last of which made a strong mark as an important participant in the fashion week.
In this, the 30th time that Bella Center has hosted CIFF, there were 1,096 exhibitors and 32,285 visitors, of which 10,055 came from other countries. Gallery attracted 139 exhibitors and 11,308 visitors to Forum Copenhagen, of which 3,155 were from other countries.
Both CIFF and Gallery received royal visits during the fair. On Thursday, HRH Crown Princess Mary visited CIFF, where extra attention was paid to children's clothing and the TrendShow. On Sunday, HRH Crown Princess Mary wrapped up the fashion week by appearing at Gallery for the first time, visiting seven of its exciting exhibitors.

CPH Vision
Designers' Nest
Vision Lab
Copenhagen International Fashion Fair