Last Friday the CIFF fashion fair ended in Copenhagen. For three days, the halls of the Bella Center were devoted to meeting existing customers, attracting new customers, inspecting collections and filtering out trends. But one theme clearly dominated the event: sustainability. There was hardly a brand that did not at least offer a collection line with organic cotton or worked with recycled materials. Many newcomer labels, including Tomorrow, OFFT, 1331 and Cult Studios, also explicitly emphasized that sustainability is the DNA of their brand.

CIFF also took up the topic of sustainability. This year, the Special Project area was dedicated to the theme ART - Alter, Repair & Transform. Stavros Karelis, artistic director of CIFF, said, "The Special Project area is dedicated to the topic of sustainability. We wanted to create a sustainable project with Lee because they are one of the biggest heritage denim brands and they are really trying to make important steps in this direction. They were extremely open to work with us.”

Kristian Andersen, CIFF chief innovation officer, noted,  ”This is an exciting time for the industry and also a time for all of us to take our responsibilities. Offering Lee a platform for them to redefine and educate partners was an evident choice. Sustainability is part of our DNA from the beginning so the message is consistent with the approach CIFF has had from the very beginning.”

 

In the Special Project area visitors could upcycle and renew old jeans with unique embroideries at the denim tattoo bar. They were assisted by expert menders and designers who also coached visitors on how to repair and renew their own clothes.

In addition, the young London designers Bethany Williams and  showed what beautiful unique denim pieces can be conjured up from leftover fabric. Together with Lee, each of them designed eight denim items, which were exhibited at the Special Project area.
Stravros Niklas said, “I don’t want to come around as a sustainability expert, I am definitely not! But what I can do is to bring people together who are experts and who want to learn more about this topic. It is all about an open dialogue and exchanging ideas. And people in the industry should understand that you not always need to have a lot of money to implement sustainability within your brand ID.”

New this season was the Sporting area. Well-known but also still unknown sportswear labels such as Arcteryx Veilance, Veja, Kavu, Petra Design and Doya presented their collections here. Already last season Kristian Andersen announced that for 2021 even bigger things are planned with the Sporting area on the CIFF ground. CIFF Sporting coincides with the next part of the real estate development which will include building sports facilities for the community.

Although the topic of sustainability occupied a lot of space, CIFF also revealed clear trends for f/w 2020-21. Sand and earth tones dominated in terms of color. Sporty minimalism, technical and functional details, straight lines, simple silhouettes and wide cuts were translated into the collections by countless labels. 80s and 90s inspiration are still strong. In terms of fabrics teddy fur, cord, knitwear and flannel were the highlights.

Have a closer look at the trends that we discovered for you at CIFF and our favorite newcomer labels:

Oversized puffer down jackets in muted colors

Teddyfleece
Retro Denim pieces 

Hello 90s
Cord
Sporty minimalism in sandy earth tones


Favorite newcomer labels:

Tomorrow

1331

SOS

Cult Studios

Photo: SI Team

Cult Studios is based in Cheltenham and was launched last year. There are two collections a year and the brand focuses on sustainability.

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