Deep Dive - Week of August 5th 2024 - Copenhagen Fashion Coverage & Revolve's evolving business

A look at the stories from this past week in fashion, beauty & retail that are driving industry trends.

From the Financial Times an article on Birger Christensen Collective caught my eye so I dug into what is going on with fashion brands during Copenhagen Fashion Week.

This Week's Topics:  

• Copenhagen Fashion Week

• New Collabs

• New Launches

• Fashion Finds

• The Business Section

• What else I ❤️️ 

📢 written from Delta WiFi. Thanks for your patience. Any broken links add to the comments and I will fix.

Copenhagen Fashion Week

This week is Copenhagen Fashion Week. While it is not considered one of the “major” fashion cities for shows, it is certainly worth keeping an eye on for trends, street style, color palettes and up-and-coming brands (or maybe just designers under the radar because they aren’t backed by major fashion conglomerates.)

Ahead of a store opening, Birger Christensen Collective CEO Denise Christensen spoke with the Financial Times.

TL;DR: Danish fashion group Birger Christensen Collective is opening its first Rotate store in Copenhagen, aiming to increase direct sales. The company, with a rich history dating back to 1869, has evolved from fur trading to multi-brand retail and now focuses on creating its own fashion brands like Rotate and Remain.

• Rotate's origin story:

  • Founded in 2018 by stylists Jeanette Madsen and Thora Valdimarsdottir

  • Focused on filling a gap in the market for unique, accessibly priced occasion dresses

  • Leveraged the founders' social media following for marketing

• Notes on the line Remain

  • Martin Asbjørn is the Creative Director of the line. (Read more from Vogue Business here.)

  • Asbjørn is investing in new categories to cover basics.

  • This is the label’s second show and the goal is to build out DTC channels and scale Wholesale.

• Unexpected success:

  • Major luxury retailers (Mytheresa, Net-a-Porter, Browns) placed large orders for Rotate's first collection. Browns, known for nurturing up-and-coming brands, supports by paying for Purchase Orders in advance of shipping given brands access to capital upfront (this is major!)

  • The brand was profitable from launch, despite initial production challenges

• Business strategy:

  • Aiming to increase direct sales from 5% to 20% of total group sales within three years

  • Using Denmark as a testing ground for potential international expansion

  • Exploring collaborations (e.g., with H&M) to stay relevant and increase brand awareness

• Interesting historical evolution:

  • Started as a fur business in 1869

  • Transitioned to multi-brand luxury retail in the mid-20th century

  • Now focusing on creating and growing its own fashion brands

• Part of a trend:

  • Birger Christensen Collective is among a wave of emerging boutique fashion groups

  • The company aims to acquire more brands to build a portfolio of affordable, scalable, and profitable fashion labels

  • Let’s also keep an eye on the gorgeous brand by Malene Birger

    

    Looks from Copenhagen Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2025

More CFW Coverage

• Grazia has some street style snaps

• Three more brands to watch from Vogue Business.

• Fashion People podcast - Lauren Sherman discusses with the Head of Content at Ssense, Steff Yotka.

Looking ahead to NY, London, Milan & Paris Fashion Weeks: I think we will see a lot of athletes on the Front Row of Spring/Summer 2025. Any pairings you’d love to see?

New Collabs

• LoveShackFancy doubling up on collabs. Here is their new collab LSF x Pottery Barn Teen - likely timing with back to school (college.) The other collab many are talking about is LSF x Stanley. According to this article, Owalla, Lululemon and Hydro Flask would be the water bottles to collab with now.

• The other big Pottery Barn Kids collab is with Roller Rabbit. Also just in time for dorm decor.

• I love EVA Birkenstocks, and the new Beams x Birkenstock collab on EVA Bostons look fabulous.

New Launches

• Away continues to nail it with new launches - they have a Featherlight collection that are the bags to go with the suitcases. These are great carry-on bags and day packs. There is a tote bag, two sizes of backpacks with laptop sleeves, a small sling bag and larger crossbody. I love this collection because yes, lightweight bags when traveling please! Check out this Instagram for how to pack the crossbody - it looks really great. This also feels like it can be another version of a diaper bag with the utility.

  • Opportunity - I suggest Away add to their PDP¹s for the backpacks “need something bigger/smaller” and link to the other size. They could also start to sell bundles of a suitcase with the featherlight or other carry-on bags and packing cubes. Can offer a 10% discount if needing to incentivize. Build your own bundle. Or partner with stylists to create packing lists for a 5 day trip and which bags to use, etc. As customers are discovering the softside it would be great to discover these featherlight bags at the same time.

  • I test drove the softside* suitcase this week and I really loved it. Easily held all my essentials, I stuffed it but you couldn’t tell and it was easy to zip - it also expands. Perfect for shopping or when nothing seems to fit on the way back. With the deeper side it is also easy to pack without figuring which items to put where. Although I don’t mind that. My tl;dr is that I will switch between the hard and soft side suitcases happily. Mixing it up based on my mood perhaps.

• Ring Concierge launched new bangles. The cloud bangle solid comes in 3mm, 6mm and 10mm and also come in a variety of sizes so you can secure the right fit. RC also launched the cloud bangle in pavé diamond. I love that one side is covered in pavé but not the other side so they are able to keep the price point from going off the rails. It is gorgeous. I recently saw Aya Kanai use the term “high impact, low effort” and this falls under that category for sure.

• Excited for Donni’s newest launch (jersey pants, linen pleated longer shorts are very on trend), but I spied this (and screenshot for all of you) a future delivery of the extremely popular Kick Flare Pants in a new thick waffle. I already own two of the ribbed kick flare but I will certainly buy the new knit too. (Use code Sarah10 for 10% off your order. See details and more brand codes here.)

  

  New Kick Flare in Waffle Knit - screenshot of Instagram Story from Founder Alyssa Wasko sharing details of future launch.

• Ciao Lucia has launched their Pre-Fall delivery and it includes plenty of easy dresses in black, white and blues to start to layer with as the temps get cooler. Plenty of dressed up silks too.

• New from Rothy’s, a slip-on Loafer Mule.

• Crown Affair’s latest launch is The Finishing Spray, which based on the marketing positioning, was designed to be tossed in your handbag and refresh your hair throughout the day. Deemed as a modern hairspray. Into this and as always

  Dianna Cohen
  nails the feeling in such an inspirational way.

• Any interest in smelling like Auntie Anne’s Pretzels. $45 for a perfume they think you “Knead” and will sell at a pop-up in Soho.

• Maybe a future new launch, Emily Oberg, the Founder of Sporty & Rich, has filed a trademark application for a new brand called Sensual Sport. The trademark filing states that it would cover supplements, sex toys, bags, jewelry, essential oils for personal use, clothing (underwear), entertainment and educational services and more.

Fashion Finds

• Seeing the new Marc Jacobs Cat Ballet Flats (and in red here) was a fun and nostalgic reminder of the popular mouse ballet flats - many of which you can find on resale. Here are a few good ones: studs here for $56!, suede studs for $26, and even in this summer’s popular jelly for $20.

• Jamie Haller launching denim. The fits look great. T minus two weeks and the Chukkas are arriving soon too for Fall.

• When I was an Accessories Buyer at Bloomingdale’s, this style of wrap did so well! The perfect travel item but also keeping at your desk for indoor AC. I have a black cashmere one similar to this that I still keep at my desk.

• If you are watching the Olympics and loving the Canadian Women’s Beach Volleyball uniforms check out this top from Left on Friday which inspired the uniforms.

• Tracksmith and a few other up and coming running brands helping you to show off personality and your taste.

• PSA: UBeauty is running a promotion. For 20% off sitewide from August 8–15th.

The Business Section

Fashion & Beauty Business News

Revolve expanding into physical retail locations