From Copenhagen Fashion Week to Helsinki Design Week, these are the top events to set your calendar reminders for
After a tentative few years, fashion has once again embraced physical shows and events with aplomb. While digitalisation made experiences more accessible, there’s nothing quite like seeing fashion collections up close and mingling with like-minded attendees. And 2023 is full of opportunities to do just that.
To make planning a little easier, we’ve compiled a list of the biggest sartorial events set to happen in the year ahead.
Copenhagen Fashion Week
January 31–February 3 and August 8–11
Copenhagen Fashion Week, arguably the headliner of the Nordics’ fashion line-up, first returns at the end of the month. The four-day extravaganza will present around 30 AW23 shows, all of which will be physical — however, it will also be possible to access some of them digitally.
Guests can expect to see sartorial stalwarts such as Ganni alongside buzzy brands including Aeron. Plus, this year’s Zalando Sustainability Award will be announced on Thursday 2; last year, it was won by Ranra, which impressed with its genderless collection that focused on longevity, versatility and a localised supply chain.
This year’s event will also welcome the Copenhagen fashion week new talent scheme, in partnership with Circulose®, which will support three up-and-coming designers for three consecutive seasons. This year’s young brands are the captivating and cutting edge P.L.N, Latimmier and A. Roege Hove.
CPHFW is always a major event on the Scandinavian fashion calendar. Photo: Getty
In addition to the roster of shows, there’s an array of intriguing events organised, including the exhibition 'Wessel & Vett Fashion Prize — 10 Years of Denmark's Largest Fashion Prize’ at Magasin du Nord Museum — this will showcase the work of previous prize winners as well as some of the department store’s archival items.
Copenhagen International Fashion Fair will also celebrate its 30-year anniversary during CPHFW with an innovative fashion and music performance, and once again, the CIFF trade show will take place at the Bella Center from the February 1-3. The trailblazing Revolver trade show will also return to the meatpacking district during CPHFW.
International Fashion Months
February and September
You don’t necessarily need to be in the four fashion capitals to enjoy their biannual stints. Keep an eye on the schedules and look out for any digital events that you might be able to livestream.
Louis Vuitton's SS23 show at Paris Fashion Week. Photo: Getty.
AW22
Paris Fashion Week men’s shows, Jan 17-22
Paris Haute Couture Week, Jan 23-26
New York Fashion Week, Feb 9-15
London Fashion Week, Feb 17-21
Milan Fashion Week, Feb 21-27
Paris Fashion Week, Feb 27-Mar 7
SS23
Paris Fashion Week men’s shows, June 20-25
Paris Haute Couture Week, July 3-6
New York Fashion Week, Sept 8-13
London Fashion Week, Sept 15-19
Milan Fashion Week, Sept 19-25
Paris Fashion Week, Sept 25-Oct 3
DesignMarch 2023
May 3-7
While DesignMarch celebrates a huge spectrum of innovative design, a large portion of the Reykjavík event is happily dedicated to fashion. Last year’s edition saw late-night shop openings, informative workshops, and striking conversation pieces, including a puffer jacket made from discarded single-use face masks.
Hildur Yeoman's eye-catching outfits could be on show at DesignMarch 2023. Photo: Saga Sig
DesignMarch really focuses on Icelandic creativity, so we can hope to see some of its proudest exports involved this spring, from the utilitarian 66° North to the more bohemian Hildur Yeoman.
Southern Sweden Design Days
May 25-28
Southern Sweden Design Days will return for its third outing in 2023, and this year’s sustainability-related theme is dissonance — a feeling that something isn’t right. The design festival is organised by the Form/Design Center in Malmö, which is the main venue for architecture, design and crafts in southern Sweden, and the schedule will present a medley of exhibitions, seminars, workshops and networking opportunities. Last year’s event attracted 21,250 visitors at more than 60 happenings scattered across the city, which makes us very much excited for what’s in store this May.
Southern Sweden Design Days returns for 2023. . Photo: Daniel Engvall.
Fashion in Helsinki
May
Fashion in Helsinki leans towards the more progressive end of Scandinavian fashion, championing some of Finland’s most provocative emerging talent. Last year, the event featured Latimmier, a brand on everyone’s radar right now, and a spectrum of other interesting experiences, from upcycling workshops to factory tours.
Lattimier was a highlight at Fashion in Helsinki 2022. Photo: Latimmier.
Photo: Latimmier.
Photo: Latimmier.
Oslo Runway
August
Oslo Runway will be back in August, but with a slightly different team. Sunniva Hartgen is now the Head of Fashion for the event, while the CEO of Norwegian Fashion Hub, Elin Kathrine Saunes, will act as jury leader for the DS Fashion Talent Award. Like last year, attendees will stumble across events happening all over the city, in places they may least expect…
Stockholm Fashion Week
Autumn
The organisers of Stockholm Fashion Week have announced that this year, there will only be one event, and it will take place in autumn. While we’ll have to wait a few more months to see what this forward-thinking festival has in store, we only need to look at its previous iterations to know that it’ll certainly be worth attending. Last year’s programme, for example, featured a talk by the founder of the first rental-only, non-sale couture brand Louise Xin, as well as thought-provoking fashion-related performance art.
Stockholm Fashion Week will doubtless provide plenty of street style moments again this year. Photo: Adam Katz Sinding.
Photo: Adam Katz Sinding.
Photo: Adam Katz Sinding.
Helsinki Design Week
September 8-17
Helsinki Design Week always dedicates a portion of its events to celebrating the fashion industry. Last year, Fashion Community Helsinki organised a fashion walk during one of the main events, the Design Market, and presented an exhibition that showcased the Finnish finalists of the French Festival Hyères. We’re intrigued what role fashion may play in this year’s festivities.
Look out for more fashion walks at Helsinki Design Week 2023. Photo: Sofia Stenfors.
Helsinki Fashion Week
TBC
Helsinki Fashion Week always offers something a little different. Since its fully 3D digital fashion week in 2020, it has established itself as a pioneering and topical event with a focus on craftsmanship. Notably, last year’s designer of the year was Ukrainian Jean Gritsfeldt, and the whole week served as a platform for Ukrainian fashion designers, including Boie&Bill and 7585. All we know about the upcoming event is that in-person shows will continue — we can’t wait to find out the rest.