- Title: DENMARK: Copenhagen stages the biggest fashion fair in Europe
- Date: 19th August 2006
- Summary: (L!1) COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (AUGUST 10, 2006) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) LENE NYSTRØM RASTED, SINGER, SAYING: "Munthe and Simonsen are, I mean, they have been around for many years, and they have, they have managed to put a Nordic theme into their collections and they, you can always see that they are from Scandinavia, I think."
- Embargoed: 3rd September 2006 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Denmark
- Country: Denmark
- Topics: Fashion,Lifestyle
- Reuters ID: LVACFAPDJPAUNZ7D4IBF7658E8A1
- Story Text: When thinking of the big European fashion shows, it's usually Paris, Milan or Berlin that spring to mind. However Copenhagen brooked a magical barrier at this summer by hosting the largest fashion fair in Europe.
More than 50, 000 people passed through the gates of the 13 year old Copenhagen International Fashion Fair.
Sales Manager Jesper Aandahl from CIFF said the event was an overwhelming success.
"I'm very pleased. We saw for the first time, we have more than 29,500 buyers coming to Copenhagen, so that's an all time record," he said.
One of the companies that has gained the most out of the Copenhagen boom are the trendsetting '68 hippies style Munthe Plus Simonsen. The decorated feminine style has made them attractive to buyers with their particular Nordic style.
"The Scandinavian fashion is really strong these days and from what we hear from the international market is that, you know, there is being a lot of attention, they have acknowledged a lot of the Danish Fashion and even the Scandinavian Fashion and they are buying a lot of stuff these days. That's very important. So the market has changed over the past two years, and I guess it's because that the Danish Fashion and the Scandinavian fashion is a fresh look," designer Karen Simonsen explained.
Munthe Plus Simonsen are now seeing their designs on celebrities around the globe - Cindy Crawford and Helene Christensen being among their regular customers.
But the designers say they are only interested in creating stylish personal designs.
"Everybody is searching for something personally, but we are not looking for exposing ourselves in a great way, we want to find pieces that are personalized but discrete at the same time," Simonsen said.
Lene Nystrøm, who shot to fame as former lead singer of the group Aqua with their hit 'I am a Barbie girl!', agreed after the cat-walk show that the designers had caught a certain look.
"They have managed to put a Nordic theme into their collections and they, you can always see that they are from Scandinavia, I think," she said.
Fashion expert from Nolly Rodi in Paris, CéDric Morisset also talked about the Scandnavian 'look'
"I would say that Scandinavian people use their roots, their culture and the other European countries are not very aware of it. They don't know precisely what Scandinavia is, they know about the design but that's it and they don't really know about the traditions, the environment, the culture and now these, all of these elements are being used by the designers and that's why it's submitting such a big success," he said.
He went on to say that the time is right to capitalise on the success of the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair.
"I think the Copenhagen Fashion Fair should try to export. That could be a good issue because the big capitals of fashion will always be New York, Paris and Milan and of course even if Copenhagen is becoming a real alternative it needs to strengthen the links between all these big capitals," he said.
The fair ran from Thursday to Sunday (August 10-11). ENDS. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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