Photography and fashion have a few things in common, such as textures, colours and shapes – and there’s a rule that three components make a photograph great as well as any outfit. You should have seen how excited I was when I received an invitation to the Copenhagen Fashion Week Creative Hub a few weeks ago. I just love all forms of visual expression and I really enjoy observing well-dressed people, finding great fabrics or combining different garments.

Sustainability at Copenhagen Fashion Week

Honestly the construct of the Fashion Week was a bit imitating at first as I am neither able to afford expensive design pieces nor am I part of this exclusive bubble. I was more than pleased to find out that the Fashion Week in Copenhagen has a freer and more youthful spirit than the known events in London, New York or Milan.

CPHFW is the biggest fashion event in the Nordic countries, taking place twice a year in January and August at various locations around Copenhagen. CPHFW focuses on sustainability: Participating fashion brands must ensure that at least 50 percent of their collection is composed of certified, preferred, upcycled or recycled materials. They have to demonstrate their commitment to due diligence throughout their supply chain.

At the Creative Hub, The Collective Fashion Justice presented Shiringa bio-leather which is made from the regeneratively tapped sap of ancient Amazonian trees by the Awajún people. A few brands such as Marimekko have produced their first bags out of Shiringa bio-leather which were showcased at the hub alongside the stunning Shiringa leather jacket designed by Serena Coehlo. Collective Fashion Justice is a charity dedicated to creating a fully ethical fashion system. They also exhibited raw materials used for natural dyeing such as annatto which is made from a seeded fruit that creates an orange tone or cocoa by-products which create a range of brown and beige tones.

Vogue Business Talk Program

On Friday the Vogue Business Talk Program explored the cross-pollination of fashion, art and music. Sofie Winther, an artist and designer, shared that she loves working with recycled materials and addressing topics such as material overconsumption or collective behaviour. During the discussion, she also pointed out that materials considered valuable such as gold are social or cultural constructs. By using upcycled or recycled materials in fashion, she is giving them a new value.

The talk focused primarily on the cultural exchange between fashion and other creative fields and its mutual benefits. Fashion plays a key role in the visual identity of musicians, who can, in turn, help to increase brand awareness. Ane Lynge-Jorlén, Director of ALPHA, mentioned successful collaborations such as those between Billy Eilish and Gucci or Silas Adler (creative director and panellist in this talk) and brands such as Asics, Nike, Hello Kitty or Playboy. The talk demonstrated that all creative industries face similar challenges, from getting credit for one’s creative work to striking a balance between authenticity and commercialism. The latter is especially important for being able to pay the rent. As in any other creative field, the fashion industry does not pay well, especially at the beginning of one's career. Most internships or assistant jobs with notable brands or at Fashion Week are low paid or unpaid with the argument that you gain valuable insights and should see it as an educational experience.

Another topic discussed was the panellists' reluctance to use AI as a creative tool because it only scratches the surface and is prone to errors. This is particularly evident in design work: if every fifth stitch were skipped, for example, the garment would be unusable. When it comes to finding ideas, AI tools may deliver faster results, but not necessarily better ones. In this context, Chris Pedersen, radio host of Popsmart, mentioned that Denmark is one of the first countries in the world to propose a law that would give individuals complete control over their image, including their face, voice, and body, in a similar way to copyright, to protect them against AI deepfakes.

The 'How I Became...' series, presented by Creative Hub and Dazed Club

I also really enjoyed the 'How I Became...' talk with Emma Matell, one of the industry's most progressive young casting directors, who has worked with fashion designers such as Sinead O’Dwyer, Cecilie Bahnsen, Alectra Rothschild and Niklas Skovgaard. The talk also covered how Emma scouts the new faces of the future which she tries to find in shopping malls, at social events and through online search on Instagram. She usually already has a specific campaign and type in mind when she starts her research.

Emma loves representing diverse models. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for brands to showcase skinny white people in their editorials and shows. However, she loves to include a diverse selection of models in her presentations to demonstrate how designs could look on different models. Emma mentioned that she recently booked her first blind model or models in wheelchairs.

What I learnt from Copenhagen Fashion Week

Both events that I attended were really interesting and I loved how in-depth the discussions were. It was great to gain insight into this industry and I enjoyed hearing the empowering stories of creative directors, casting directors and artists. The talks inspired me to think and reflect more. In today's world, it feels like everything needs to be done quickly and hardly anyone is coming up with their own ideas anymore as you can cheat and use artificial intelligence to do your work for you. Although I often hear that AI is a great tool – especially in marketing and the creative field – it was reassuring to hear big artists say that the best ideas always come from within. Another thing that stuck in my head was that you set your own norms and values, whether it's fashion, your body or materials.

While waiting for the Vogue Business Talk to start at Verpan in central Copenhagen, I enjoyed observing how stylish the Danish people are with their wonderful minimalist, clean Scandinavian everyday style.

From the press pictures I have seen, I really liked Cecilie Bahnsen’s SS26 collection and I already had to order one pair of sneakers of her collaboration with Asics.

If there were another opportunity like that, I would love to attend Fashion Week again and it would be also nice to see a runway show.