Each season, we look forward to Copenhagen Fashion Week for its fresh spin on Scandi style, unparalleled commitment to sustainability efforts and emerging Nordic designers. And when it comes to the latter, CPHFW goes above and beyond to make sure the region’s buzziest young designers are ready to hit the runway. Established in 2022 and supported by Circulose®, the NEWTALENT scheme provides monetary support, mentorships, partnerships, onboarding to the official show schedule and more, to a selection of new brands each season.
Today, the program has announced the class of SS24: Nicklas Skovgaard, Latimmier, P.L.N. and Rolf Ekroth; as well as CPHFW’s NEWTALENT One To Watch, MLGA, who will have a presentation during the fashion week in August. This all just means that there’s even more to look forward to this season, with runway debuts from Nicklas and Rolf, as well as the return of i-D favourites Ervin Latimer of Latimmier and Peter Lundvald Nielsen aka P.L.N…. August can’t come soon enough!
Making singular garments that centre identity, curiosity and craftsmanship, we suggest you read on to get to know SS24’s most exciting, young Nordic designers ahead of Copenhagen Fashion Week.
Nicklas Skovgaard
Tell us a little bit about your design process. How long has your label been in the making, and did you have a specific vision in mind when you started out?
My brand had quite an unorthodox start, I would say. I never intended to start a fashion brand. It all started out during my summer holiday in 2020, when I bought an old children’s loom that I would practice weaving my own fabric on. Many different textile samples were made through that summer, and all of the sudden I saw myself expanding onto a larger loom to be able to create even bigger textiles for making pieces of my own design. There was no business plan, no nothing. But there was my forever big love, passion and fascination for traditional craftsmanship and fashion that kept the curiosity inside of me running to where I could potentially take this!
It all grew very organically over the past few years. I’ve done six collections so far and the hand-woven textiles, made in my studio, are used for jackets, coats and hats, and being mapped against contradictory fabrics and cut into unexpected silhouettes, which I would say is also one of the key elements of my design.
Is there a source of inspiration that you find yourself returning to?
The first person who really introduced me to fashion and playing with character while dressing, was my mother. She always dressed quite differently from other mothers around where I grew up, and pulled off so many good looks throughout my childhood. She would take me shopping, and at a certain point, I even started styling her before she would go out. For each new collection, it always starts with me pinning a picture of my mom in a certain time of her life on my board. She’s a big part of my work, the clothes I design and the way I style and combine it. And yes of course. Madonna, Confessions on a Dance Floor era is always an endless amount of inspiration!
What’s particular about being a young designer in Copenhagen? How does the city or local community feed into your designs?
One of the things that I find really appealing is the way I see this new generation of designers and creative people building small communities where you help each other out, share your experiences and thoughts. It feels like an ongoing collaboration. Sometimes I do tend to, as a young designer, feel frightened when looking to the fashion industry and how it seems to be working, but having such a supportive community makes it feel a lot less frightening.
How does it feeling to be a part of Copenhagen Fashion Week, and the CPHFW NEWTALENT program, specifically?
It feels amazing! I’m super excited and can’t wait to show my upcoming collection and make my vision come to life in August! I’ve lived in Copenhagen for the past ten years, so it feels natural and really exciting to be doing my first real show here in this city where I feel at home.
As an emerging designer, what has been the most challenging aspect of your work?
It’s a lot of great fun indeed (!), but it’s also a lot of never-faced-before challenges for me. I think one of the most challenging aspects of my work is not always knowing which road to go down when it comes to the business behind running an emerging fashion brand. If you want to work in the fashion industry, you always need to be 110% sure of exactly where you want to end up.
What’s the future of fashion you want to contribute/build towards?
I hope to somehow contribute in building a future of fashion that seems more personal and open to everyone who wants to take part in it! My work and brand grew from sharing my personal love for fashion and craftsmanship with other people on social media, and connecting with a whole community of people outside of the fashion industry, which was so amazing. I believe that clothes can create a dreamlike state where everyone feels — and should be — welcomed to take part in it!
Describe your upcoming collection in three words.
The three C’s: classy, cosy, Chic.
Latimmier
Tell us a little bit about your design process. How long has your label been in the making, and did you have a specific vision in mind when you started out?
Latimmier was founded two years ago in the summer of 2021 and we launched our debut collection at Pitti Uomo in January 2022. Latimmier is a culmination of all the work I’ve done this far, both in the field of design and in the field of anti-racist work and DEI work. We’re very proud of our specific approach to fashion and masculinity, but honestly we didn’t come up with it overnight — it took a long period of careful planning to find our way to justify starting a new fashion label in a world that has an abundance of labels.
Regarding my design process, I’m a designer that enjoys telling a story or a theme within each collection. I find it supportive, but it also helps the wearer to establish an emotional connection to the garments, which then makes them last beyond ever-changing fashion seasons.
Is there a source of inspiration that you find yourself returning to?Regardless of the season, all our collections have an overarching design language that stems from the history of normative, Western menswear that is then mixed with the history of ballroom culture and its relationship to gender performance and cross-dressing. A lot of my references come from pop culture, especially film, and there are certain films that I always go back to. I watch Martin Scorsese’s Wolf of Wall Street at least a couple of times a year. There are some wild types of toxic white masculinity and femininity that the movie presents and glorifies that I find extremely inspirational.
What’s particular about being a young designer in Copenhagen? How does the city or local community feed into your designs?
I’ve been lucky enough to live in a few cities around the world in my life due to work or studies, but nothing beats my love for my place of birth, Helsinki. There’s an exciting moment right now, where a lot of young talents are bravely starting their own brands. Because we have such a small market for fashion and a saturation of extremely commercial brands, a lot of younger designers have a more artistic and nuanced approach to their design. It’s extremely inspirational to work in such an environment.
How does it feel to be a part of Copenhagen Fashion Week, and the CPHFW NEWTALENT program, specifically?
We’re extremely proud to be a part of a new wave of Finnish fashion design talent that is showcasing their work internationally. Copenhagen is the most local fashion week for us, and now, after two seasons attending, CPHFW feels very natural. As we all know, upcoming fashion brands need all the industry support they can get, so we’re extremely thankful to be a part of the NEWTALENT program. It has propelled our international exposure to new heights, in addition to providing valuable insights from industry professionals.
As an emerging designer, what has been the most challenging aspect of your work?
Let’s be honest, it’s money and finances for sure. I don’t come from a wealthy background, so I’ve had to find ways to finance my business that go beyond asking my parents for money. There’s nothing wrong with a wealthy background, of course, but I think we’re only now slowly, as an industry, learning to discuss the financial difficulties younger and less established talents have. Am I exhausted? Yes. Are the hours long? Yes. But nothing has been more challenging than finding a just way to work in this business, pay everyone, provide opportunity for marginalized talent and still afford, say, my rent. I love designing clothes with every cell in my body, but my goodness is it difficult to run a fashion business!
What’s the future of fashion you want to contribute/build towards?
This might sound sappy and naive, but I genuinely believe that our brand can generate positive change in the we way approach gender and masculinity in everyday life. Furthermore, we’re actively pushing for better ways of producing, consuming and working in fashion, and we’re aiming to expand the notion of Nordicness to include the marginalized communities that I, and our staff, represent.
Describe your upcoming collection in three words.
Sensual, explicit and power-hungry.
P.L.N.
Tell us a little bit about your design process. How long has your label been in the making? Did you have a specific vision in mind when you started out?
We make everything by hand — craftsmanship is extremely important to us. We focus on the body in our design process, and we like our design to feel wearable to anyone regardless of their social identity.
We started in 2021. I wanted to create a label that had a very raw and direct approach, with an emphasis on the craftsmanship of making clothes. The starting point doesn’t change for me, but the process is ever-changing.
Is there a source of inspiration that you find yourself returning to?
We like heavy materials. We try to use them in different ways and experiment with that.
What’s particular about being a young designer in Copenhagen? How does the city or local community feed into your designs?
It challenges me to create something that doesn’t exist in this town yet.
As an emerging designer, what has been the most challenging aspect of your work?
Definitely the practical aspects of running a company.
What’s the future of fashion you want to contribute/build towards?
Well-made clothes that challenge people’s way of thinking and way of dressing. Something that sparks the imagination. The minds eye can take you anywhere.
Describe your upcoming collection in three words.
Blazing, brilliant, dazzling, flashing, glistening, glittering, golden, intense, luminous, radiant, shimmering, shiny, silvery, sparkling, translucent, sharp, distorted…
Rolf Ekroth
Tell us a little bit about your design process. How long has your label been in the making, and did you have a specific vision in mind when you started out?
My design process involves constantly gathering things that interest me. When I’m nearing completion of the current season, for some reason, I start getting ideas for the next and get super excited about it, even though I still have to finish the one I’m currently working on. Lately, I’ve been putting more effort into focusing on the products rather than telling a story with my collections. When I started my label, I didn’t really have time to sit down and think about what the label was going to be. I had to produce two separate collections in a span of six months, starting almost from scratch. However, during the pandemic, when things slowed down, I began figuring out what I wanted to do with my namesake label, and slowly but surely, I think we’re getting closer to my vision with each season.
Is there a source of inspiration that you find yourself returning to?
Unfortunately, it’s a cliché, but most of the time, my youth and growing up in Finland serve as my main source of inspiration. I’m trying to broaden my horizons and explore new sources of inspiration, but somehow it always comes back to my youth in some way. In the upcoming collection, I’m taking a lighthearted jab at myself with this theme.
What’s particular about being a young designer in Finland? How does the city or local community feed into your designs?
It’s a challenging question since I haven’t experienced the life of a designer outside of Finland. Networking might not be as easy, as I can’t simply fly around Europe for meetings whenever I want. Nevertheless, I am familiar with how things operate here. Finland may be a small country, but it provides equal opportunities most of the time, and there are numerous things to be inspired by and proud of. Our nation is peculiar, and I find a lot of beauty and dark humor in the profound melancholy that runs through us. I strive to express these elements through my work.
I’ve also been fortunate to find very talented people who want to collaborate and work with me. Some of them are former classmates from Aalto, while others are friends of friends who have the right attitude for the work and, for some reason, selflessly want to help me from season to season. One of the things I truly enjoy incorporating into my designs are old Finnish crafting traditions.
How does it feel to be a part of Copenhagen Fashion Week, and the CPHFW NEWTALENT program, specifically?
When I received the news that I was selected, I was super happy for about five minutes. Then I returned to my studio and was bombarded with a bunch of unrelated difficult emails. So, all the joy quickly turned into depression, just as it had come. My unsolicited advice would be for everyone to try and enjoy those five minutes of happiness whenever there’s a reason to, because in this business, there’s always some trouble around the corner. But seriously, I’m very thankful and honored to be a part of the CPHFW NEWTALENT program. It feels like I’m starting a new chapter, and I’m both anxious and excited at the same time. I’m also really looking forward to putting together my first runway show ever at CPHFW.
As an emerging designer, what has been the most challenging aspect of your work?
Lack of funding, learning everything on the fly and building something up from scratch — dealing with contracts, lawyers — it’s just an endless list. There are so many things to learn, and if you’re doing everything by yourself, it can be a bit overwhelming at times.
What’s the future of fashion you want to contribute/build towards?
My ultimate goal is to create pieces that become your favorite clothing items. I love the feeling you get when you wear something you know you’ll cherish for a long time, and how it sort of makes you feel like a better version of yourself. We need to prioritize quality over quantity and make more conscious choices in our spending habits.
Describe your upcoming collection in three words.
Missing, missing and the last word is also missing.
Credits
Photography Simone Steenberg