text: Today is a very special day.
  Not only is it the first day of Copenhagen Fashion Week, but it is also the first day in a very long time that things are back to normal here in Denmark.
  It sounds almost surreal to say, but the last restrictions are gone as of today and the relief this brings along is enormous!
  First of all, because it raises hopes that an end to this health crisis is near.
  Moreover, because our industry and our cultural institutions need – and deserve – a new beginning. After nearly two years of constant struggle – having to deal with lockdowns, travel bans, home schooling and the list goes on – it is now time to shift focus towards new opportunities and new adventures.
  And it is time to shift focus towards other pressing issues.
  The most pressing issue in our industry is still the urgent need to combat climate change.
  And I’m not saying that it wasn’t on the agenda for our industry during the pandemic – in fact I was positively surprised to see how many brands in our region kept sustainability a priority.
  But the road ahead is still long, and my hope is that all the resources and all the attention and time that we spent on tackling the pandemic will now be channeled into accelerating our sustainability efforts even more.
  It is in this light, that Copenhagen Fashion Week’s 2023 Sustainability Requirements come across as more relevant than ever, because what they do is push and incentivize brands to really speed up their sustainability efforts.
  That is also why we are VERY happy to have entered partnerships with the Danish trade fair CIFF and – going beyond our country borders - the organisations Norwegian Fashion Hub, Oslo Runway and finally the Icelandic Fashion Council. Together with these partners we will roll out the 2023 Sustainability Requirements making them mandatory for ALL the brands we work with – meaning that an estimated 1.600 brands in total will have to comply with 18 minimum standards that cover the entire value chain.
  I would of course like to express my gratitude to these organisations that we collaborate with, while also extend the invitation to any other organisations out there to join us in this very important and impactful movement.
  I would now like zoom in on this AW22 edition of Copenhagen Fashion Week.
  First and foremost, a massive thank you to all brands on our schedule for once again being so agile - and also supportive and understanding - during these past months of uncertainty. It’s been such a challenge to plan for this fashion week. Before Christmas, when Omicron had just landed, it did look a bit bleak.
  Luckily the unexpected development of the variant was our rescue, and here we are today with a full show schedule, our two trade fairs, Revolver and CIFF and a very long list of both talks, panel discussion and events taking place all over the city.
  This season we have 30 brands on the schedule of which 10 will be showcasing digitally and 20 physically with in person shows.
  All shows – no matter format – will be shown live on Copenhagenfashionweek.com and on both YouTube Fashion and YouTube Live.
  New this fashion week is also a media partnership with TikTok which launches today and we are very excited to explore this new avenue.
  Speaking of partnerships, there’s a particular one I would like to highlight. One which marks quite a milestone for our fashion week as it has been a dream for us for so long to strengthen the ties with our neighboring countries of the Nordics.
  Besides the Norwegian and the Icelandic sustainability partnerships I just mentioned, we are very happy to announce that we are also embarking on a partnership with the Swedish Fashion Council to support, nurture and promote the new generation of creatives.
  That is also why we are thrilled to welcome some very talented young designers to our schedule this season, such as (di)vision, A. Roege Hove, Kernemilk, the Designers’ Nest graduates and of course this season’s winner of the Talent slot awarded to the Swedish designer Jade Cropper.
  All in all, it’s truly an exciting season this time that follows on from two long years of change.
  I would like to thank our strategic partner Zalando and our other partners Blanc, Skagen, Grohe, Ønskeskyen and Skt Petri as well as our public supporter the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs.
  Also, a sincere thank you for the financial contributions from the City of Copenhagen supporting our talk programme and Creative Denmark supporting our hospitality programme and for the collaboration with Lifestyle & Design Cluster as part of the government-funded programme Grøn Genstart.
  Finally, my sincerest thank you to everyone in the Copenhagen Fashion Week team, advisory board and executive board and to our closest collaborators Dansk Fashion & Textile, WEAR and the trade fairs Revolver and CIFF.
  So without further ado, I would like to pass on this virtual mic to our Strategic Partner Zalando who will say some words about this season’s edition of the prestigious Zalando Sustainability Award which features three very innovative, inspiring and ambitious finalist brands.
  Thank you for listening in and wish you all a great fashion week – whether you are here physically or following from a far.
  