The Driver of Danish Fashion
CECILIE THORSMARK
The Driver of Danish Fashion
By Bonnie Langedijk
From Saks Potts to Cecilie Bahnsen to Ganni, it’s hard to deny the success of Danish fashion. The Danish apparel industry’s revenue reached $5.5 billion this year, and is expected to grow annually by over 3 per cent. One of the key contributors to this success is Copenhagen Fashion Week’s CEO Cecilie Thorsmark. Since her appointment in 2018, Thorsmark has expanded the 4-day event from a small, Scandinavian focused fashion week to a pioneering platform that attracts international brands, press and buyers. And vice-versa she has provided native brands with global exposure. But Thorsmark’s ambition was never to just build another fashion week. In 2020 the CEO launched a three-year action plan, outlining a set of minimum sustainability requirements brands have to comply with to participate on the official schedule. The first of its kind, Thorsmark has put Copenhagen Fashion Week at the forefront of championing sustainable fashion, and hopes others will follow.
With the next edition of Copenhagen Fashion Week taking place from 9 - 12 August, we caught up with the Danish CEO on the secret sauce of the Danish fashion industry, motherhood and where she plans to take fashion week next.
Backstage at the A. Roege Hove FW22 show. Courtesy of Copenhagen Fashion Week
Bonnie: How does one become the CEO of a fashion week? Did your upbringing have anything to do with it?
Cecilie: I grew up in a family of four and we were very close. The funny thing is that the family around my parents – aunts and uncles and grandparents – they were all creatives. My grandmother's brother was a furniture designer, there were architects and costume designers, ballet dancers. Hence my appreciation for aesthetics in general. Except for my parents. My dad was an academic and my mom was a school teacher so they were the ones rebelling.
They thought “we’re not doing creativity”.
Cecilie: Exactly. After high school I went to Copenhagen business school, which I found extremely boring. So I decided to shape it the best way possible. I saw a very clear pathway into fashion where I could combine both worlds.
Another experience from my childhood that shaped me is the four years we spent living in Egypt. At an early age I was very conscious of our privileges in Denmark, and the West in general. They were two opposite worlds. It was a real eye opener. Through my dad’s interest in the environment, we always had conversations about it at the dinner table. He advised the Egyptian ministry on finding solutions for a better environment in Egypt. As a kid I saw how my dad was working solution oriented.
“We’re AMBITIOUS and want to push the industry. But we want to do it in a way where it feels manageable for brands. ”
Interesting. Is it safe to say you’re also taking the solution oriented approach when it comes to the minimal sustainability requirements you’re asking brands to comply with in order to show on the Copenhagen Fashion Week schedule?
Cecilie: You need to be pragmatic about it. The 2023 sustainability requirements are very ambitious, but hopefully most of the brands that show now will be able to reach that level of sustainability by 2023. Our aim ultimately is to not exclude brands that are currently part of the show schedule. We’re ambitious and want to push the industry. But we want to do it in a way where it feels manageable for brands. If we want to have a real impact, we need to work with and collaborate with the brands that are trendsetting and forward thinking.
Absolutely. I believe you announced the requirements in 2020, so you have given brands some time to implement change.
Cecilie: Exactly. We need to be realistic, and not risk losing too many brands on the way.
Copenhagen Fashion Week has grown massively since its inception. What do you think is different about the Danish fashion industry compared to other countries?
Cecilie: I’m sensing a renewed energy in Danish fashion. They’re willing to push themselves to figure out new solutions or alternative ways of doing things because they know they have to. [Fashion] is a relatively young industry in Denmark, so we’re not limited by traditions. There’s also this very strong community vibe in our industry. I had a meeting with a Swedish brand and they said they were so surprised to be invited to other brands’ shows. We have big brands that support young brands and we have young brands that inspire big brands. My hypothesis is that our industry being young and our community being so close fosters collaboration and relationships between brands. It constantly forces them to seek out new alternatives and to challenge themselves. If you’re an old fashion house in your own world, you can get stuck.
I agree. During the last edition of Copenhagen Fashion Week I overheard someone at a dinner explaining that they don’t like Paris Fashion Week because it has this snobbiness and how in Copenhagen everyone gets together. There’s always a seat at the table – it doesn’t matter whether you’re an intern or an editor. Do you think that’s because of the overall Danish mindset and societal build up?
Cecilie: It could be. We are this social democratic country with a solid safety net. Of course we have too many stories about social injustices. And a public system that doesn’t work optimally and families that get lost. But in general, you’re right that it could be part of the culture. We at least want to be inclusive and supportive even though too many examples prove the opposite sometimes.
Denmark is also a country on the forefront of maternity leave and childcare. I never wanted kids until I visited Copenhagen. It was one of the first places where I felt that you could be a parent but also have a life next to it, whether that’s professional or social. Next to your role as CEO of Copenhagen Fashion Week, you’re also a mother. And I usually don’t like asking questions about combining motherhood and career, but do you feel like Danish society enables you to do both?
Cecilie: But it’s an important question to ask. A lot of younger women – that I don’t know – write to me on Instagram to seek out advice on that. “How do you combine a career and motherhood?” I do think it’s quite crucial to address because it can empower other women.
It’s our privilege to be from a country and a society with a well-functioning welfare system. We have the framework set in place to go to work and actually have a career. Ten years ago, when I had my first kid, I told myself I would take a maximum of 4 months of maternity leave. My former boss told me: “Hey honey, you can't say that now. You haven’t had your baby yet. Please promise me that you’re going to enjoy your maternity leave.” She supported me in focusing on a very precious time of my life, and I ended up doing 8 months. Most of my friends and employees now end up doing 10 to 12 months of maternity leave. It’s about acceptance. Because if you technically have the possibility to do it but it’s not acceptable, then you wouldn’t do it.
I agree.
We’re also able to work from 9 to 4. I’m not going to say that women who have a career here only work from 9 to 4. They don’t. They juggle everything as best as possible. But we can pick up our kids, and have dinner with them. Many of us will continue working in the evening or sometimes a few hours on the weekend.
What’s important in this balance between work and life is that I love being able to tell my kids that I love my work. I love working, my colleagues, and my employees. We had two weeks in our summer house this summer. At the end of the summer as we were about to return to work, my youngest daughter, who is 5, said to me: “Mom, you’re going back and see your friends”. I thought that was really cute, because she wasn’t focused on any work aspect.
Absolutely.
Cecilie: My job fills me up with so much energy and happiness that I can bring into my family – and hopefully helps me be a better mom as well. I’m not coming home from work feeling stressed. Well stressed, maybe, but not fed up. I hope my kids, when they get older one day, can reflect back on this and feel how this upbringing has impacted their lives. That they had parents who were actually always happy in their jobs.
Backstage at the Saks Potts FW22 show with model Erin Wasson. Courtesy of Copenhagen Fashion Week
You briefly mentioned your old boss, Eva Kruse. What was your relationship like and what have you learned from her?
Cecilie: Eva meant so much to me. She’s a real lighthouse. We would text each other several times a day. If I could print out our correspondence, we would have a good recap of what happened in Danish fashion from 2010 until now. Her high ambitions, and aim for good results always inspired me. It’s something I live and work by. I have high ambitions and I can’t imagine ever underperforming or delivering bad results, or how that would make me feel.
And going back to my parents, my dad’s best career advice, is to make an effort. If you’re a hundred percent devoted to a task, it’s okay if it’s sometimes not as good as you had hoped for. But the fact that you’re able to say to yourself “Well, I did all I could”, that’s something that has shaped me.
What are your ambitions for the future of Copenhagen Fashion Week?
Cecilie: I want to grow Copenhagen Fashion Week to be a bigger and more influential platform, where more brands can participate. I’m seeing the 2023 sustainability requirements as a means to attract brands, but also as a way to educate brands. I want the 2023 sustainability requirements to be something that the brands implement not only because it allows them to be a part of the fashion week, but because it enables them to progress. We are also introducing CPHFW NEWTALENT, a program investing in the next generation of designers and brands. It allows us to provide an encompassing program for the talents to build their brand on an international scale and to introduce them to our global audience.
In terms of the industry, I hope it commits to more responsible business practices. The goals that we’ve set for 2023 won’t be static goals. We’ll likely set new goals by 2026, and implement new ones every three years. That way we keep pushing for change in the industry. And then I’m hoping that it spreads to other countries. But this shouldn’t be a new standard. This is something that’s based on knowledge, and existing standards and certifications. It’s just a new way of filtering and ranking brands. I hope more organizations and Fashion Weeks will be working with it, because for change to happen it has to be on a more structural and systemic level. If we have several countries, entities and organizations working together towards the same goal, it can make a difference.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.