Copenhagen Fashion Week ss21
The first post-pandemic fashion week hosting physical, digital and hybrid fashion shows and presentations.
14th of August 2020 | Copenhagen, Denmark
By GILI BIEGUN
A young, open minded female leader navigated Denmark to safety as Covid19 impacted billions around the world. The crucial and responsible acts leadership took during the crisis allowed the Danes to host events, open restaurants and bars and meet each other, almost like it was 2019.
That same open mindedness and flexibility was reflected this week as Copenhagen Fashion Week took a physical space in Villa Copenhagen and other locations around the city. Cecilie Thorsmark, CEO of Copenhagen Fashion Week, announced earlier this year that the Scandinevian brands
will present their Spring Summer 2021 collections in a combination of physical hybrid and digital formats of fashion shows and presentations. The result was a successful week that kept Copenhagen on the lead as a pioneer in sustainable fashion and innovative ideals.
''Danish designer Soeren Le Schmidt showcased his SS21 collection during Copenhagen Fashion Week, presented at the highly anticipated sustainable, luxury hotel, Villa Copenhagen, carrying on the history of the former Danish Central Post & Telegraph Office''
Photos by Gili Biegun at Soeren Le Schmidt
Birgitte Herskind Spring Summer 2021 in her showroom.
Photos by Gili Biegun at Birgitte Herskind
‘’As showing clothing can seem quite irrelevant, it might be the best opportunity we will ever have to re-imagine and change the industry. For this reason and to support CPHFW, mfpen has decided to contribute with a minimal showcasing of the SS21 collection’’.
What is a hybrid fashion event? As the fashion week’s organization allowed brands to interpret the current situation in their own way (keeping the government's guidelines to safe interactions) many fashion houses decided on a combination of a physical rendez-vous and a screening of their digital fashion video presenting their SS21 collection. Stine Goya, Mfpen, Henrik Vibskov, Samsøe Samsøe, Malaikaraiss, Soeren Le Schmidt and others chose to incorporate physical and digital,
creating a physical event presenting their collection to a live audience and live streaming viewers.
While Stine Goya presented their SS21 fashion film they also called press and buyers to visit their studio in Copenhagen hosting an 'Open House' in which the visitors could touch and feel the collection. Henrik Vibskov and Soeren Le Schmidt presented open-air catwalks maintaining social distancing between the guests and mindfully caring about their health.
''The mood of the season captures the essence of the eternally modern soul Françoise Hardy, the French singer-songwriter and 1960s style icon. As a leading figure of the yé-yé movement, Hardy’s music introduced playful femininity to pop culture, evoked in the collection through playful breaks to the masculinity of sharp tailoring.''
Photos by Gili Biegun at REMAIN Birger Christensen SS21
Sustainability and the global health crisis
By the end of 2019 Birgitte Herskind had in mind evening wear and cocktail dresses for her Spring Summer 2021 collection but during the lockdown in her home in Denmark she decided to rethink and be current. The result was of a one of a kind collection of unique items which can be styled in countless ways. Mindfully made from exceptional fabric the collection is sustainable, wearable and adaptable to any time of day and location. Zoom meetings included.
Many other Scandinavian designers stayed true to their sustainable point of view and adapted their collections to the current reality. Baum und Pferdgarten colorful pre-spring collection was cut in half in order to be better connected to the industry needs presenting to buyers 100 best selected pieces.
''Finding nature and human survival a constant source of fascination, this season Henrik Vibskov’s inspiration concentrated on a natural phenomenon – Fire. The contradictory nature of fire and the way it contributes to our way of life is what inspired the team for the SS21 collection..''
Simon Nygard opening for Soeren Le Schmidt
''This season, the SLS collection is, as usual, based on old school tailoring, presenting high quality and skillfulness, alongside with a rockabilly and new playful edge throughout the collection, experimenting with coarse metal buttons and solid silver zippers. The looks were perfectly teamed with hip hop music from the nineties, adding an underground vibe to the show.''
Photos by Gili Biegun at Soeren Le Schmidt
Birgitte Herskind Spring Summer 2021 in her showroom.
Photos by Gili Biegun at Birgitte Herskind
''The mood of the season captures the essence of the eternally modern soul Françoise Hardy, the French singer-songwriter and 1960s style icon. As a leading figure of the yé-yé movement, Hardy’s music introduced playful femininity to pop culture, evoked in the collection through playful breaks to the masculinity of sharp tailoring.''
Photos by Gili Biegun at REMAIN Birger Christensen SS21
''Exploring the liberation found in the playful and the naïve, The SS21 Presentation provided a fresh offering and redefined expectations to the visual language of REMAIN.'' REMAIN Birger Christensen SS21 Copenhagen Fashion Week
''Fire is a curious thing. Breathing the same oxygen as us, the intense heat can melt materials, change their shape, burn through or blend them together. It’s also how we cook food, forge tools and stimulate growth in various ecological systems. It symbolizes energy, passion and love as well as new beginnings and growth.''
Photos by Gili Biegun at Henrik Vibskov SS21
''The theme was first inspired by a burned motorcycle that Henrik had seen in the center of Copenhagen. Completely stripped by the fire, the bare, melted skeleton of the bike was left in its rough and unpolished essence. Having just started the research into this, a fire alarm, ironically, interrupted the fashion show in Copenhagen last season. After proven to be a false alarm, we re-entered and re-emerged from the intense chaos of the situation stronger and more powerful. The power of instant adaption and the positive outcome it had, added a positive spin to the inspiration and reminded us of our ability to come back from unexpected situations. The horse became a symbol for this power, because of its strength, virility and the fact that it in Feng Shui is associated with the element of fire. Also, did you know that horses tend to run back into burning barns?.''
Photos by Gili Biegun at Henrik Vibskov SS21
Photo by Gili Biegun at samsøe samsøe SS21 event
''This Spring Summer 21, Stine Goya finds joy in the everyday moments of life and celebrates theexpression and the creative spirit of her community. Through play, through experimentation andthrough abstraction, Stine Goya presents a balanced & curated collection which celebrates theenergy of our House and speaks to the very essence of our DNA''
Photos by Gili Biegun at Stine Goya SS21 open house
“Don't let anyone take your joy. We can find joy anywhere and in anything. Make sure that you experience joy in ways that don’t harm us and that we hold onto joy, no matter what.”– Indya Moore
''...mfpen has created a large two channel video installation. The viewer is presented with a one take runway show in an empty room, no audience, stylists, choreography, make-up nor guests and press is present. Instead two individuals are invited to showcase the collection simply by picking out items of their own choice to create their outfits. For the presentation some of the outfits depicted on the runway are put on display. The outfits are responding directly to the video work with a physical presence for the audience to see the garments up close.
An exterior window piece is complimenting the installations with facts about the collection compositions and production values...''
Photos by Gili Biegun at mfpen ss21 presentation
