Copenhagen: a season marked by change

By

Anaïs Lerévérend

Published
Jan 27, 2015

The trade shows in Copenhagen are reinventing themselves for fall-winter 15/16. Announced a few months ago, changes to the Danish fashion show scene will be seen at the end of January. First, there’ll be the "physical" disappearance of Gallery. The newest of the trade shows is turning itself into a coordinator of private showrooms. 

Gallery will thus be the link between some one hundred brand showrooms, mostly open to the public from January 28-31, although some will require an appointment. It will therefore serve as a kind of guide for retailers, with logistics support, including the provision of shuttles.

Whereas one physical event is disappearing, another will be making its debut. The CIFF trade show is launching a new independent event for men that will be distinct from its main events. Entitled "CIFF Raven", the modestly-sized men’s show (a hundred brands) will be held in the Copenhagen Forum building, serving as a platform for Denmark’s abundant creative talent. Beyond fashion, it will bring together design, cuisine and architecture all under one roof.

While this new event isn't entirely dropping the menswear contingent that has normally exhibited at CIFF, it is still shaking things up a bit. Therefore, at the Bella Center, the universes of Urban and Lab, until now dedicated to menswear, will be getting a bit bigger. Overall, the show should be packed, as it will bring together around 1160 brands across all ranges.

It’s also worth noting the continuation of its partnership with the sourcing trade show Denim by Première Vision. The latter organized a space for the former in Barcelona last November and now it's CIFF’s turn to play the host as part of the partnership agreement, which has been dubbed "Skandigang". Denim by will offer a sample of innovative exhibitors in the Urban hall, and will also hold a conference on denim trends expected for next season. 

In launching a new event, but also by expanding the scope of its main show, CIFF intends to consolidate its leading position—a position that now faces just a single challenger: Revolver. A new name for a show that is reinventing itself. Formerly known as Vision and the result of the merger of CPH Vision and Terminal 2, Revolver is the fruit of the mutually held ideas of its founder and a former partner of Gallery.

The show will be divided in two, featuring two exhibition spaces previously featured at Vision: Oksnehallen and Lokomotivaerkstedet—one for the more design brands and the other for the more urban segment. In all, 550 rather international brands will be taking part in the 3-day event, January 29-31, a significantly larger number than the 160 that took part in the last Vision. Revolver clearly intends to recover its turf and to become a major event in Copenhagen.