Sustainable Denim Finds a Stage at Copenhagen Fashion Week
Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPHFW) is making headway in promoting sustainability.
As part of the 37-point Action Plan it launched in 2020 aimed at reducing its environmental footprint, the event requires participating brands to meet minimum standards from how they dispose of samples and unsold clothes to their material choices. At least 50 percent of brands’ collections must check the box on certain criteria, such as being made of preferred materials, new generation sustainable inputs, upcycled, recycled or made of deadstock. Using fur is verboten.
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CPHFW’s updated Action Plan for 2023-2025 expands existing targets and sets new goals to educate consumers about sustainability, promote diversity and inclusion, and pursue partnerships with companies and organizations that are minority-led or founded.
The progress CPHFW brands are making was visible on the catwalk last month where labels like Stine Goya, Baum und Pferdgarten and Gestuz presented their Spring/Summer 2024 collections. And denim was a popular fabric thanks to the inroads the industry is making to shrink its footprint.
Ganni’s Fabrics of The Future program factored into its AI-inspired collection of crystal-covered denim miniskirts, blues and jeans with cloud-like dye effects and metallic pink-coated jeans. For the first time, the brand used Oleatex, a material produced using waste streams from olive oil production, as contrast stitching on a tailored leather-like dress. Ganni also used Algreen, a material derived from seaweed and agricultural waste, as plastic-free, recyclable sequins.
“I wanted us to really push ourselves this season. To see if we could create the most elevated Ganni looks we’ve ever done,” said Ditte Reffstrup, Ganni creative director.
Gestuz experimented with texture and proportions for its collection inspired by rebelling against beauty and perfection. Jeans, a trench coat and a wide-cut button-down shirt shared the same laser-printed pattern. A washed black button-down denim dress was styled over jeans. A light-wash midi skirt was styled with a drop-shoulder jean jacket.
“Through the 15-year journey of Gestuz, I have both strived for perfection and later accepted that perfection is neither achievable nor interesting. It is in the raw hemline and odd mix of fabric you find the real magic,” said Sanne Sehested, Gestuz creative director.
Laser printed denim was a part of Stine Goya’s “Homecoming” collection. It included a cropped jacket and matching miniskirt, jeans with spliced hems and a jumpsuit and strong shoulders and cargo pockets. Denim bags were part of the collection as well, punctuated by the brand’s signature S-shaped handle.
Baum und Pferdgarten was influenced by the whimsy of its hometown, Copenhagen. City icons such as the Little Mermaid statue and the Japanese cherry blossoms that bloom at the King’s Garden were reworked into prints. A pink denim tank and miniskirt featured subtle illustrated mermaids. The collection also featured tops and Bermuda shorts adorned with crisscross lacing and slouchy two-tone jeans.
Tops and bottoms in wide fits were common threads in collections. Skall Studio styled oversized jeans with a generously cut pink blazer and a denim tunic over jeans. The brand, which uses GOTS certified denim, also showed a boxy button-down shirt with a knee-grazing jean skirt. Remaim elongated denim trousers and widened jeans legs.
Other brands revisited Y2K through fits and washes. Paolina Russo’s 100 percent cotton denim boleros, low-rise jeans, baggy jeans and skater shorts were laser printed with the brand’s floral insignia and “neo-tribal riffs on classic sports graphics.” The London-based designer and LVMH Prize 2023 finalist worked with sustainable denim laundry Pizarro in Porto, Portugal to develop the biodegradable denim pieces.
