Copenhagen Fashion Week is around the corner and while there are many established Nordic brands on the roster, we always like to check out the New Talent –or rather, NEWTALENT.
What is CPHFW’s NEWTALENT program?
The Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPHFW) NEWTALENT program is designed to nurture and promote emerging Nordic fashion designers on a global stage. Launched in 2022, it supports three to four designers per season through monetary aid, mentorship, professional advisory, and various partnership offerings. These designers also get opportunities to present their work during the official Copenhagen Fashion Week schedule and participate in a dedicated showroom. The program includes notable partnerships and sponsors like the Wessel & Vetts Foundation, Ganni, and Birger Christensen Collective.
For a total of 3 seasons, CPHFW NEWTALENT brands are secured a slot on the Official Copenhagen Fashion Week Show & Presentation Schedule. This means that CPHFW NEWTALENT brands are automatically accepted for 3 consecutive seasons, and thereby excluded from the review of the Official Copenhagen Fashion Week Show & Presentation Committee.
This season, Berner Kühl will join the CPHFW NEWTALENT, while Stamm and Alectra Rothschild / MASCULINA will present their second showcase, and Rolf Ekroth will present his third and final showcase. Bonnetje, Sól Hansdóttir and Stem will be awarded One To Watch for SS25, and will showcase through a presentation on the official show and presentation schedule.
So here’s a quick low down on these “new talents” in Copenhagen.
Berner Kühl
They say: Frederik Berner Kühl is the designer and founder of his eponymous brand Berner Kühl.
Informed by a past in production before moving on to design and a Master’s degree from Polimoda in Firenze, Frederik is striving to convey his vision in ultimate materiality. Prolonging his vision of texture and feel, his ideas first solidify into materials, which are then driving the actual design.
The fabric decides what shape is best showcasing the material quality.With an ambition to create something that is destined to last. The modular wardrobe approach adopted by the brand is calling for less and better consumption. With an intent to educate the consumer on what good product can be.
We say: Looking at the site, it’s polished but pretty basic menswear. We were a bit nonplussed when the first shirt we clicked on was 100% polyester. We’ll see but not holding our collective breath that this will be a gamechanger.
Alectra Rothschild / Masculina
They say: Alectra Rothschild / Masculina is a brand built on the notions of craftsmanship, femininity, and high glamour.
Alectra is a trained tailor before she started to study fashion. She studied at Beckmans College of Design, MA Fashion under Fabio Piras at Central Saint Martins, and studied sustainability and fashion at The Royal Danish Academy. At this time Alectra trained with the likes of Iris Van Herpen and Anne Sofie Madsen.
Alectra got her first job in the fashion industry at Mugler under the creative direction of Casey Cadwallader and has since done freelance work for Alexander McQueen and a collab with Birkenstock.
Since graduating, i-D mentioned Alectra Rothschild as “best of CPHFW SS23 and AW23”, she was chosen for Dazed100 List 2022 by Dazed and was selected as the first CPHFW NEWTALENT: One to Watch for AW23.
Latest, Alectra had a performance for the SS24 edition of Copenhagen Fashion Week presented by Viscose Journal. Masculina has had the pleasure of dressing stars like Arca, MØ, Zara Larsson and Michéle Lamy.
We say: We gave Alectra Rothschild high marks last season. The Masculina show was strong on theatricality and predominantly featuring a trans cast (shoutout to New York City nightlife icon Sofia Lamar who we spotted on the runway) was full of high glamour.
We love the elevation of nightlife queens to high fashion and the disruption of minimalist Scandi Style. Also the way she uses a zero-waste draping and creates pieces that can work for multiple sizes.
Previously we wrote that the majority of Masculina’s garments are either upcycled from previously owned clothing or textiles or are made from deadstock materials. We hope this is still the case.
Stamm
They say: Stamm was founded and launched in 2022 by the Danish designer Elisabet Stamm.
Stamm is a Scandinavian brand with an international outlook. The brand was announced as winner of the Zalando Sustainability Award upon showing its debut AW23 runway show during Copenhagen Fashion Week.
Elisabet describes her approach to the creations as ‘truck poetry’. With a globetrotter family background, bright personality and a dreamy, visionary mind – Stamm’s main characteristic is the dualism that can be found in different forms, such as strong vs sensitive, high fashion with a low-key approach, truck vs couture, calm vs dynamic. Diverse meetings, conversations are key to the brand, which is why ‘exchange’ has become an extension to the brand name.
We say: We love the colorful chaotic vibe that is Stamm, and quote ourselves when we add that the unique designs are created for longevity and made with consciously sourced materials, of which origin, craft and general existence are carried forward with transparency and traceability.
Stamm incorporates materials and practices in the structure where crafted handmade, naturally processed Indian fabrics meet recycled man made fabrics – an approach and expression of crossways. Stamm works only with RDS certified goose down filling and as a new initiative natural kapok fibre is introduced as filling.
Rolf Ekroth
They say: Rolf Ekroth, the Finnish-Swedish designer has one of fashion’s most unusual backstories. While most of his friends opted to study business after high school, this contrarian decided to show them up by studying social work. A few years in, Ekroth realized the field wasn’t for him. After taking a few months off, out of the blue a friend who had noted Ekroth’s interest in clothing, suggested Ekroth try fashion. And he did. Since graduating from Helsinki’s Aalto University in 2015, Ekroth has done several collaborative projects, was a finalist at the Hyères Festival, and won the ALPHA Award 2015 (previously Designers’ Nest). He relaunched his namesake label independently in 2020 during the pandemic.
We say: Male models in floor length floral dresses and head scarves? Yes, please! Ekroth isn’t afraid of doing things differently. And this includes materials used. For Spring/Summer 2023 he used a unique Bio2 Textile that uses straw as its raw material in place of polyester or cotton. A fascinating development and we’re here for it!
CPHFW NEWTALENT One To Watch -SS25
We’re feeling hopeful because all of the SS25 Ones to Watch are seriously rethinking fashion production in the best ways.
Stem
They say: Launched in September 2021 by weaver and textile designer Sarah Brunnhuber, Stem is an innovative zero-waste production brand for woven garments. Its weaving, cutting, and sewing system eliminates garment production waste and creates a visual aesthetic that tells a production story. With its experimental approach to zero-waste garments, Stem bridges craft and industry, aiming to disrupt the current cycle of overproduction and overconsumption.
Stem’s philosophy is: Produce better, produce less – buy better, buy less. Stem also operates through brand collaborations, applying its production technique to pieces designed by both young and established brands, for example GANNI x Stem.
Sarah Brunnhuber was selected as a member of Dazed 100 in 2022, curated the collaborative exhibition ‘Edition1, Take 2 in December 2023, and took part in the AW 2024 Ganni x CPHFW New Talent: ‘Future, Talent, Fabrics’ and the ‘The Power and Purpose of the Next Generation’ panel discussion in January 2024.
We say: Call us excited!!! We loved learning about Brunnhuber’s collab with Ganni as well as the aesthetic of her garments and her dedication to designing in ways that are less wasteful. We’ll definitely have our eye on STEM this season.
Sól Hansdóttir
They say: Sól Hansdóttir is an antidisciplinary label based between London & Iceland. Consisting of a small team led creatively by Sól. The label’s conscious and integral business strategy includes rigorous material sourcing, using upcycled materials/ deadstock/ end-of-life fabrics & locally sourced material for made-to-order pieces made by hand in the studio to avoid overproduction.
The label works with experimental patternmaking & Icelandic folkloric & handcraft references resulting in off-kilter pieces for modern times. The Icelandic designer graduated from the MA fashion course at Central Saint Martins 2021 where she was granted the L’Oréal Creative Awards by Gabriella Karefa-Johnson & was a L’Oréal pro scholar. Before she trained with Richard Malone & Hillier Bartley. Sól has assisted on designs for brands such as Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, J&M Davidson.
We say: Her website is just one image at the moment (to create intrigue?) but we were already following her on instagram. You should too.
Bonnetje
They say: Bonnetje, a Copenhagen-based brand, specializes in cutting up old suits and reassembling the pieces into new silhouettes. By reusing defunct materials, they contribute to the search for fashion beyond the current throwaway society.
Their focus extends to past, present, and future sustainable practices. Bonnetje does not aim to pioneer a brand new style but offers their perspective on the emerging movement of circularity within fashion.
Collaboration with contemporary peers and across generations is essential to their approach. Rather than discarding yesterday’s fashion, they aim to preserve it for today and reintroduce it into circulation. In refashioning existing suit items, Bonnetje literally turns certain parts inside-out, honoring the meticulous tailoring by exposing hidden details such as seams, pockets, and lining. Additionally, they incorporate feminine silhouettes into classic masculine forms, blurring the lines between inclusion and exclusion within clothing.
We say: We like the statement above and looks from their previous collection. Enough, in fact, to overlook the cliche “awkward model on couch” editorial that is currently the centerpiece of their website…
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