Danish Fashion Going Global - Spandet And Partners

Danish Fashion Going Global
Henrik Spandet-Møller

The Author
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 2
Henrik Spandet-Møller was born in 1962 and lives in Copenhagen. Henrik has more
than 25 years’ experience in international senior-level management and leadership
within graphic arts and fashion/lifestyle in Asia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland,
Benelux, and Denmark. His specialties are global business, leadership, strategic
market planning and brand management, cross-cultural communication,
internationalization, merger and acquisitions, concept sales, retail, and franchise.
After his commercial education at the East Asiatic Company (EAC) in 1985, Henrik
worked for EAC in the Far East in various senior management positions within the
graphic arts industry. He joined Carli Gry (today IC Companys) in 1993, based in
Düsseldorf, responsible for wholesale, retail, and franchise in Germany, Austria,
Switzerland, and Benelux.
Henrik returned to Copenhagen 15 years later in 2000 as retail sales director for ecommerce
sales at Haburi.com, a virtual fashion factory outlet. In 2001 Henrik joined
Dyrberg/Kern initially responsible for sales and marketing and later on as CEO.
Dyrberg/Kern was nominated entrepreneur of the year in Denmark by Ernst and
Young in 2004.
In 2007 Henrik became shareholder and CEO in Stella Nova Copenhagen and
established a brand platform in 2008 including Baum und Pferdgarten.
In 2009 Henrik founded Spandet And Partners with Winnie Johansen and Allan
Kruse. Spandet And Partners is an exclusive task force within design and creative
industries, complementing passionated brands on the move.
Next to Spandet And Partners, Henrik is partner in Nye Visioner providing training to
executives in Europe and mainly USA with focus on work structure and planning.
Henrik is in the board of Evita Peroni (fashion jewelry, hair accessories, and
sunglasses), Ticket-to-Heaven (children’s wear), and Aagaard jewelry and a member
of VL-92 Innovation. Henrik is a mentor of Fashion Accelerator and in the recent
years has been a speaker at among other Danish Fashion Institute (DAFI),
Development Centre of Innovation, various international sales meetings, and Fashion
Accelerator.
Read more about Henrik at www.spandet.com and at
http://www.linkedin.com/in/henrikspandetmoeller

Table of Contents
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 3
1. INTRODUCTION 7
2. KEY MESSAGE 7
THE 7 KS 7
3. COUNTDOWN 8
THE 6 CS 8
1. COMMITTED LEADERSHIP 8
2. CONSOLIDATION 9
3. COOPERATION 10
4. CONCEPTUALIZATION 10
5. CAPITAL 11
6. CONTROLLED CREATIVITY 12
THE 5 FS 12
PORTER’S 5 FORCES 12
THE 4 PS 12
PRODUCT, PRICE, PLACE, PROMOTION 12
THE 3 AS 14
ASIANS ARE ATTACKING 14
THE 2 ES 16
2 EGOS: THE CREATIVE EGO AND THE BUSINESS EGO 16
THE 1 I 17
INNOVATION—“THE I” 17
4. THE BUSINESS POTENTIAL 19
5. THE POWER OF FASHION 23
6. THE POWER OF BRANDING 25
7. TRANSFORMATION AND GLOBALIZATION 26
8. DEFINITION OF “DANISH FASHION” 28
8.1. SUSTAINABLE 28
8.2. BOHEMIAN 28
8.3. AVANT-­‐GARDESTIC 28
8.4 ORIGINAL COMMERCIAL DESIGN OF GOOD QUALITY 29
9. DANISH FASHION CAUGHT IN THE VISE 29

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 4
10. DANISH FASHION CONCENTRATED IN REVENUES 29
11. DANISH FASHION POLARIZED IN DESIGN STRATEGY 31
11.1. TREND DRIVEN 32
11.2. INNOVATION DRIVEN 32
11.3. NEW, UPCOMING, AND INDIVIDUAL 32
11.4. ESTABLISHED INNOVATION DRIVEN 33
11.5. LUXURY INNOVATION DRIVEN 33
12. DANISH FASHION FRAGMENTED IN THE MARKETPLACE 34
13. DANISH FASHION AND “THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES” 35
13.1. DANISH FASHION STILL NOT IN THE ABSOLUTE ELITE 35
13.2. COPENHAGEN IS NOT THE WORLD’S FIFTH MOST IMPORTANT FASHION HUB 37
14. FASHION FAIRS AND SHOWS 39
COPENHAGEN FASHION WEEK 39
AN INDUSTRIAL PLATFORM FOR DANISH FASHION FAIRS? 40
FUN AND PROFIT COMBINED 41
COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES AND NUMBER OF VISITORS TO THE FAIRS 41
THE HISTORY AND RIVALRY BETWEEN THE DANISH FASHION FAIRS 43
15. FUR—AGRICULTURE OR KEY PLAYER IN DANISH FASHION? 44
KOPENHAGEN FUR 44
KOPENHAGEN STUDIO 44
16. FASHION EDUCATION IN DENMARK 46
COPENHAGEN BUSINESS SCHOOL 47
DANISH SCHOOL OF DESIGN 48
TEKO 49
17. BRAND PLATFORM 50
18. CAPITAL 57
18.1. AVAILABLE CAPITAL 57
18.2. FACTORING 58
18.3. VÆKSTFONDEN 58
18.4. VENTURE CAPITAL 58
18.5. PRIVATE EQUITY FUNDS 59
AXCEL 59
CAPIDEA 59
EQT 59

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 5
JYSK-­‐FYNSK KAPITAL 60
3I 60
IK 60
18.6. PREPARING YOUR COMPANY FOR GROWTH, SUCCESS OR A SALE? 60
19. BUSINESS PLAN 62
20. SALES CHANNELS/DISTRIBUTION 65
21. STRATEGIC SEGMENTATION AND TARGET MARKETING 67
POSITIONING 68
22. OUTSOURCING 69
22.1. GENERAL 69
22.2. CHALLENGES IN CHINA 70
22.3. INCREASE OF RAW MATERIALS 71
22.4. ETHICAL PRODUCTION 71
22.5. FRAGMENTED VALUE CHAINS 71
22.6. SOURCING IN THE FUTURE 71
23. CLOSING 74
APPENDIX 75
DANISH FASHION FAIRS 2011 76
COPENHAGEN INTERNATIONAL FASHION FAIR CIFF 76
CPH VISION 76
TERMINAL-­‐2 76
GALLERY 77
CPH KIDS 77
COPENHAGEN JEWELRY FAIR 78
KEY PLAYERS AND ASSOCIATIONS IN DANISH FASHION 79
NICE—NORDIC INITIATIVE CLEAN AND ETHICAL 79
“MODEZONEN”/“THE FASHION ZONE” 80
COPENHAGEN FASHION COUNCIL (CFC) 81
DANSK FASHION AND TEXTILE (DFT) 82
DANISH FASHION INSTITUTE (DAFI) 82
DANISH FOREIGN MINISTRY/TRADE COUNCIL 83
BORNCREATIVE 84
MODEKONSORTIET (MOKO) 84
THE FASHION ACCELERATOR PROGRAM 85
SYMBION 85

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 6
GAZELLEGROWTH 86
ACCELERACE 86
EVOLVEMENT OF DANISH DESIGNER BRANDS 87
BRAND PLATFORMS IN DENMARK 89
LEADING DANISH FASHION BRANDS 90
JEWELRY 90
PANDORA 90
GEORG JENSEN 90
AAGAARD 91
SHOES AND LEATHER 91
ECCO 91
FASHION CLOTHING 92
BESTSELLER 92
IC COMPANYS 92
BALL GROUP 92
NOA NOA 93
NÜMPH 93
BTX GROUP 94
SOYACONCEPT 94
DAY BIRGER ET MIKKELSEN 95
METROPOL 95
BRUUNS BAZAAR 95
DK COMPANY 95
HUMMEL 95
UNDERWEAR 95
JBS UNDERTØJET 95
WORK WEAR 96
KWINTET 96
DESIGNER AWARDS 103
GULDKNAPPEN 103
DEN GYLDNE PELSNÅL 103
GINEN 103
DANSK FASHION AWARDS 104
DESIGNERS’ NEST 104
THE DESIGNERS’ NEST AWARD 104

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 7
1. Introduction
Danish fashion is no longer only culture. It is rooted in the cradle of the Danish
industry, has transformed into one of the largest export industries, and has an
unleashed potential. As a supplement to the glossy magazines, Danish fashion
deserves a book which is dedicated to business aspects and growth potential instead
of beautiful people and feelings.
The purpose of the book is to find ways and means on how we can leave the upper
middle of the road and help Danish fashion go truly global.
Innovation is required by all players, not only the designer, the CEO, or the individual
brand. It includes the micro- and macroenvironment, the politicians and the key
players in the industry.
The book provides an insight into the business opportunities and challenges in a
globalized world. It suggests a number of strategies and action programs to go
global.
The target group of the book includes designers, entrepreneurs, brands, fashion
executives, politicians, institutions, schools, retailers, potential investors, and other
key decision makers in Denmark and abroad.
2. Key Message
The 7 Ks
1. Innovation: Danish fashion needs to reinvent itself through innovation.
Innovation is the only competitive edge for Denmark in a globalized world.
2. Original design: Danish fashion’s main focus is original design of good quality
at commercial prices appealing to most international consumers.
3. Education: Denmark needs to improve its fashion business education to
become number one in know-how regarding production, design, and fashion
business.
4. Leadership: Danish fashion needs more leadership.
5. Consolidation and cooperation: The Danish fashion industry needs
consolidation and cooperation within the industry. Denmark is in need of more
industrial platforms to build the brands.
6. The new black: The customer used to be king. Now cash is king. Danish
fashion needs to leave the red carpet and focus on the “new black”—a black
bottom line.
7. The new competitors: The Chinese, Koreans, and Indians are coming before
most of us make it to Asia.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 8
3. Countdown
The 6 Cs
The concept of the book is based on the 6 Cs. The 6 Cs illustrate and structure the
opportunities and challenges for Danish fashion. The 6 Cs serve as a framework to
structure innovation and prepare effective strategies for Danish fashion going global.
1. Committed leadership
2. Consolidation
3. Cooperation
4. Conceptualization
5. Capital
6. Controlled creativity
The 6 Cs are summarized in to the following 6 key messages:
1. Committed Leadership
The Danish fashion and lifestyle industry needs committed leadership, process
thinking, and an international mind-set as we see it in our industry-focused
neighboring countries Germany and Sweden.
Few Danish labels can be defined as brands, and few are truly international; even
less are truly global and represented in, for instance, the United States or China.
The majority of Danish fashion labels (small and medium sized) have the majority of
their revenues in Denmark, and their export markets are typically markets near
Denmark such as Sweden, Norway, Germany, Holland, and a few other European
countries.
Less than 10 Danish international brand houses with visible leadership control the
creative processes in a strategic direction and thereby also control more than 90% of
the export business. The managements and the brands in those companies know
how to lead and appreciate the value of working with a professional board and
demanding investors. They have seen the potential in the global markets and know
that there must be a balance between design profile, commerciality, creativity, and
planning.
Most of these brand houses are engaged in market-driven and trend-driven brands.
In contrast most of the communication to the outside world from the representatives
of Danish fashion is focused on innovation-driven and designer-driven fashion.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 9
The majority of small- and medium-sized companies work with a lack of leadership
and international competencies.
Most of the Danish fashion industry only gets to daily management; some even only
get to weekly management. The management is often handled as a temporary task
by people who are professional in other disciplines than leadership, strategy, and
controlling.
Denmark needs consolidation and improved fashion business education. The
industry needs to attract more internationally minded, professional, and highereducated
commercial people. The designers need to acquire knowledge about
business aspects and adapt the word “commercial” as an aspiration rather than focus
on a romantic dream of creating own collections in an old loft in the creative district of
Copenhagen.
2. Consolidation
The business model of Denmark is being challenged in an increasingly complex and
globalized world. Overall in all industries in Denmark small- and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) make up more than half of the total revenues of Danish
enterprises and almost 30% of Danish export.
The consolidation challenge in Danish fashion is even bigger with only a handful of
Danish fashion companies making up for more than 80% of Danish export. Denmark
needs more and bigger professional fashion businesses which can bring Denmark in
front globally.
Denmark is a country of individualistic people and entrepreneurs with innovation,
creativity, and trading on the agenda who find it either increasingly expensive or
challenging to be small. Without critical mass the profitability is squeezed. Without
critical mass the majority of Danish fashion will compete as generalists against
specialists in other countries. The result of not having specialists within production,
marketing, PR, sourcing, IT, design, etc., may be a fast model; but it is evidently not a
competitive model, at least not internationally. Denmark needs more process thinking
and process approach as in industrialized countries such as Sweden and Germany.
Just think of Acne or H&M from Sweden or Hugo Boss from Germany as role models.
Denmark is in need of more industrial platforms to build the brands.
Denmark in general fights consolidation and does what it can to protect
entrepreneurs, individualism, although the world is going in another direction. Take
the Danish grocery and supermarket businesses as an example. Compared to
Sweden and Germany, the Danish government has implemented regulations to
prevent a consolidation of that industry. Supermarket chains are kept away from

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 10
central locations to protect the small and medium entrepreneurial operators. The
consequence is that compared to Swedish or German consumers, Danish
consumers do not benefit from the market forces being best prices and the best
offerings.
In the fashion industry the Danish government cannot regulate any market forces but
only help proactively by supporting talents and competitive fashion business models
with better education, innovative (financial) programs, and overall an even higher
attention.
3. Cooperation
Strategic alliances across the industry are a key advance in order to obtain critical
mass. More labels clustered in one fashion house can achieve “economy of scale”
through a shared “back-end” platform with a professional board, a specialized
organization ensuring proper and competitively priced sourcing, cash flow planning,
and wide distribution network to conquer the world. It has been done in other
industries, and the brand platform concept works eminently well for the big fashion
players as well as in Denmark.
Cooperations and strategic alliances are not only required in the fashion houses. The
high number of associations and fashion fairs to support Denmark going global is an
obstacle in achieving the best results for new designers, the customers, the buyers,
international journalists, and eventually Denmark as a nation.
The contemporary trend in a globalized world is consolidation. Collaboration as a
start means accepting mentally that it is better to have a small piece of a big cake
than a whole small cake. The alternative to accepting the structural change is a
market regulation on account of the small- to medium-sized brands. If you do not call
the market, the market could eventually call you.
We need a common platform to support Danish fashion going truly global.
4. Conceptualization
Denmark is a master of creating concepts out of products, products which are sold at
a multiple of 10 times the production price internationally because the Danes know
“how to wrap” a product. Conceptualization is an essential part of the branding
process.
Only with a conceptualized mind-set will it be possible to go from wholesale to retail
or franchise and have a value proposition in the global competition toward, for
instance, the Chinese. Only with branded retail can a label become a true brand.
How many true fashion brands without concept shops or shop in shops can you think
of?

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 11
5. Capital
The axiom was always customer is king. Now cash is king. The fashion industry
needs to move from the red carpet and focus on the “new black”—a black bottom line
and liquidity. Danish fashion needs to reinvent itself with good old-fashioned
commercial and professional understanding. This is not new innovation but
reinventing sound habits of thinking commercially and realistically, values which were
put aside in the years leading to the financial crisis.
The “rich uncles” who invested in fashion before the financial crisis have all lost their
savings. The investors from Island have left the building. The banks have become
very reluctant in financing fashion, especially small- and medium-sized companies.
Private equity funds have partly burned their fingers and selectively work with fashion
brands of a certain minimum size that have economy of scale and show profits.
The state investment fund Væksthuset, which also provides venture capital to
fashion, made 2 investments in luxury-driven fashion (Ann Hagen and NOIR).
Millions of DKK have been lost, and as a consequence the motivation from
Væksthuset to invest further is presently unlikely.
Two companies—IC Companys and lately Pandora—have made it to the Danish
stock exchange and could become part of important corporate venture capital and
ambassadors for further growth.
IC Companys is a result of a strategic alliance/merger between InWear and Carli Gry
and visionary people who saw the advantage of an even bigger brand platform.
Pandora, taken over by a private equity company named Axcel, which bought the
company from a visionary and innovative businessman, made a debut worth more
than DKK 10 billion in one of Europe’s largest market listings in 2010 as investors
bought into prospects for its main product—charm bracelets. On March 15, 2011,
Pandora announced its financial results for 2010 revenues and volume which grew
by 92.6% to DKK 6,7 Bio. across all regions and jewelry categories.
One way to the stock exchange or to globalization is via private equity companies.
Some of the bigger investments so far came from Axcel, EQT, Capidia, 3i, and IK.
Apart from Pandora, Axcel has ownership in Georg Jensen, Noa Noa, and Ball
group. Capidea has ownership in Aagaard jewelry and Nümpf. EQT has ownership in
BTX group. 3i has ownership in Soya Concept A/S. IK has ownership in Kwintet.
Equity funds are not always mentioned positively in the media. We need to ask the
people criticizing the equity funds, where would Danish fashion exports be today
without their investments?

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 12
No matter where the cash comes from or should come from, the most attractive way
to attract capital is through proper business plans linked to profitability and
innovation. In this connection size does matter.
6. Controlled Creativity
“Prima donna” approach and looking at fashion as purely culture will never create a
global brand but only problems. Fashion has never been only a matter of culture.
Fashion is also business as it has been the case in the big fashion-producing
countries such as France, Italy, and Japan. Denmark does not have a fashion culture
as France, Japan, and Italy.
The focus for Denmark should be original design of good quality at commercial prices
appealing to most international consumers. Leadership should ensure that creativity
is controlled and used commercially. It should ensure that assortment analysis and
not feelings decides on the size of the collections and that the target group and the
design profile are clear before the designers hit the road. Creativity for a designer is
also to have professional businesspeople in their board.
The 5 Fs
Porter’s 5 Forces
Strategies are often prepared on the basis of Michael F. Porter’s excellent and
powerful tool of “5 forces,” one of the single most important books on business
strategy.
The 5 forces analysis captures the complexity of industry competition and assumes
that there are five important forces that determine competitive power in a business
situation. The analysis is used to identify whether new products, services, or
businesses have the potential to be profitable.
The 4 Ps
Product, Price, Place, Promotion
In the fashion industry the 5 forces are often combined with elements of the
marketing mix referred to as the 4 Ps based on a prominent marketer, E. Jerome
McCarthy, back in 1960.
Both the 5 forces and the 4 Ps will be referred to in the book as tools to structure
strategies and marketing.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 13
As an easy reference, the elements of the marketing mix from Jerome McCarthy are:
1. Product—To retain its competiveness in the market, product differentiation is
required and is one of the strategies to differentiate a product from its
competitors.
2. Price—The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. The
business may increase or decrease the price of the product if other stores
have the same product.
3. Place—Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is
often referred to as the distribution channel. It can include any physical store
as well as virtual stores on the Internet.
4. Promotion—Promotion represents all of the communications that a marketer
may use in the marketplace. Promotion has four distinct
elements: advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion.
A certain amount of crossover occurs when promotion uses the four principal
elements together.
You may even extend the Ps to a 5th, 6th, and 7th P. “People” you find under
“Committed Leadership,” “Positioning” is covered in chapter 21, and “Production” is
covered in chapter 22, “Outsourcing.” Some of the questions we need to ask
ourselves and answer are the following:
Product: Why are the products developed, and what seasonal trends do they deliver
to?
Price: How are the price positioning and the margins and the retail mark up?
Place: What is your distribution strategy, and how does it reflect your brand values?
Promotion: How do you promote the brand? Are we an innovative-driven brand or a
trend-driven brand?
Positioning: How is the brand positioned today, and how is the positioning forward?
Companies in the middle are usually less profitable because they do not have a
viable generic strategy.
People: Do we have the right people, the right mix of creativity of business orientation
mixed with leadership?
Production: Where should my production be? Should it be outsourced? Can I control
it?

The 3 As
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 14
Asians Are Attacking
China has become one of the most interesting export markets for fashion and
apparel. Bestseller has more than 5,000 shops and international luxury brands are all
establishing themselves in China.
India is being mentioned as the upcoming “China” and could potentially become an
even bigger market than China in a not-too-distant future.
At the same time China—and eventually also India and who knows Korea and
perhaps even Singapore—is expected to become a serious competitor to Danish
fashion. Japan is already a key player in fashion, and Tokyo should rightfully be the
fifth most important fashion hub, a position which Denmark unrightfully claims to be in
position of.
The Danish government, being well aware of the 3 As, have formulated the slogan
that “creativity should be dosed with the milk in our schools,” sending a signal of
strategy. Facing the 3 As, Denmark has to compete on creativity and innovation,
which is the only way to differentiate Denmark in a globalized and increasingly
competitive world.
While the Danes are drinking milk and believe this will lead to innovation, China has
meanwhile developed significantly more design schools than Denmark has design
students.
Until recently, China was known for low-cost manufacturing and efficient distribution,
a place where fashion labels from all over the world went to manufacture the
products that established their brands.
Many Chinese companies have excelled at producing low-cost products that are
often then sold onto foreign companies that repackage them and take the added
value of branding.
The competencies and know-how learned while developing brands for others have
given Chinese manufacturers the tools and instruments to develop their own brands
and potentially become competitors.
With China’s ascent to become the world’s economic powerhouse and the Chinese
government’s new focus on brand building, Chinese companies have started to focus
on their brands.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 15
Established at home, many Chinese brands are exploring export opportunities,
expecting that the future of China will be found in the history of Japan or Korea.
Those nations began as low-cost producers and subsequently created respected
global brand leaders within many industries and product categories.
Companies big enough to go global are the most encumbered by commoditized
products and services. The small- and medium-sized Chinese companies compared
to Western entities are still hobbled by top-down decision making and do not have
the scale required for international expansion.
Today, Chinese companies that grasp advantages in value-added products with the
ability to charge a premium price such as fashion lack the critical mass required of
global power brands. But who can predict what happens tomorrow?
With capital available in China and given the massive decline in asset values in
existing (European fashion) brands, it is therefore anticipated that Chinese
companies and investors will consider an acquisition strategy leading to Chinese
ownership of European (and American) brands and semibrands to penetrate into the
European markets and eventually also China through existing brands.
One of the most influential Japanese clothing brands to emerge over the past two
decades, A Bathing Ape, has been snapped up by a Hong Kong apparel maker in
early 2011 in a move that underscores the growing wave of acquisitions of Japanese
firms by their Asian competitors.
A Bathing Ape—better known as BAPE—grew from a single shop on a backstreet in
Tokyo’s trendy Harajuku district. Its T-shirts, hoodies, and jeans, designed by
Tomoaki Nagao, known as Nigo, acquired a cult following among young Japanese
men when the brand launched in 1993 and was later embraced by hip-hop icons
such as Kanye West and Jay-Z. Microsoft’s X-Box and Nintendo’s DS game handset
were emblazoned with BAPE designs, and BAPE-branded condoms were part of the
label’s lineup.
Now, I.T Limited, a Hong Kong–based clothing company, is set to buy a roughly 90%
stake in Nowhere Co., the Japanese operator of A Bathing Ape, for 230 million yen
($2.8 million) from Mr. Nagao. I.T is aiming to increase its market share in street
fashion in both Hong Kong and mainland China, where the appetite for A Bathing
Ape’s $75 T-shirts is growing as younger Chinese consumers look for edgier styles
with an established brand. A Bathing Ape opened its first store in Beijing in January
and has retail outlets in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and New York.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 16
With intelligent innovations, Chinese/Asian capital could be injected into Danish
fashion as an alternative and in addition to European capital. Based on the principle
“why not be safe with Chinese capital rather than sorry without capital,” the main
competencies of Danish fashion could be marketed and partnered up with the
Chinese. Why not be the first in Europe to promote this approach proactively?
The 2 Es
2 Egos: The Creative Ego and the Business Ego
The crucial importance of leadership and design joining forces and respecting each
others’ egos should never be underestimated.
The most fundamental difference between design and business operations is that
design thinking deals primarily with what does not yet exist, while businesspeople
often deal with explaining what is. Businesspeople usually discover the laws that
govern today’s reality, while designers invent a different future which may not even
be qualified with numbers but only with feeling. Innovation is and should be a shared
function.
From a company perspective, design may be defined as visualizing a strategy. The
person on the street sees design being synonymous with fashion, style, modern
culture, and aspirational lifestyle. Consequently, creative thinking and business
thinking are needed. Judgment thinking is of no value without good products and
design and vice versa.
Fashion needs good products. Without good products there is no need for planning
and leadership. But good products and good design also need a strong business
back-end platform with leadership and management ensuring proper sourcing,
quality management, and customer service. Finally, the leadership should ensure
that creativity is controlled and used commercially.
A business-oriented CEO cannot assume that following the present path, the
company will evolve toward better results. Results on the other hand can be
designed.
If you are mapping out a sales strategy or streamlining a manufacturing operation or
crafting a new system for innovating, you are engaged in the practice of design.
A business-oriented CEO should be structured and focused on optimizing the entire
value chain. At the same time the CEO must control his or her ego and respect the
designer. The world of creativity does not equal the world of an Excel spreadsheet or
a balance sheet. A CEO in fashion is not in charge of a nail factory but a fashion

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 17
company. Fashion is only bought with creativity, identity, individuality, image building,
and marketing. Clever CEOs appreciate and fully understand that creativity cannot
always be measured and analyzed in a spreadsheet or justified in a cost-benefit
analysis. Similarly, a designer should make the best thinkable design and products
which will beat the competitors’ products when they are presented to the consumers.
At the same time the designer must control his or her ego and respect the CEO.
The world of business does not equal the design process. A designer must respect
the fact that fashion is only sold long term wrapped in leadership, controlling, supply
chain, proper distribution, and profitable operation. Business can always be
measured and analyzed in a spreadsheet.
Richard Branson explained the situation well by stating, “I’ve never been particularly
good at numbers, but I think I’ve done a reasonable job with feelings. And I’m
convinced that it is feelings—and feelings alone—that account for the success of the
Virgin brand in all of its myriad forms.” Bernard Arnault, founder, chairman, and CEO
of LVMH, a large luxury goods conglomerate with Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Donna
Karan, and many more brands, explained well the need of a strong business control
of design and the brand through distribution by stating, “If you control your factory,
you control your quality; if you control your distribution, you control your image.”
The 1 I
Innovation—“The I”
Despite the wipeout of brands in the international fashion industry caused by the
financial crisis, competition is still fierce. It is imperative that the Danish fashion
industry improves its power of innovation within all areas of the primary and
secondary activities of value chain to take part in the global opportunities. Innovation
does not equal “me too marketing” but true innovation which the Danish government
wants to dose with the milk to the schoolchildren.
Innovation is about investing your brain capacity in next practice, not in best practice.
Spending time searching for best practice and examining benchmarking exercises
will never guarantee the business lead. Concentrating on analyzing what will be the
“next” practice and organizing strategically to fit this framework is what is defined as
innovation.
As discussed under the 2 Es, fashion depends on a fine balance between the
creative and commercial competencies and a mutual respect for the creative, the
commercial, and the overall strategy. The overall leadership ensuring that the
strategy is executed well requires control of the creativity. In the new economy focus
has shifted from spotting trends and converting these into beautiful fashion clothing

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 18
to the “new black”—a black bottom line, improved liquidity/cash flow, and an overall
healthy business.
When people act as a hammer, everything looks as a nail. The definition is obvious;
in line with the new financial market conditions and the globalization, there is a need
to be more than just a hammer hitting nails. When it comes to fashion strategy,
Armani hit the nail on the head by stating, “Clothing that is not purchased or worn is
not fashion.”
Innovation is needed. Innovation is what helps Danish fashion brands to have lunch
with, for instance, the Chinese instead of being lunch of, for instance, the Chinese.
From being a “no rocket science business,” fashion has become a “rocket science
business” with a complex value chain which is constantly being modified to meet new
demands. Denmark’s position as a country of welfare has diminished in world ranking
during the last couple of years and will continue to do so unless private and public
initiatives are taken to raise the innovation bar.
Innovation combined with all other factors in this book will decide the growth of
Danish fashion on the global scene.
The new global agenda for a designer is the creation of strong and commercial
collections differentiating themselves from the competitors’ collections in the right
channels. Finding trends today on the Internet can be done by anyone, so trendy
does not equal being the preferred choice by the consumers. You have to do it even
better! The agenda includes acting extremely professionally and having an
international mind-set. If all these parameters are in place, the collections could leave
the upper middle of the road and could eventually metamorphose into an
international brand.
It requires that all players distance themselves from an individualistic attitude and
focus on a true willingness to cooperate. Innovation requires strategic alliances to
get sufficient power to succeed globally.
As a source of inspiration of real innovation, the author Kaspar Colling
Nielsen recently launched an idea of building Mount København, a 3,5 km tall and 55
km circumference in the vicinity of Copenhagen. Next to the wall of China it could be
the biggest man-made project in the world. The project will take 200 years to finalize
and will cost US $120 Bio.
Let us kick off the innovation in the Danish fashion business and go global. Let us
leave the upper middle of the road and raise the bar toward placing Denmark on the
world map—if not with a mountain, then with Danish fashion. At the end of the day, it
might be easier with Danish fashion than with the mountain.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 19
4. The Business Potential
The global fashion industry’s size is enormous.
The purpose of the book is to make it last for more than a year. Exact figures and
annual statistics are not in focus. Relevant statistics are available from, among
others, Statistics Denmark and Dansk Fashion and Textile.
The international fashion scene is a world of global structural developments and
enormous branding budgets, circumstances which Danish fashion brands seldom
have the power to change or influence—unless Denmark aspires even further to
innovation including committed leadership, consolidation, cooperation,
conceptualization, capital structures, and controlled creativity.
Some examples of the international and national key players (with financial figures
being in DKK and using 2009 or 2010 figures for illustration) are the following:
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (DKK 150 Bio.), Prada (DKK 30 Bio.),
Polo Ralph Lauren (DKK 27 Bio.), and Gucci (DKK 20 Bio.). If you add up these 4
players, you get approximately half of Denmark’s entire worldwide exports in all
industries which are mainly machinery and instruments, meat and meat products,
dairy products, fish, pharmaceuticals, fashion apparel, furniture, windmills, Christmas
trees, potted plants, mink and fox skin, salt, and various specialty niche products.
One single player, Polo Ralph Lauren, represents the same revenues as the total
exports of Danish fashion.
Denmark: Bestseller (DKK 13.6 Bio., excluding their significant activities in China),
Kopenhagen Fur (DKK 7 Bio.), Pandora Jewelry (DKK 6.7 Bio.), ECCO (DKK 6.1
Bio.), Kwintet (top-to-toe work wear) (DKK 5 Bio.), IC Companys (DKK 3.5 Bio.), and
BTX Group (DKK 2.1 Bio).
In Europe alone the size of the market is around 2.500 billion DKK with a low level of
accuracy. Some of the values are retail values, others are wholesale values, and
some values are not even included if the European operation is outside EU (take
Bestseller China as an example). Of the 2.500 billion DKK, Scandinavia constitutes
approximately 5% (DKK 125 Bio.) and Denmark approximately 30% of the
Scandinavian figure (DKK 40 Bio.). The figure illustrates how small Denmark is and
the enormous potential for local Danish labels if they succeed penetrating into, for
instance, Germany.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 20
The Danish fashion industry has increased its export share from 80% in the early
2000s to a level around 90%, and this is with a constantly increasing total business
(apart from a dip in 2009 caused by the financial crisis).
The level of fashion being imported into Denmark is on the level of Danish exports
indicating that the Danes are not always loyal to their own fashion.
Taking into consideration that available statistical figures are often more confusing
than enlightening (the statistics are a mixture of goods bought in Denmark, goods
bought abroad then imported and exported, figures being including reexports but
excluding “Danish” fashion being exported directly from Thailand or China to, for
instance, Norway. Some figures included in the statistics are retail, some are
wholesale, and some are cost prices. Lastly, the statistical figures exclude important
revenues of a number of Danish brands abroad, for instance, those of Bestseller in
China).
Based on the level of inaccuracy, the Danish fashion industry reaches some DKK 30
billion annually including textiles, footwear, and leather, making it the 4th largest
export business in Denmark and the 9th largest fashion exporter in the OECD.
If shoes, leather, fashion jewelry, and fashion accessories were added to the figures,
the fashion industry export reaches some DKK 45 billion or approximately 8% of the
total Danish exports. If fur were included (which many consider as agriculture
although it is used for fashion), the figure reaches some DKK 50 billion and more
than 10% of Danish exports. Danish fashion exports have almost doubled in the past
10 years.
Typically the small- to medium-sized companies have approximately half of their
revenues in Denmark and the rest in the neighboring countries such as Norway,
Sweden, and sometimes sporadic distribution in Finland, Germany, Holland, or UK.
The rule of thumb usually is this: the bigger the label, the higher share of export. The
top 5–10 brands in Denmark have a significantly higher export share and are the
main contributors to bringing the export share to the 90% mark.
The 7 biggest export markets within fashion textile according to Dansk Fashion and
Textile (excluding jewelry and fur) show—apart from very few examples such as
Bestseller in China or Pandora in the US Danish fashion (excluded in the figures)—
that Danish fashion is far from being globally represented:

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 21
Top 7 Fashion Textile Exports 2009
DKK Bio.
4,375
2,734 2,18 2,059 1,537 1,034
The book will therefore leave the number game and discussions about market shares
to H&M and perhaps also to Bestseller, Pandora, ECCO, and a few others. Rather
than attempting to produce or discuss which figures are correct, corrupt, or relevant,
the conclusion for the rest of the players is simple: the market is there, it is big, and
Danish fashion is mainly a European player. The question to the conclusion is more
difficult. How do we grasp some more of it?
The basic philosophy of marketing is that any fashion company in the market
economy survives by producing merchandise that persons are willing and able to
buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a company’s future
viability and even existence as a going concern. This is easier said than done.
The fashion industry has been in a transition over the last 20 years. New business
models and competitive strategies are constantly being introduced to enhance profits
and ensure growth. The 6 Cs serve as a tool to structure innovation and prepare
effective strategies.
The fashion industry is categorized by short product life cycles, tremendous product
variety, volatile, unpredictable, demanding, and long, inflexible supply processes.
0,84

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 22
All this makes it challenging to follow the pace and ensure that the label and
company actually produce the right merchandise that persons are willing and able to
buy in the right sales channels, with the right marketing and branding, at the right
place, in the right quantities and right qualities, and at the right time.
In the last couple of years the consumer has become increasingly aware through the
development of media vehicles like the Internet and social media. The trend goes
from business to consumer to consumer to consumer (or web 2.0) showing that
consumers will not be fooled at any time by any brand. Even Coca-Cola is under the
control and supervision of its customers. There has been a true shift of power to the
consumer.
Consumers in a globalized world have more choices in quality, price, and design.
All labels are faced with increased raw material prices (whether it is cotton, silver, or
silk), production issues, and reluctant, demanding, and changing distribution
channels. The players in the fashion industry are confronted with a new period where
growth is modest and where cost control is vital to ensure profitable growth or even
survival.
On the positive side labels that survived the financial crisis and can show profits have
excellent opportunities to grow in a market with fewer competitors and with
remarkably few new entries.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 23
5. The Power of Fashion
Danish fashion together with Danish design is in general an important institution of
culture. Fashion has always been a mirror of society, and the society has been a
mirror of fashion.
Since a number of adjacent industries which traditionally use design and fashion as a
powerful value-adding factor are also enjoying a favorable trend, the fashion and
design industry plays an additional significant role as marketing export vehicle for
other industries. Similarly does the the design industry is an important part of fashion.
Similarly does the fashion industry which is an important part of design.
Looking at fashion as a cultural product rooted in consumerism implicates examining
the fashion industry from two very different points of view:
• a creative sector rooted in identity, individuality, image building, and marketing
• an industry based on traditional manufacturing and business practice
Consequently fashion has both a cultural and a financial aspect and thereby an
immeasurable and measurable influence on our society.
Fashion is a dynamic global industry which plays an important role in the economic,
political, cultural, and social lives of an international audience.
Fashion spans high art and popular culture and plays a significant role in material
and visual culture. Fashion is explored as a creative force, a business, and a means
of communication.
From the onset of an industry in the mid-1960s, the fashion industry has turned itself
into one of the largest export industries in Denmark.
Denmark is not a country which specializes in production nor does Denmark have a
true fashion-oriented culture like France, Japan, or Italy.
Still Danish fashion has succeeded in creating the high level of business through a
combination of design as a competitive parameter, commercial intuition,
conceptualization, government support, design schools, commercial prices, and
marketing such as fashion fairs supported by timely outsourcing of local production to
low-cost countries.
The strategy of the 1980s following international trends and competing on trends,
price, and costs has since then been a successful business model for many Danish
fashion labels.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 24
The potential of further increase of export of Danish fashion is enormous, and the
opportunities are far from exploited.
The political support focuses on the opportunities on Danish fashion, but it also raises
the question of whether the labels are actually able to exploit the potential.
Whereas Danish fashion has many opportunities for continued growth, it is also
expected to face many challenges in the years ahead.
The threats and opportunities come internally and externally.
Like most industries all over the world, the Danish fashion industry operates under
new market conditions since the financial crisis. The financial crises have led to a
significant consolidation of the Danish fashion industry and have introduced new
rules of the game for one of the biggest export industries in Denmark.
Apart from a few examples like Bestseller, Pandora, and ECCO, many brands are not
utilizing their potential through innovative, international strategies, the 6 Cs supported
by proper implementation.
The overall condition for success in a globalized world is the same as in the “good old
days”—delivery of excellent products, at the right price, at the right time, at the right
place, in the right quantity, and with the right marketing and branding.
Strategies could and should also today be centered on Porter’s 5 forces just like the
marketing mix of the 4 Ps should always be thoroughly analyzed.
However, Danish fashion has to prepare not only for the changed market conditions.
Danish fashion has to think more in depth in terms of innovation and branding.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 25
6. The Power of Branding
Fashion is all about the intangible values it creates; thus, branding is the ultimate tool
to create this through marketing communication. The marketing communication must
support the brand equity by delivering a consistent message and provide the brand
with intangible values that are consistent with the core values.
A fashion brand can be defined as the intangible sum of a product’s attributes: its
name, packaging, and price; its history; its reputation; and the way it’s marketed.
Brands bring life to fashion labels. A fashion brand differentiates a fashion label from
its competitors through an emotional idea that encapsulates what the label, product,
or service stands for. Everyone that comes into contact with the brand immediately
recognizes and understands it.
Branding can be described as the most important objective of the fashion marketing
process. Marketing is building a brand in the mind of the consumer. Only if you can
build a powerful brand will you have a powerful marketing program.
Within fashion strong brands have the power to create business value. They impact
much more than revenues and profit margins.
Strong brands create competitive advantages by commanding a price premium and
decrease the cost of entry into new markets and categories. They reduce business
risk and help attract and retain talented staff.
Strong brands deliver on the experience and are matched by superb product
delivery.
Failure to provide an experience which lives up to the brand promise is the fastest
way to destroy brand trust and value. The requirement for functional excellence
applies to product quality and to the quality of every aspect of the user experience—
from gathering information on the website to the point of purchase to after-sales
support and service.
In an increasingly “flat” world, the future winners will be strong brands who dare to
stand up for something. They will go beyond the functional, to represent an ideal,
which appeals across cultures, products, and categories.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 26
7. Transformation and Globalization
Since the 1950s design has undergone a significant transformation.
Today, the word “design” encompasses many different disciplines such as
communications design, digital design, product design, interior design, fashion and
textile design, interaction design, and service design. Thus design is no longer a
closely delimited discipline, but rather an array of often interacting disciplines. The
same goes for the word “fashion.” Today fashion is in design and design is in fashion.
In the 1950s, Denmark was instrumental in setting the international design agenda.
Danish design helped pave the way for international commercial successes in,
among others, furniture, fashion, and hi-fi design.
Danish design has been an important part of the transformation of Danish fashion
and was and still is characterized by its focus on pure form-giving design and
knowledge of materials and a sense of detail and quality.
Throughout the 1960s the international fashion industry went through a significant
transformation.
The impacts of youth culture grew on the fashion trends and led to a greater
industrial production of clothes. The London youth culture initially inspired the trend,
and soon the Parisian designers followed with ready-to-wear or “prêt-à-porter.”
During the 1960s and 1970s Danish fashion went through the same transformation
and has since then developed into one of the most successful Danish export
industries.
The Danish fashion industry initially had an industrial background where the
concentration was mostly on textile and manufacturing. Only a couple of decades
ago the first Danish fashion design brands were developed, and the designers
started to design for their own labels. Later on accessories such as jewelry and
shoes followed.
Fashion retail is generally going through a structural transformation with increased
verticalization, megastores, category shifts in the distribution channels,
supermarkets, selling own labels, etc.
Fashion is no longer only clothes but accessories, jewelry, home, fur, shoes, etc.
Today Denmark is taking very strong and even leading positions within fur
(Kopenhagen Fur), shoes (ECCO), and jewelry (Pandora).

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 27
Still most material available today on Danish fashion is based on textile or clothing
and has been written in Danish.
Associated product areas and fashion apparels such as shoes, (fashion) jewelry,
fashion accessories, and fur (Denmark is the world’s biggest exporter of mink) have
grown rapidly the past 10 years caused by the transformation in the business and
have become a natural and growing part of fashion.
Where is the border of fashion? Is it fur? Is it high-end jewelry from Georg Jensen? Is
Georg Jensen design or fashion, and why is Georg Jensen participating in events
linked to Copenhagen Fashion Week, and why do they market themselves as a
design company? Or is it one of Denmark’s biggest companies Kwintet which
supplies high-quality professional wear for a variety of uses and industries across
Europe including a range of strong brands such as Kansas? Professional worker
wear such as Kansas is a great inspiration for many fashion-forward labels, so why
not?
The design industry will be referred to as a natural reference and inspiration for the
fashion industry. However, detailed design sectors such as furniture, graphic
communication, advertising, architecture, art, crafts, film, music, performing arts,
publishing, toys, games, and interior design have not been a focus area of the book.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 28
8. Definition of “Danish Fashion”
While Danish fashion may be small in scale, it stretches from luxury innovation-driven
to very commercial labels. From Vila to Birger Christensen luxury fur, therefore,
fashion and trend specialists have difficulties defining Danish fashion by a collective
term. The following elements characterize most of Danish fashion:
8.1. Sustainable
Consumers are moving from conspicuous consumption to conscious consumption.
The world is confronted with a number of challenges and issues such as climate,
water, energy, biodiversity, overpopulation, poverty, and limited resources; and they
all linked to and are all related to each other.
A new generation is rewriting the principles of fashion. It is a generation still seeking
to adjust to changing cultural conditions and—as generations before them—still
yearning to know the current way of doing things.
Ethics such as CSR (corporate social responsibility) and COD (code of conduct) have
high priorities with the Danish government institutions.
Denmark’s vision as a fashion business should be to become the country of ethics
with Denmark being the “cutting-edge company” where ethics and sustainable
fashion are part of the central blueprint of the DNA.
8.2. Bohemian
Initially the design values and design icons from the design industry influenced on the
fashion business. The Danish fashion industry inspired by contemporary
Scandinavian design and furniture combined with media backing up kicked off the
success story of Danish fashion abroad.
The era then of Day Birger et Mikkelsen, Munthe plus Simonsen, and many more
had a big influence on the perception of Danish fashion. The combination of the
stylish and the comfortable which characterized the bohemian trend became
synonymous for the accessible Danish fashion design.
8.3. Avant-gardestic
In the last couple of years the innovation-driven fashion labels that became known for
their bohemian style have been accompanied by a second generation of younger
labels that are far more avant-gardestic and tend to go more in the direction of
Swedish or Japanese fashion. These labels address another target group. Avantgardestic
designers are people and labels like Henrik Vibskov, WoodWood, Peter
Jensen, and Jens Laugesen.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 29
8.4 Original commercial design of good quality
Most Danish fashion exported is of original design of good quality and priced
commercially in the segment the label is within. Most Danish labels understand to
work well with the 4 Ps: product, price, place, and promotion.
The recipe for mass market success is accessibility caused by a mix of original
design and commercial prices.
This could be By Malene Birger in the “affordable luxury” category blending with
famous and international “affordable luxury” labels.
It could be Vila in the “commercial luxury” category where decoding trends becomes
more important than design and where Vila blends with global high-street giants such
as H&M, Mango, and Zara.
Georg Jensen has always been synonymous with outstanding design and clean,
timeless aesthetics; however, Georg Jensen has categories which utilize the power
of the brand to sell products in more commercial product groups. In the high-price
segment Georg Jensen places itself commercially against brands such as Tiffany &
Co.; the principle is more or less the same, the level is only higher.
9. Danish Fashion Caught in the Vise
Danish fashion is driven by a strong self-consciousness, a high level of
entrepreneurial spirit, and a profound belief in the creative and innovative power of
the strong pool of talent in the country.
A combination of design as a competitive parameter, commercial intuition,
conceptualization, government support, design schools, commercial prices, and
marketing such as fashion fairs supported by timely outsourcing of local production to
low-cost countries have brought Danish fashion to an impressive level of export.
Today, the Danish fashion industry is caught in the vise of concentration in revenues,
polarization in design strategy, and fragmentation in the marketplace.
10. Danish Fashion Concentrated in Revenues
Denmark is a country of individualistic people and entrepreneurs with innovation,
creativity, and trading on the agenda who find it increasingly expensive and
challenging to be small. With an intense entrepreneurial activity in the industry, there
is a very high level of entries and exits in the industry.
The Danish design industry is concentrated on revenues, which poses a challenge to
growth and exports.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 30
The number of businesses and the industry’s total revenue have quadrupled since
the mid-1990s, but only a handful of Danish power brand houses represent more
than 80% of the export business today.
The fashion industry today consists of approximately registered 800–1,000 fashion
companies with 1 or more labels (the number depends on the type of companies
such as A/S, ApS, I/S, privately owned, holding companies, etc.) and which industry
code numbers have been used by the respective companies.
Often fashion companies are included in the statistics of the 1–2 employee setups;
however, this is a common misunderstanding. These very small setups are mostly
found in other parts of the design industries like architecture and not in fashion
companies. As a comparison the design industry consists of more than 4,500
companies.
In the fashion business it is next to impossible to ensure operation (at least if it is
based on design and more than 1–2 small yearly collections) with only 1–2 people in
a medium- to long-term perspective. A fashion company is in need of at least 4–5
people including a designer, a salesperson (alternatively an agent), a sourcer, a
bookkeeper, and a customer service employee. If the company is design oriented
and in textile, a pattern technician or perhaps an art director should be considered.
Some of these functions can of course be outsourced but still require some extent of
control. Without critical mass profitability is squeezed. Without critical mass the
majority of Danish fashion will compete as generalists against specialists in other
countries. They are also unable to employ specialists within each area of the
complex fashion value chain.
As a consequence, only a few of the small- and medium-sized companies are able to
work systematically with their customers and suppliers to develop products and
services. Evidently, this is not a competitive model, especially not internationally.
When it comes to design, the smaller labels are unable to perform design
assignments or incorporating different design disciplines.
Therefore, Denmark needs more and bigger professional fashion businesses which
can bring Denmark in front globally. Denmark is in need of more industrial platforms
to build the brands.
Some consolidation has already taken place in line with the financial crisis and the
globalization, just like in many other industries.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 31
Since the end of 2008 the financial crisis has wiped out some 20% of Danish fashion
labels and has left the industry fragmented and especially the smaller labels in a
weak and fragile position.
During the first 12 months of the financial crisis, some of the smaller labels were
forced to close down due to weak business models (and only having one business
model to build the business upon); others were forced into closure/bankruptcy/hostile
and nonhostile takeover due to withdrawal of credit support by the banks. The banks
have been operating very defensively since the financial crisis, and the fashion
industry has certainly not been “in fashion” with the banks. In 2009, for the first time,
the Copenhagen Fashion Week showed a decreasing numbers of exhibitors, shows,
and visitors as a consequence of the consolidation and lack of new entries.
Most Danish fashion labels are therefore hardly visible on export markets. Holding on
to the international position for the small- to medium-sized companies becomes more
crucial and more difficult than ever. The new realities after the financial crisis mean
that new designers’ chances of creating an international brand have decreased from
1:100 to less than 1:1000 unless the talent is identified by intelligent capital and
supported by leadership.
Consolidation into more and bigger units is needed to achieve economy of scale,
secure committed leadership, and deliver better solutions to the customers, to
improve all back-end functions and to enable the best designers behind their labels
to focus on their core competencies.
This leaves an open question: which independent fashion brands of tomorrow should
take over from the brands most of which were introduced in the 1990s and up to the
financial crisis? And next to design talent and consolidation, which innovative
strategies should bring them forward to exploit the talent? Usually a brand risks dying
with their aging customers. In this case the young customers risk seeing their Danish
fashion designers die before they age. Initially, you cannot see this challenge in the
export statistics. When you can, it is often too late to do anything about it.
11. Danish Fashion Polarized in Design Strategy
The mix of business flair and nurturing of design talent has resulted in a polarization
of innovation-driven labels (defining tomorrow’s trends) and the trend-driven labels
(building their business upon established trends and well-known international
designers and brands).
The trend-driven companies by far make the best results in growth and revenues,
also in exports.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 32
Still, exporting Danish fashion would likely not be possible for the major players if it
were not for the smaller innovation-driven businesses. The innovative designer pool
is to a great extent the faces and names causing the great national and international
hype and visibility of Danish fashion through fashion shows, events, and editorials.
In addition, the trend-driven businesses acquire their inspiration from trends brought
forward by the innovation-driven companies (Danish as well as international) and
often also profit from the design staff in the creative segment.
The labels can be split into the following 3 categories:
11.1. Trend driven
During the industrial rise many farms and barns in the provinces of Denmark were
refurbished and turned into small businesses. Especially in Jutland (Herning, Brande,
and Ikast), the textile and fashion industry bloomed with exports growing during the
sixties. Still today, Jutland is the home of many of the big trend-driven fashion
companies.
Trend-driven brands hold the vast majority of Danish fashion exports. This is mainly
attributable to the brands of fashion groups Bestseller, BTX Group, and DK
Company, which are trend driven.
The trend-driven companies first and foremost consider themselves to be trading
people. Trend forecasting and finding inspirations in international design are
important tools in defining their looks and designs. This group of labels varies widely
from low to mid- and top-level prices, however, never luxury price range.
11.2. Innovation driven
Innovation-driven designers on the international scene can be divided into two
groups: the new and upcoming designers with individual and exclusive styles and the
more established brands. The international recognition of the innovation-driven
designers have been a fantastic marketing vehicle for Danish fashion internationally.
11.3. New, upcoming, and individual
The few Danish upcoming innovation-driven designers on the global market are often
quite international in their outlook and less known on the home market. Designers
such as Jens Laugesen and Peter Jensen are based in London and New York,
educated in London, and are showing in London and New York. They aim at
international consumers with accumulated prices. A few upcoming designers,
however, have returned to home and are today based in Denmark—aiming at both
domestic and international markets. These include brands such as Stine Goya,
WoodWood, Wackerhaus, and Henrik Vibskov.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 33
11.4. Established innovation driven
The more established innovation-driven brands on the international market include
Pandora, Julie Sandlau, Designers Remix Collection, Day Birger et Mikkelsen,
Bruuns Bazaar, By Malene Birger, Baum und Pferdgarten, Stella Nova, Mads
Nørgaard, Munthe plus Simonsen, Rützou, and Norlie. These brands strive to keep
the balance between individual design identities and the accessibility in design
required to reach a broader customer segment.
Middle-segment labels like these might not make the big headlines with their fashion
design. Nonetheless, they reach out to a broad audience with their accessible
designs which at the same time bear a strong design identity.
Copenhagen is the fashion capital of the innovation-driven fashion companies. These
labels often have prestigious domiciles in creative environments, always striving to
develop their image and their brand value among trend spotters and the right
endorsers.
First and foremost the innovation-driven businesses consider themselves to be
designers with an emphasis on innovative interpretations of times and trends with a
strong individual profile. The design lines vary from mid- to high-scale prices,
however, still affordable and seldom the absolute luxury price range.
Even though inspiration is also found in current trends and international fashion, and
even though these labels design for the same consumers at the same prices, they
have heterogeneous and very strong brand profiles enabling the (Danish) consumer
to instantly recognize the one from the other.
11.5. Luxury innovation driven
Moreover, a small handful of high-scale luxury brands, extremely designer- and
innovation-driven are as close as Denmark gets to ready-to-wear or prêt-à-porter
fashion in international terms.
These brands all have strong international profiles directed at the international
market. Most of the designers behind the brands are educated abroad and therefore
part of an international rather than strictly Danish design tradition.
The more established luxury innovation-driven brands on the international market
include Designers Remix, Line & Jo, NOIR, Peter Jensen, Heartmade, Julie Sandlau,
Marianne Dulong, and Georg Jensen.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 34
Haute
couture
True luxury brands
Luxury innovation designdriven
luxury brands
Accessible/affordable innovationdesign
driven luxury brands
Cross over labels with unclear profile as
innovation or trend driven
Trend-driven commercial brands
Price-focused labels or brands
12. Danish Fashion Fragmented in the Marketplace
Danish design and fashion businesses are to a great extent concentrated
geographically around the large towns and cities. Consequently, it is a challenge for
many businesses outside these urban centers to engage in permanent partnerships,
cooperations, or other strategic alliances.
The Copenhagen/Jutland geographical split up between the two main sectors in
Danish fashion is a symbolic manifestation of the diversity of the business. The
different types of companies often work within different spheres of business and trade
organizations. This goes for the biannual fashion fairs as well. As a rule, the
innovation-driven companies expose at CPH Vision or Gallery and the trend-driven
companies prefer CIFF.
The development has led to a divided and separated fashion industry. The industry
exists around to main areas; in Jutland the industry exists mainly around the center
of Jutland and the cities of Herning, Ikast, and Brande while the other great part of
the industry is concentrated around Copenhagen.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 35
The companies located in the center of Jutland are mostly larger fashion companies
that produce trend-driven fashion that is mainstream and mass produced. While
around the Copenhagen area, it is mainly small- to medium-sized design-driven
fashion companies engaged with design-driven fashion.
This is part of the reason that the Danish fashion industry is seen as divided. It is not
just the price and the design difference; there is also a deep cultural difference
between the two parts of the country.
The fashion industry has the greatest diversification geographically and has the
greatest concentration in the Copenhagen area, where almost 50% of the fashion
companies are located.
The other large areas are concentrated around Ringkøbing county and Vejle county
that have long traditions within the textile industry. That is also where two major
design colleges are located: Kolding School of Design and TEKO design school.
About 10% of the design companies are located in each area. Finally there’s Aarhus
County that also counts for approximately 10% of the total.
The brands from Jutland have clearly higher revenues and are the main reason that
Danish fashion has such a high export rate today. However, it is the small and
medium fashion companies in Copenhagen that are prominent, causing all the hype
in the press.
Thus, it is not the only the fashion-forward companies in Copenhagen that compose
the Danish fashion industry, as it is believed by many, but rather a combination of the
two that makes what we know today as Danish fashion.
13. Danish Fashion and “The Emperor’s New Clothes”
“The Emperor’s New Clothes” is a short tale by Hans Christian Andersen about two
weavers who promise an emperor a new suit of clothes that are invisible to those
unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. When the emperor parades before his
subjects in his new clothes, a child cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!”
Whereas there is an important mutual dependency and synergy among the key
segments in fashion, fact also is that Danish fashion has placed itself on a level
where it does not belong and where Denmark is not wearing any clothes, just like the
emperor in the tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”
13.1. Danish Fashion still not in the absolute elite
At home proclaimed an international success story, it seems that Danish fashion
design and innovation must be on the lips of any international trendsetter. Abroad,

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 36
however, Danish fashion is still not in the absolute elite. In fact, in the innovationdriven
segment, only very few brands have made sustainable, international
breakthroughs.
In the sixties, the first Danish designers entered the international fashion scene, with
Margit Brandt as the first Dane to show her collection at the ready-to-wear shows in
Paris and to sell collections in top fashion cities such as New York. Or it could be
Birger Christensen (on the front cover of this book) and Georg Jensen doing the
same in New York and Tokyo. Since then the Danes in the fashion business have,
inspired by Hans Christian Andersen, communicated a tale to the world in line with
the emperor tale instead of channeling their efforts on what fashion in Denmark is
really about.
The international level of Margit Brandt or Birger Christensen has not been matched
in recent years. If participation in international shows is an indicator of international
breakthroughs in the Danish fashion business, today’s track record is not striking with
just only very few Danish brands showing their collections in London (Designers
Remix showed their signature line in Somerset House in London in February 2011.
NOIR did the same in 2009 before they were recapitalized which included the exit of
the founder Peter Ingwersen in 2010).
Whereas the main strength of Danish fashion is business talent, logistics, and
mercantile intuition bringing the fashion industry to an impressive level of export, we
are acting the emperor to the world promoting a new suit of clothes that are invisible
to businesspeople abroad. Denmark does not need a Prada or a Gucci; there is no
cultural background for such high-end brands in Denmark. What we need to do is to
grow the total level of Danish fashion exports to the level of Prada’s and Gucci’s
revenues with 500 brands; then we have doubled Danish fashion exports. If we could
add Ralph Lauren’s revenues to our export figures, Danish fashion would be the
biggest export industry of Denmark.
When the child in the tale cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!” we realize
that Denmark only has a trading culture. The proud, old fashioned culture we find it
in Italy and France, where the population has defined them through their fashion
styling (haute couture was even used in France). England, France, Italy, and Japan
all have both a fashion culture and a trading culture.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 37
13.2. Copenhagen is not the world’s fifth most important fashion hub
The invention of being the world’s fifth most important fashion hub after Paris, Milan,
London, and New York is wrong innovation and will never catapult Denmark into a
fashion culture nation.
The fashion industry promoting merchandise, brands, and concepts that most people
in reality do not need of course requires “hype” and “air” to make the balloon fly; this
includes Copenhagen or Denmark as a fashion brand. However, only “air” as lunch
will leave the Danish fashion industry as skinny as one of the supermodels on the
catwalks. Rather than investing most efforts and government funds into “invisible
emperor suits,” let Denmark focus on global marketing of original design of good
quality at commercial prices appealing to most international consumers.
Natalia Rachlin from New York Times explained it well on February 15, 2010:
If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be . . . Copenhagen / Women’s Fashion by Natalia Rachlin
For a while there, the Copenhagen fashion scene convinced itself (and attempted to
convince everyone else) that the city would be the fifth fashion capital. This season,
however, was as close as you’re going to get to an all-out admission that, well, it’s
just not going to happen. With a smaller-than-usual show roster and largely lackluster
runway displays, the three-and-a-half-day Copenhagen fashion “week” that wrapped
up on Saturday evening, felt like an unintentional homage to defeat. But not all was
lost—indeed, there were a few gems that made it all worthwhile. Rounding out the
talent pool is the princess, the prince and the pauper of the Danish fashion scene:
Stine Goya, Henrik Vibskov and WoodWood. Goya has an Hermès for H&M (if only!)
vibe; Vibskov is high-street meets the circus; WoodWood is utilitarianism with a
sense of humor. All three are excellent at what they do, and they have collectively
dominated the edgy side of Danish fashion, which has thereby been summed up as
young, funky, eclectic and accessible.
Now, if only all the commercial hippie-dippy nonsense could be delegated off the
runway and back to the showroom where it belongs, CFW would instantly be more
interesting—albeit tiny, but there’s nothing wrong with that. It would be a chance for
the bright, funky young things to coexist with the darker, more grown-up aesthetic
that seems to be emerging here.
Perhaps, now that Copenhagen has given up its futile pursuit of world fashion
domination, the focus can be put back where it belongs: on nurturing and developing
this handful of emerging designers. Then it’s just a matter of time before a larger
international audience will come knocking. And then, who knows, Copenhagen might
just become a mini-fashion capital after all.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 38

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 39
14. Fashion Fairs and Shows
Copenhagen Fashion Week
The Copenhagen Fashion Week and its fairs are an important part of the promotion
of Danish fashion and of Copenhagen as a fashion metropolis. It is an integrated part
of the overall effort made to professionalize and support the industry at home and
abroad.
Copenhagen hosts its own fashion week during the months of February and August.
The objective of the Copenhagen Fashion Week is to extend and network the
professional Danish fashion industry. It is organized by the Danish Fashion Institute
(DAFI). DAFI insists on owning the rights to “Copenhagen Fashion Week” whereas
other players in the industry are challenging DAFI, which is a proof of the rivalry that
takes place not only at the fairs but also in terms of ownership of Copenhagen
Fashion Week.
The catwalks are adorned with an array of new and well-known Danish talents,
allowing previews of their upcoming collections. They all cultivate their own unique
angle on design, innovation, and aesthetics, which favor femininity and functionality.
The bottom line is that all Copenhageners are consumed by style. The city has
spawned plenty of cool designers. To name but a few, you find Baum und
Pferdgarten, Munthe plus Simonsen, and the male collaboration WoodWood. Such
designers excel in the art of clothing design that is suited to the frigid weather, as well
as the Copenhagener biking lifestyle, yet still oozes sophistication, style, and Nordic
flair.
Copenhagen Fashion Week is claimed to be the biggest fashion event in Northern
Europe today. Taking place twice a year in February and August, it is visited by more
than 50,000 buyers, designers, and press from around the globe, facing strong
competition from Berlin and also upcoming Stockholm.
Copenhagen Fashion Week has turned into an event, not only for the fashion in
crowd, but for the inhabitants and tourists in Copenhagen as well. For the past three
years, big screens placed around the city have monitored the fashion shows to the
pedestrians in the streets of Copenhagen.
Since 2006, Copenhagen City Hall has been the official Fashion Week site, hosting
more than half of the showings during the week—a manifestation of the political
goodwill and acknowledgment of Danish fashion as a successful industry and export
trade.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 40
Copenhagen Fashion Week is an example of joining Nordic efforts, since
Copenhagen Fashion Week is international and Scandinavian in its target group and
ambition, not Danish.
This international perspective, however, does not mean that Danish innovation-driven
labels become purely international in their branding.
In general, the Danish or Scandinavian identity and heritage is still used as an
effective tool to distinguish brands from international mass production and to give the
brands authenticity.
In 2005 FORA (“innovative thinking for policy makers”), announced that Denmark
should target to become the fifth biggest fashion hub with Copenhagen as center.
Since then the media and various stakeholders in Danish fashion have been
identifying Copenhagen as the fifth biggest fashion hub after Paris, New York,
London, and Milan.
If it is important to be on rank 5, Antwerp and Berlin should be considered just like
Shanghai could be a potential newcomer. Tokyo, however, seems to be the far more
realistic option than Copenhagen. Think of the massive amounts of names that have
emerged—like Issey Miyake, Comme des Garçons, Hanae Mori, and Yohji
Yamamoto. Still Tokyo has not been labeled a fashion capital, even though Tokyo
has higher fashion expenditures per capita than in any other city in the world.
For Denmark and Copenhagen it would be more realistic to spend our efforts
securing that we remain the fashion center of Scandinavia before we lose that
position to Stockholm just like we have lost the competitive strategy implementation
to Berlin with the relaunch of BREAD & BUTTER.
An Industrial Platform for Danish Fashion Fairs?
Industrial platforms are not only needed for the fashion labels. The Danish fashion
fairs need a common platform to effectively support Danish fashion going global.
During the years Denmark has strived to become a leading fashion center aiming to
develop Copenhagen Fashion Week into Northern Europe’s largest fashion fair, a
task which has been negatively affected by a lack of mutual marketing efforts toward
international buyers and journalists.
Competition never sleeps and helps to develop the whole industry to perform its best.
The flipside of competition is that the Danish rivalry has not been benefitting the
(international) customers and journalists visiting Copenhagen. The consequence of a
lack of cooperations and strategic alliances in Denmark to create one industrial
fashion fair platform is the successful development of BREAD & BUTTER at Airport
Berlin-Tempelhof. Next to BREAD & BUTTER two other fairs in Berlin are rivaling.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 41
Premium is another important player. A third fair with street wear, Bright Trade Show,
has been established with B&B having given up the specialization on street wear and
the original DNA of B&B.
Fun and Profit combined
With its “tradeshow for selected labels,” BREAD & BUTTER provides the concept of
an innovative trade fair event for the progressive, contemporary clothing culture.
As an international specialist trade fair for Street and Urban Wear, B&B represents a
marketing and communication platform for brands, labels and designers from the
areas of Denim, Sportswear, Street Fashion, Function Wear and Casual Dressed Up.
B&B has an inspiring basic principle of “Fun and Profit” combining the hype and air
with necessary business and which is very much the principle of this book also.
Over an area of more than 70,000 m², around 600 brands, labels and designers from
the B&B received more than 90,000 registrations from professional visitors in
February 2011. The registrations are truly international and included less than 35%
German visitors. 6,7% of the visitors came from Scandinavia, an increase of more
than 50%. Add to the 90,000 registrations approximately 59,000 visitors to Premium
and deduct some because they visited both fairs and you have way above 100,000
visitors to the Berlin fairs.
Competitive Strategies and Number of Visitors to the Fairs
The numbers in Berlin should be compared to some 71,000 in Copenhagen on 4 fairs
(excluding the fairly small CPH Kids) where the total likely is around 50,000 when
visitors to more than one fashion fair are deducted. Compared to Berlin with only
35% German visitors, the Danish fashion fairs have more than 70% of the visitors
being Danish reducing the international forum to a minimum compared to Berlin.
The success of B&B is a good illustration of how the theory of Michael F. Porter’s
book on the 5 forces works in real life; B&B has developed a competitive strategy
against its Danish competitors while the Danes were engaged with focusing on rivalry
with their local competitors only. The rivalry included for more than 10 years
disagreeing on common bus transportation between the various fairs in Copenhagen
or agreeing on only paying for one or maximum two entries at the 6 different fashion
fairs. During this rivalry Berlin prepared their competitive strategies and took over the
leading position.
Only as late as in 2011 free shuttle service was made available between CPH Vision,
Terminal-2, Gallery and CIFF during Copenhagen Fashion W eek followed by a
decision 6 months later to make the entry to the fairs free of charge at most fairs

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 42
which has been the case at B&B for registered guests for many seasons. The fashion
associations need to shape up to help Danish fashion compete globally and to help
Danish fashion going global.
80.000
60.000
40.000
20.000
0
Due to the development of Berlin as fashion metro pole combined with their own
retail shop in Berlin WoodWood has decided to showcase for the last time at
Copenhagen Fashion Week as of Autumn 2011 and move their activities to Berlin
fashion week instead.
Day Birger et Mikkelsen showcased for the first time at Pure Premium London,
February 2011. On top of that they decided to show their collections separately one
month before the fashion fairs in Copenhagen in January, 2011.
Designers Remix decided to stop with their fashion show during Copenhagen
Fashion Week and opted for Somerset House in London February 2011.
In Copenhagen rivalry, entrepreneur ship and lack of alliances have resulted in the
following fashion fairs:
1. CIFF/CIFF Kids
2. CPH Vision
3. Gallery
4. Terminal 2
5. CPH Kids
6. Copenhagen Jewelry Fair
feb-­‐11
feb-­‐10
feb-­‐09

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 43
The History and Rivalry between the Danish Fashion Fairs
Rivalries between the Danish fairs have taken place in Denmark as soon as business
opportunities justified them. The first fairs were held in the late 1940s in Herning.
In 1966 the fair was extended to include exhibitors from whole Scandinavia and at
the same time changed its name to Scandinavian Textile Fair.
In the early years the fair was still held in Herning in Jutland while Copenhagen had
some years before it started its own fair by the name Scandinavian Fashion Week,
and they too included exhibitors from the whole of Scandinavia.
Already then there was competition and fragmentation in the fashion industry and its
associations which history shows would continue for the next almost 50 years up to
today.
The lack of cooperation and strategic alliances across the borders between two
“countries,” Copenhagen and Jutland, have improved the fashion fairs but has also
served as a hindrance in developing Danish fashion exports.
The Scandinavian Fashion Fair in Copenhagen managed to outplay the fair in
Herning and in 1970 the Scandinavian Textile Fair in Herning closed for good.
The great success of the Copenhagen fair came to an end in the early 1980s. The
competition had grown, and Copenhagen was losing exhibitors mainly to the
Stockholm Fashion Fair.
The downturn emerged in the middle of the 1980s when the fair changed its name to
Future Fashion Scandinavia.
The next turmoil was in the early 1990s caused by the uncertainty in the fashion
industry rooted in the outsourcing dilemma. The markets had changed, and in order
to survive, the fashion manufacturers had to move their production to Asia and East
Europe. Not all players could adapt to the changes, and many fashion manufacturers
had to close down.
The Copenhagen fair changed its name once again in 1993 to what is now known as
Copenhagen Fashion Fair (CIFF).
A thorough description of the Danish fashion fairs today is available in the appendix
of the book.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 44
15. Fur—Agriculture or Key Player in Danish fashion?
New York Fashion Week 2011 explains why fur is an important part of fashion:
“The American fashion press all agreed: Never had they seen so much fur at a New
York Fashion Week. No less than 54 out of the 70 designers that showcased their
fashion collections in had included fur on the catwalks—on hats, collars, dresses,
boots, purses, etc. As The New York magazine wrote: “It’s a fur day, it’s a fur week. A
season of lots of furs and skins. The same goes for fashion weeks in London, Milan
and Paris.”
Every year Danish fur farmers raise almost 14 million mink. One thousand five
hundred Danish fur farmers own the cooperative company Kopenhagen Fur.
Kopenhagen Fur
Kopenhagen Fur is an exclusive, well-established luxury brand as well as the largest
fur auction house in the world for mink and fox.
Owned by Danish fur breeders, Kopenhagen Fur is the leading provider of fur,
recognized for its exceptional quality. Decades of experience and the volume of fur
skins attribute to Kopenhagen Fur’s reputation as the only auction house in the world
which can make the fine grading and labeling systems to ensure the ultimate in high
quality.
Fur skins are Denmark’s largest export commodity to the booming economy in Hong
Kong/China. Fur farming is Denmark’s third largest type of animal farming.
The Ministry of Commerce in Denmark has selected the fur trade as one of 29
special competence clusters in Danish economic life.
Kopenhagen Studio
Kopenhagen Studio was established by Kopenhagen Fur as a platform for creative
people from all around the globe to push the boundaries of what’s possible with fur—
exploring new techniques, spotting trends on the horizon, and sharing innovative
applications with fur for a range of creative realms, from fashion, to accessories, to
interior design, decoration, and more.
As a leading provider of fur skins, Kopenhagen Fur strives to be the best in all
aspects of its business. Balanced by a serious stance on corporate social
responsibility. Kopenhagen Fur is also a strong advocate of animal welfare and goes
to great lengths to ensure the health and well-being of animals.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 45
Kopenhagen Studio invites representatives from some of the world’s most prestigious
fashion houses as well as other creative industries to come and develop new ideas
and techniques for using fur. Here, established as well as up-and-coming designers
have the opportunity to work with in-house furriers, who contribute with their
professional expertise.
These collaborations challenge the traditional perceptions of what it is possible to
make out of fur. The development of new techniques means that fur is now found in
haute couture, prêt-a-porter, and street fashions.
To further support innovation within the fashion and design industries, Kopenhagen
Studio works continuously with everyone, from students to leading design houses,
striving to find new ways to use fur.
Kopenhagen Studio also cooperates with the world’s top design schools in the
training of designers. In addition to Kopenhagen Studio in Copenhagen, there is also
a Kopenhagen Studio at Tsinghua University in Beijing where fur designers are being
educated.
The results of the studio’s creative collaborations can be experienced at the
international fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan, and Paris as well as smaller
fashion weeks such as in Beijing and Copenhagen.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 46
16. Fashion Education in Denmark
In order to become more business oriented, Danish design education needs to
become more aligned with the needs of the business world and be more
internationally oriented. A reform was made in 2003 on the design education
including fashion design. The academic structure was changed, and the education is
today built as bachelor and master’s degrees.
The initiatives taken by the government, on this matter, has the aim to enhance the
level of business understanding as well as internationalization of the design
education.
A cooperation between Danish Design School and Design School Kolding has been
established with the aim of enhancing the educational level to match some of the
highest international levels. Part of the internalization of the education should be in a
form of exchange programs and traineeships internationally. Also there should be a
better cooperation with the business world through communication and partnership
This should lead the students to get an insight in the business side of the industry
and it exposes the student potentials to the business world. Finally, there is a
suggestion of an interdisciplinary cooperation between the universities and business
schools and the fashion design schools. This could be done by giving the possibility
to attend courses across the schools.
At the end it could lead to larger and more successful companies and help on the
consolidation in the fashion industry.
These goals cannot be achieved by the government alone. Other stakeholders must
get involved and takes initiatives that can develop the Danish fashion design further.
The brands and companies within industry and the associations in the industry have
part of the responsibility for strengthening the education. The government is
responsible of taking measures to assist the Danish design industry to develop and
enhance their business, and by doing making it more professional.
This is going to be done in different ways such as access to investment consultancy,
training in business skills, knowledge in new technology, etc.
These are part of the government’s goals and on that background the government
has appointed different groups, which objectives are to monitor and evaluate the
development of the initiatives started by the government. The groups will be
represented by people from the design industry, the business world, research
centers, and ministries.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 47
The initiatives are a clear sign that the government is focused on the design industry,
and that includes the fashion industry, and is willing to put effort and capital in the
industry. It believes in the industry and is open to ideas that can improve the
conditions for the industry. Thus the industry must become more proactive and face
the challenges that lie within and come up with plans and solutions.
The two Danish schools of design, Danmarks Designskole and Designskolen
Kolding, both offer five-year further education programs, while design is also an
integral component of the programs at Aarhus School of Architecture and at the
School of Architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.
In addition, institutions such as the Graphic Arts Institute of Denmark and TEKO, the
institute of education within fashion and lifestyle, offer a range of short- and mediumcycle
study programs in the field of design. Finally, there are a number of commercial
programs qualifying students as technical designers and skilled textile and clothing
assistants for example.
Copenhagen Business School
Copenhagen Business School is an international university. As the largest business
school in Northern Europe, CBS focuses on developing strong links between
contemporary research and the active business community and aims to contribute
new, pioneering knowledge which can be converted into innovation and
competitiveness. The experience economy is a strategic focus area and includes a
strong research environment and degree programs dedicated to areas such as
design management, creative enterprises, fashion, and art. CBS offers a dynamic
learning environment where students learn how creative power really puts knowledge
to work.
In 2006 CBS launched the country’s first Postgraduate program in management in
experience economics: MsocSC in Management of Creative Business Processes.
An education partnership with Università Bocconi has been signed—a so-called
double degree—where the students study in their home country for the first year and
then for the second year with the partner university in Italy.
CBS’s degree in experience economics gives the students tools to handle and
manage creative processes. The focus is mainly on marketing, management, project
coordination, business economics, managing rights and entrepreneurship, Human
Resources Management and management accounting—all focus on the practical
aspects of the businesses and organizations in this trade.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 48
Danish School of Design
The design program at the Danish Design School (DDS) located in Copenhagen is a
five-year higher education program ranked under the ministry of culture. The program
consists of a three-year BA program and a two-year MA program. The Danish Design
School also offers a three-year craft program in glass and ceramics.
The Danish Design School offers a wide range of study programs designed for
Danish students and international guests and exchange students. The education
and research programs are organized in five centers: Centre for Textile and Fashion;
Centre for Communication Design; Centre for Furniture, Spatial, and Industrial
Design; Centre for Glass and Ceramics; and Centre for Theory and Method.
In fashion design DDS deals with fashion and clothing in a broad sense, from fashion
as a cultural phenomenon to clothing as a means of expressing identity and group
membership—from the overall concept to the concrete development of form.
Students learn how to handle the many facets and mechanisms of this field and
establish a clear professional, theoretical, and artistic foundation as well as thorough
knowledge of the processes, methods, and expressions associated with fashion
design.
According to DDS, fashion design consists of the five dimensions of aesthetics,
culture and history, process, form and material, and visualization. The aesthetic
aspect is a fundamental element in the essential expression of the fashion medium.
Culture and history aim to provide a larger perspective and thus strengthen analysis
and exploration/research. Process ranges from artistic and intuitive aspects of the
design process, composition, and ideation over strategic design and concept
development to production methods and ethical considerations. Form, material, and
visualization constitute the core of fashion design and its true mode of expression.
Through the studies, DDS wants students to learn to act independently on a high
artistic, technical, and professional level and become able to contribute aesthetic and
responsible solutions in a highly diverse world.
Kolding School of Design
Kolding School of Design is an independent institution that educates designers at
bachelor and master levels, within six different lines of study offered by two
departments. In close collaboration with the University of Southern Denmark and
international partners, Kolding School of Design wants to develop into a leading
design institution focused on sustainability, social inclusion, and cultural diversity. It
should be a trendsetting institution, which supports innovation and economic growth
based on research, design specialist development work, and collaboration with
industry.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 49
The mission of Kolding School of Design is to offer a top-level design education; to
develop and disseminate top-level design research and design specialist
development work; to develop a national and international education and design
environment based on sustainability, social inclusion, and cultural diversity; to be a
local, regional, and national driver for the interplay between design, education, and
industry; and finally to offer continuing education and expert advice to the business
community and the public sector.
In their “Selected Design Stories 2010,” the ambitious objectives of Kolding School of
Design 2011 are presented:
• More focus on internationalization, including attracting more foreign students
to the master’s degree program, more foreign guest teachers, more students
going abroad, more international exchange of employees.
• Developing a new laboratory on cultural diversity. The ambition is to
strengthen ties with the Shanghai design environment and to establish a
collaboration project with Ghana.
• Developing more partnership agreements with the business community.
Compliments are extended to Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen, Rector of Kolding School of
Design for following the advice of “Danish Fashion Going Global” before it was
published.
TEKO
TEKO located in Herning is Scandinavia’s largest design and business college within
the fashion and lifestyle industry. More than 1100 students are currently enrolled in
our AP and BA Degree programs within the areas of fashion and textiles, as well as
furniture and furnishings.
TEKO is part of VIA University College, the center of all professional bachelor
degree programs offered in Central Jutland in Denmark. All programs are approved
by the Danish Ministry of Education. VIA University college has more than 17,000
students on 7 campuses.
TEKO covers all aspects of fashion and lifestyle companies whether design,
purchasing or sales. TEKO wants to think in terms of both design AND business; the
two are inextricably intertwined.
TEKO is a distinctly international environment, bringing together students of many
nationalities. TEKO is part of VIA University College, which is a group of educational
institutions offering college level education programs.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 50
17. Brand Platform
The Danish fashion industry needs consolidation and an industrial platform to
compete with the big industrial nations.
Size does matter in the new worldwide economy, and the new global economy will
speed up the consolidation further in Danish fashion and Denmark in general.
The size of the company has influence on the potential success. There is a
correlation between the size of the companies and the level of success in export and
revenue per employee.
Many small- and medium-sized labels have been able to grow fast to the DKK +/-
10–15 Mio. DKK revenues. They have mainly been able to do so through wholesale
market penetration in Denmark and some near markets because of the following:
• Concept competencies
• Design competencies
• Entrepreneurship
• Immature market structures
The financial crisis and the new economy are challenging the business models of
these companies whereas the big fashion companies in Denmark on Tier 1 or 2 level
have been able to make use of their scale of operation by reducing costs and
increasing efficiency and profits.
In adjusting the company to the financial crisis economy, the small- and especially
the medium-sized companies were caught in the vice of either inability to reduce
costs (because there were no further costs to reduce, or they took too long to reduce)
or inability to maintain a reasonable level of specialized business operation. Many of
the companies who did survive the financial crisis by stepping down from Tier 3 to
Tier 4 are now asking themselves how on earth they get from Tier 4 to Tier 3 again.
The smallest-scale companies (Tier 4) have been able to manage the crisis better
than the medium-sized companies (Tier 3) since the medium-sized companies are
more vulnerable to change.
The small- to medium-sized companies usually have 5–8 employees and a revenue
of 5–10 Mio. Most of these companies have a very modest equity, and some even
have no equity left.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 51
The small- to medium-sized companies are unable to exploit the opportunities further
especially within exports and get from Tier 4 or 3 due to lack of the following:
• capital to grow the business within market and product development
• management and committed leadership
• international business skills
• network and strategic alliances (cooperations)
• more than one business idea
• critical mass (no shared back-end functions)
• proper sales and distribution capabilities
• proper supply chain management—delivery, quality, purchase power, control
• retail understanding
• specialization within sourcing, logistics, design, sales, service, PR, etc.
The need for specialization increases if the companies are within the design
segment, where the company also needs specialized designers and often also
pattern technicians. Within children’s wear the collections are more generic and the
number of annual collections fewer. This leads to a lower need for product
development and the ability to operate with lower costs/fewer staff. The alternative to
all these challenges is a stand still. Since the competitors usually do not allow a
standstill the question is what do you want, how much risk do you want to take and
where do you want to go?
Some of the complex issues any fashion company has to consider within the value
chain are the following:
Brand Manual/DNA, Design, Assortment Governance, Sales Management, Supplier
Management, Sourcing, code of conduct, Sales Management, Internationalization,
agent search, Warehouse and logistics, Processes description, Company calendar,
Campaigns, Acquisition, Retention marketing programs.
Without a strong platform and being a small set-up it becomes next to impossible to
handle all these tasks. One of the ways to obtain economy of scale and consolidation
is through cooperations/a brand platform which is about beating the numbers and
creating a 1+1 = 3 solution.
A brand platform will strengthen and ensure:
• the core competencies of the owner/s and designer/s through specialization
• management and leadership competencies
• experienced fashion management
• specialized supply chain, sales, marketing and design organization
• solve part of the issues increased requirement of minimum production

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 52
• international expansion
• further investment in existing business platform to ensure market and product
development
• diversification possibilities (licensing)
• supply chain issues (delivery, quality, purchase power, etc)
• marketing and branding (investments)
• office spared (if shared)
• IT and Business intelligence
• retail competencies
• possibility to supplement wholesale with retailing either as shop in shops or
franchise
Contrary to horizontal integration, which is a consolidation of many firms that handle
the same part of the production process, vertical integration is typified by one firm
engaged in different parts of production (e.g. raw materials manufacturing,
transporting, marketing, and/or retailing).
There are three varieties: backward (upstream) vertical integration, forward
(downstream) vertical integration, and balanced (both upstream and downstream)
vertical integration.
Pandora is an example of balanced (both upstream and downstream) vertical
integration.
Metropol is an example of backward (upstream) integration. Metropol has their own
factory in China but still have multibrand shops (partly) as their distribution.
Forward (downstream) integration is done by many fashion brands opening up their
own shops, partly due to the attractive, additional margins, partly because they
cannot get the right locations, partly due to marketing and branding purposes. Many
of these brands do not have backward integration and rely on factories and
outsourced production in for instance China.
Although the vertical fashion chains have led the change in integration, the fashion
industry is still “old fashioned” compared to for instance the car industry which is fully
integrated both upstream and downstream.
A further change is expected to take place among other caused by the Internet as an
important sales platform. Also the social media will make profit margins and
production processes more transparent. We will likely witness competitive moves
from new players basing their business idea on why a consumer should pay ten

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 53
times the production price and not only three times the production price for a pair of
black socks made in China with a brand label stitched onto it.
Groupon is as an example of the many deal-of-the-day websites, localized to major
geographic markets and a new sales platform which will also play a major role in the
fashion business. Groupon serves more than 150 markets in North America and 100
markets in Europe, Asia, and South America and has amassed 35 million registered
users.
Upstream integration
All non identity creating activities (what the consumer cannot see)—upstream
integration—can be organized and managed on one common platform with maximum
synergy in operations—production, freight, logistics (pick and pack), controlling, IT,
financing, administration, legal issues and common overall management.
This may collide with the individual (designers) having and controlling their own
company although there is a lot of business sense and competitive advantage in
creating such a constellation.
Downstream optimization
All identity creating activities (what the consumer can see)—downstream
optimization—product, concept wholesale (in Denmark) is handled by the label itself
in order to ensure no cannibalization of the brand identity.
Based on the assumption that the downstream activities can have major strategic
importance for the individual designer/label it could be more realistic to look at the
upstream activities, a common sales management, sales people and some back
office functions as a basis for optimization throughout the value chain.
The challenges of moving from Tier 4 to Tier 3 to Tier 2 to Tier 1 are illustrated on the
next page. Moving from Tier 4 towards Tier 1 is very expensive/requires a lot of
capital.

Revenue
DKK
Structure
Markets
Whole
Sale
Branded
retail
Agents
Own
Sales
presentatives
Own
sales
offices
Marketing
Organization
No.
Organization
type
>300
Danish
labels
0–15 Mio.
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 54
> 200
Danish
labels
15–25
Mio.
I/S or ApS A/S A/S
Scandinavia
Yes Yes
Scandinavia
DE
NL
>100 Danish
labels
25–30 Mio.
North and
Middle
Europe
Yes
No No 10–20%
Agents
Own
sales rep.
DK
PR only PR only
2–5
Entrepreneurial
Head office
sales
Manager.
Own sales
reprensatives/
Agents
PR, Fashion
Show, local
advertising
>50 Danish
labels
30 – 75
Mio.
A/S with
private
investors
Europe
Yes
20–30%
Country or
Sales
Mgr.
Own sales
representatives
and agents
Local
consumer
and trade
marketing
DK
Company
75–200
Mio.
A/S/
private
investors
Europe
Asia
Only if
branded
Day
200–400
Mio.
Private
Equity
fund
IC
nys
>400 Mio.
Public
listed/
Equity
fund
Europe
Asia, USA Global
Only if
branded
30–50% >50%
Own sales
reps
supported
by sales
management
Local
consumer
and trade
marketing
Distributor
combined
with sales
offices
Local
consumer
and trade
marketing
Unlikely
Close to
100%
Own
international
sales
offices
International
consumer
and trade
marketing
5–15 15–30 30–60 60–100 150–250 >250
Entrepreneurial
Board None Advisory Investor
Revenue
per
employee
Tier 4 brands Tier 3 brands Tier 2 brands Tier 1 brands
TDKK 500
TDKK
700
Generalist Specialist Specialist Specialist Specialist
Semi
professional
DKK 1 Mio. DKK 2 Mio.
Professional
DKK 2,5
Mio.
Professional
DKK 3
Mio.
Professional
and
international
DKK 4
Mio.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 55
Sales growth can be segmented in the following 4 categories.
Existing
Products
New
Products
Existing New
Markets Markets
Market Penetration Market Development
Product
Development
Diversification
Market penetration: Initially the small labels have been focusing on market
penetration and have reached a stage where they wish to grow further either through
market development or product development or a combination of all three.
New
Products
Adding to this it might be difficult to reach a level of revenue in only your home
country and obtain economy of scale with market penetration only. Only with
economy of scale the company is able to engage specialists within each field of
operation. It is very much the “chicken and the egg” problem. With cash being “king,”
the jump to the next level has become challenging, risky, and sometimes impossible.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 56
Market development (ex. Germany): This requires network and international
competencies. If the company moves from wholesale to partnerships or to branded
retail either as franchise or own shops or shop in shops, it requires competencies and
capital.
Product development: This can be done by the creative owner; however, product
development needs cash flow and eventually the ability to look at a new product line
introduction as investments in the first couple of years. Product development also
requires extended supply chain competencies (sourcing, logistics, etc.)
Diversification: This needs license competencies and supply chain skills.
Diversification will speed up critical mass but is usually the last option for most
fashion companies.
Looking at the brand platform, there are several possibilities to support the growth
potential of a label from an upstream/downstream point of view.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 57
18. Capital
18.1. Available capital
Entries are as described fairly easy in the fashion industry; unfortunately, exits have
become even easier than entries after the global recession.
As a general rule fashion has a very complex value chain. Due to the delivery
structure, fashion generally requires liquidity to bridge the gap between payments to
the suppliers and payments from the customers. With growth this gap becomes even
bigger. For successful start-up companies the consequence may be that they fold up
due to liquidity issues before they get to celebrating their growth success.
The banks have introduced a very conservative approach to fashion financing and
are only exceptionally prepared to risk/invest more in fashion than the working capital
to finance the gap between payments to the suppliers and payments from the
customers. Unless the company can produce a healthy balance sheet with sufficient
equity or other collaterals, the banks today are usually unwilling to support the case.
Today capital is scarce and cash is king; the same goes in the fashion industry.
In 2007 and 2008 the focus from the labels were financing growth and a professional
board.
The only way to attract capital today is through presentation of a well-documented
business case.
In 2011, as a financial case, and with the issues described under brand platform, it is
usually next to impossible to calculate a proper return rate on only one single label if
it is small or medium sized.
In 2011 and ahead the labels will look for financing of an industrial platform and
professionalization of the platform. While they are calling various investors the
markets might catch up with a consolidation.
The private equity funds will not be the ones leading the transformation and the
banks will certainly not. The private investors have burned their fingers big time
helping the small and medium labels meet many challenges on their way from Tier 4
to Tier 1. Corporate venture capital (such as IC Companys investing in another
brand) has not been in fashion for many years.
Therefore, we it will mainly be the industry itself which will initiate the consolidation.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 58
18.2. Factoring
As an alternative more and more fashion companies work with receivables finance
(“factoring”), helping them make more efficient use of their working capital or as an
alternative to overdraft financing with the bank.
Instant cash (up to 90% but often less) is advanced against unpaid and issued
invoices to boost the cash flow.
Credit insurance is often an extra product on top for most fashion companies;
however, it has become increasingly difficult to get receivables credit insured.
18.3. Vækstfonden
Vækstfonden is a state investment fund, which aims to create new growth companies
by providing venture capital and competence. Since 1992, in cooperation with private
investors, Vækstfonden has cofinanced growth in more than 4,200 Danish
companies with a total commitment of more than DKK 8.1 billion. Vækstfonden
invests equity or provides loans and guarantees in collaboration with private partners
and Danish financial institutions. The companies which Vækstfonden has cofinanced
since 2001 represent a total revenue of more than DKK 25 billion and employ
approximately 27,000 people all over the country.
Vækstfonden was involved in both Ann Hagen (which went bankrupt in 2008) and
Noir (which has now been sold to a private investor at significant losses).
Consequently, it is doubtful when we will see involvement from Vækstfonden in the
fashion business again.
18.4. Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high-growth
start-up companies.
The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests
in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high-technology
industries, such as biotechnology, IT, software, etc.
In addition to angel investing and other seed funding options, venture capital is
attractive for new companies with limited operating history that are too small to raise
capital in the public markets and have not reached the point where they are able to
secure a bank loan or complete a debt offering. In exchange for the high risk that
venture capitalists assume by investing in smaller and less mature companies,
venture capitalists usually get significant control over company decisions, in addition
to a significant portion of the company’s ownership (and consequently value).

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 59
18.5. Private equity funds
Private equity funds take an active position within the fashion industry. In Denmark
equity funds such as Axcel (Pandora, Noa Noa, Georg Jensen, Ball Group), EQT
(BTX group), Capidea (Aagaard jewelry, Kranz & Ziegler jewelry, Nümpf designer
fashion), Jysk-Fynsk Kapital (KABOOKI/Lego wear) are the key players.
Nordic Capital and CVC Capital Partners presently have no investments in fashion.
Axcel
Axcel owns a part of Pandora, Georg Jensen, Ball Group (fashion 42+) and Noa Noa.
Axcel was founded in 1994 and now has a wide range of Danish and international
investors and four private equity funds.
With 35 investments, Axcel has made more investments in medium-sized Danish
companies than any other private equity fund in Denmark.
Today Axcel’s present investments comprise 17 companies in widely differing sectors
with an overall revenue of approximately DKK 12.5 billion and approximately 9,000
employees. Since its inception, Axcel has built a comprehensive industrial network in
Denmark and abroad, not least by making around 40 major international add-on
acquisitions.
Capidea
Capidea owns Aagaard jewelry which recently acquired Kranz & Ziegler.
Capidea is a Danish private equity fund making long term investments in competitive
small- and medium-sized Danish companies with growth potential.
Capidea was established in November 2006 and has a capital commitment of DKK
750 million / EUR 100 million.
EQT
EQT owns BTX Group.
EQT is a group of leading private equity funds with investments in Northern and
Eastern Europe, Asia, and the United States. Activities focus on buyouts, growth
financing and infrastructure. EQT has raised approximately EUR 13 billion since its
establishment and invested some EUR 9.7 billion in more than 85 companies.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 60
Jysk-Fynsk Kapital
J-F K is a private equity fund established 2005 as an alternative to the traditional
equity funds. So far J-F K is engaged in 7 companies, one of them being KABOOKI
(Lego Wear).
3i
3I owns SoyaConcept. 3I is an international investor focusing on private
equity, infrastructure, and debt management. 3I typically invests up to €150m in
privately owned, high-growth, profitable international businesses with an enterprise
value of between €100m and €1bn, taking a noncontrolling minority stake.
IK
IK owns Kwintet. IK is a European private equity firm with Nordic roots, managing
€5.7 billion in four active funds.
Since 1989, IK has acquired 75 companies. The current portfolio includes 22
companies across Europe with a total revenue of approximately €7.5 billion.
18.6. Preparing your company for growth, success or a sale?
Whether you are planning to sell your fashion company fully or partly—for instance
as part of brand platform strategy—or grow your company internationally through
additional capital, investors are looking for a clear design identity and a value
proposition. The plan and presentation to investors should be based on structure
figures and process rather than feelings.
Furthermore, budgets, balance sheets, investments, and cash flow must be well
documented with a description of relevant actions.
Figures should be supported by monthly reporting in an easy, relevant, and
trustworthy format.
Patents, brand registrations, IT licenses, etc., must be updated and documented. All
contracts for employees including incentive schemes must be updated.
Legal cases, if any, must be documented implicating the potential financial
implication.
The contracts of the company must be updated. This goes for suppliers, agents,
distributors, rentals, customers, etc. It includes code of conduct and ethical
production. A plan for the brand and company should be documented by budgets
and profit and loss history and budgets. Elements of the plan are included in the
following chapters.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 61
Countries/Mix
Supplier Management
Testing/AQL
Pricing
Contribution %
Min. quantities

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 62
19. Business Plan
Whether you are planning to sell, survive, or grow an updated plan for the brand and
company is part of the company operations and always documented by budgets and
profit and loss history and budgets.
The plan usually includes the mission, vision (and passion), and a competitive DNA
of the brand.
Typically, based on a SWOT analysis the objectives (what) and strategies (how) are
described for each of the steps in the value chain. These objectives and strategies
are then supported by a plan, who and what should make the plan happen
(organization, systems, finance, etc.).
The points usually covered with objectives and strategies are the following:
Size of collection
Target group
Categories
No. of collections
Retail/Wholesale
Price buildup
Quality
Communication platform
Product Mix
Level of international
orientation

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 63
Warehouse
Code of conduct
Logistics
Company calendar
Pattern making
Supply chain management
Contribution % optimization
Warehouse processes
Risk management
Corporate identity
Brand Bible, DNA
Visual brand guide
Positioning
Acquisition, retention
License
Loyalty programs
Campaigns
Merchandising
End-user knowledge
Coworks

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 64
Sales channels
Multibrand
Retail
Franchise
Factory outlets
Travel retail
Partnership models
Country mix
Etail
Internationalization
Geographic spread
Pricing
m2 revenue
m2 contribution
Stock turn
Traffic, hit rate, basket size,
average sales / customer
Coop and level of influence
on design, marketing,
sourcing, quality, etc.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 65
The distribution planning should be according to countries and sales channels and is
elaborated in the next chapter.
20. Sales Channels/Distribution
Concept
Stores
www or
brick and mortar
Department Stores (Shop in Shops)
www or brick and mortar
Multibrand Shops (wholesale)
www or brick and mortar
It is all about distribution, distribution, and distribution. There is an ongoing change in
shopping behavior. Consumers won’t expect to find everything—largest selection,
best price, and attentive service—in one place. They will go to the web for unlimited
choices and to stores—physically smaller with tightly focused edited ranges—for
experiencing merchandise and for immediate gratification.
Brands need to be well represented wherever consumers shop.
Vertical fashion chains all over the world are focusing more on improving the quality
of the product and offering in varied range of fashion designs threatening the
business platform of wholesale and multibrand distribution.
Also there is a shift from wholesale brands marketing collections only toward
multibrand shops to also include either own retail or franchise either in mono shops
or shop in shops/concessions with the department stores. The department stores are

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 66
shifting from being retailers buying apparel to becoming landlords of an attractive
department store shopping mall offering high frequency at high rental costs.
The wholesale distribution is under pressure from vertical chains and centralized
buying cooperations and have lost significant market share the past 10 years.
In the consolidated countries such as Germany and the UK it is next to impossible to
find a multibrand retailer in a good location in the medium- and big cities.
The web has taken over some 20% of the apparel sales within the past 10 years and
is the only sales channel not losing momentum.
In between strong multibrand players are introducing both online and offline
shopping.
In new retail economies such as Russia and China there is no cross over between
price and concepts which means that there is hardly multibrand shops as we see it in
Europe or in the United States.
The consequent requirement for the brand is retail competence to get secure the
good locations and obtain the branding effect through the stores. So how do you
become a brand without retail or franchise? How do you get that competence without
industrial platforms and without commercial brands with focus on design and good
quality?
The majority of the fashion revenues are neither in well-known and hyped multibrand
stores, nor in concept shops and shop in shops. The majority of revenues are with
super markets.
An overview and elaboration of segmentation, marketing and positioning is available
in the following chapters.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 67
21. Strategic Segmentation and Target Marketing
Segmentation and target marketing starts with the consumer and defining who you
design for. The trend leaders, the consumers following the trend or the late adopters,
the +42 sizes, teenagers, etc.
Trend Leading
Trend Following
Late Adopters

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 68
Having defined the target group, you need to establish the strategies reflecting the
consumer you have designed the collection for in all the P areas.
1. Product 2. Price 3. Place
Trend
Leading
Trend
Following
Late Adopters
4. Promotion 5. Positioning 6. People
Trend
Leading
Trend
Following
Late Adopters
Trend
Leading
Trend
Following
Late Adopters
Trend
Leading
Trend Following
Late Adopters
Positioning
Under positioning the competitive brand DNA and the corporate profile is defined—
the fundament for the design, visual merchandising, communication, and retail
platform distribution.
This may include definition of the brand core values and essence, brand concept,
and design strategy.
Trend
Leading
Trend
Following
Late Adopters
Trend
Leading
Trend
Following
Late Adopters

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 69
22. Outsourcing
22.1. General
The reality of outsourcing did not surprise most Danish fashion companies. Already in
the 1950s a company like Møller & Co. moved part of the production to China in
1956. Also InWear Group was one of the early movers. From the foundation in 1969
most of the production took place in India, Portugal, or Hong Kong.
At last everybody had to follow troop in the 1980s with Poland being one of the new
main production countries.
Outsourcing meant that the traditional fashion companies had to re invent
themselves and the business field that they operated in. Danish fashion transformed
from being mainly wholesale production to becoming knowledge-based companies
and marketers of fashion brands.
Outsourcing meant introduction of a new business model. The companies had to
learn to adjust to market conditions focusing on product development, design,
logistic, marketing, and branding. It resulted in new fashion companies and labels
that integrated the design aspect with business and production knowledge.
The new strategy of following international trends and compete on price and costs
has since then been a successful business model for many Danish fashion
companies.
In line with outsourcing, new types of fashion companies saw the daylight.
The strategy worked for many companies. Examples are Pandora, Bestseller, BTX
Group, and IC Companys. All these companies have a strategy of marketing an
international look in their designs and to be quick in production of designs which
prove to be successful in the markets.
The production of fashion, jewelry, and accessories was moved to low-paid countries;
and in order to sustain the competition, the Danish manufacturing companies had to
follow.
In the fur business the opposite scenario took place. The production was maintained
in Denmark with Denmark being the world’s largest producer of mink. Therefore
some regard fur as a part of Danish agriculture. Today most of the buyers at the fur
auctions in Denmark are from China.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 70
These progresses forced the Danish fashion industry to professionalize their
processes in production, control, and logistic. Furthermore the companies had to
learn the importance of a solid market knowledge, sale, and marketing.
Today, Danish fashion businesses have a very high shareholder value creation,
making Danish fashion competitive in a global context.
The exact level of outsourcing in Danish fashion is not known as there is a lot of
secrecy surrounding production with nobody wanting to reveal any facts.
China is still the biggest producer of fashion to the EU countries. India is also a very
important producer of mostly “bohemian” styles. Thailand is known for silver
production for Georg Jensen, Pandora, Aagaard, and many more. The same goes for
shoe production. Turkey, Portugal, Lithuania, Bangladesh, and Bolivia are other
examples of the vast number of production countries for Danish fashion around the
world.
There is a tendency presently to move back some production closer to Denmark.
Countries such as Portugal and Turkey as examples are chosen to be closer to the
production and the quality control and also to produce fewer quantities.
It is obvious that an industrial platform is more competent at sourcing than a small
fashion company with an organization of generalists.
22.2. Challenges in China
The challenging apparel sourcing landscape in especially China is worse than most
people anticipated. After benefiting from an oversupply landscape the last 20 years,
Danish fashion importers now face manufacturing capacity issues in China that are
anticipated to continue to drive disruptions throughout the supply chain (including
manufacturing, transportation, and shipping) in the next many years ahead.
China is faced with a reduced manufacturing base due to fashion factories and textile
mill closures following the global recession. There is a slow pace of new capacity
growth in China as smaller garment factories caused by lacking government and
bank financing support. Competition from local demand for capacity as Chinese
apparel consumption rises on higher domestic income levels. This has led to a
number of provinces in China having raised local minimum wages by 15–25+% since
the beginning of 2010. Finally general rise in cotton prices combined with the ethical
issues are also a challenge to many factories.
Rising raw materials and an outlook for labor shortages and continued rise in wages
in China should also continue to weigh negatively.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 71
22.3. Increase of raw materials
Pressures on prices all over the world are led by cotton reaching historical highs
(October 2010 cotton prices were up 89%) and could go higher as industry players
and others speculate in the commodity expansion to lower-cost and/or duty-free
countries (including Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, Egypt) as well as moving
production to lower-cost northern regions in China.
22.4. Ethical production
The trend of ethical thinking (with Denmark wanting to create a competitive
advantage within this field) makes it even more important that the ethical and general
environmental demands are adhered to at the production far away from the home
country. This can be a cumbersome task for all and close to impossible if you are a
small and medium label with no people on site to overview and inspect both quality
and ethical standards.
22.5. Fragmented value chains
The outsourcing has led to fragmentation of the value chains. At the same time many
producers entry into the vertical retail scene has been consolidating the value chain.
Whereas 2 yearly collections were revolutionary in the 1950s and 1960s the trenddriven
fashion industry is resembling a super market with high stock turns and with
fashion having the same life time on the shelves as fruit. Vertical retailers such as
H&M, ZARA and Bestseller have integrated toward design and distribution to have a
better control of the activities and to deliver up to 52 weekly collections a year. Even
the innovation-driven part of fashion needs at least 4 and preferably more collections
annually to offer fresh and appealing to the consumers which in return attract them to
visit the shops more than one time during the season.
The outsourcing and loss of competence within production has also led to
competitive disadvantages.
The labels are increasingly becoming dependent on third-party “full package”
factories/suppliers who are taking care of sourcing, coordination, quality control, code
of conduct, and distribution.
22.6. Sourcing in the future
“Production China/Asia” is mentioned by many fashion companies in their SWOT
analysis under either “weaknesses” or “threats.” The problem is that they can do little
about it with no true alternatives to China for textile production and Thailand for silver
jewelry production. The only action to eliminate the treat would be to engage in
production (again), this time in factories in for instance China or Thailand.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 72
Some of the bigger players have therefore changed competitive strategy through
controlling the production abroad and opening up either own factories or factories on
a joint-venture basis, whether in China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, or Bolivia.
Whereas it has been the main strategy to outsource everything else than the product
development and branding, many fashion companies need to ask themselves
whether it is time to rethink a competitive business model for the future.
In order to create a competitive advantage some Danish fashion companies have
engaged in own production. As an example Pandora has had its own production for
many years in Thailand. Metropol has a joint venture factory in China. “Is production
taking focus from the key strategy”? one may ask. The right question might be, “is
this the future to own the entire value chain”?
Pandora and Metropol have been able to pass on part of the profits from the
production either as price reductions to be more commercial or as better markups for
their business partners and retailers.
It is kind of obvious that Pandora and Metropol will get the attention and preference
on account of more profit-squeezed brands if their products are being sold in a
multibrand environment or if the importer or agent in the respective country holds
more than one agency.
The entire value chain of the fashion industry needs to be re innovated, and we will
see immense changes in the next 10 years.
Even if major brands in the future will have a crucial dominance over the retail
market, there will still be demand for the innovation-driven fashion brands.
The great teachers of marketing and competitive strategy have taught us that
companies in the middle are usually less profitable because they do not have a
viable generic strategy.
As a consequence, the innovation-driven fashion brands need to make a decision
between two key strategies: large-scale mass production versus exclusive niche
production. Successful crossover brands may be fewer and fewer.
One of the upcoming innovations would be Chinese suppliers opening up factories in
Europe, just like the Chinese have opened up manufacturing of refrigerators in the
United States. This would ultimately lead to the Chinese controlling the entire fashion
value chain and change the way we look at upstream and downstream integration
completely.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 73

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 74
23. Closing
Danish fashion is rooted in the cradle of the Danish industry and has transformed into
one of the largest export industries.
Danish fashion has an unleashed potential, but Danish fashion needs to reinvent
itself through innovation. Innovation is the only competitive edge for Denmark in a
globalized world.
The book has introduced ways and means to support Danish fashion going global.
One of the ways is by preparing effective, innovative strategies using the 6 Cs:
1. Committed leadership
2. Consolidation
3. Cooperation
4. Conceptualization
5. Capital
6. Controlled creativity
Let us kick off the innovation in the Danish fashion business and go global.
Let us leave the upper middle of the road and raise the bar toward placing Danish
fashion on the world map.
Henrik Spandet-Møller, May 2011

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 75
Appendix

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 76
Danish Fashion Fairs 2011
Copenhagen International Fashion Fair CIFF
Copenhagen International Fashion Fair (CIFF) was established in 1993.
CIFF considers itself as Europe’s leading fashion fair with the main target group
being the (international) trend-driven labels. It comprises clothing, footwear,
underwear, bijouterie, and kids’ wear. CIFF includes a fashion fair for kids’ fashion:
CIFF Kids.
CIFF takes place in Bella Center in Copenhagen, next to Copenhagen Airport, and is
easily accessible for foreign buyers and customers from Jutland arriving by plane or
train.
CPH Vision
Caused by lack of competition CIFF had not developed its concept; and in 1998 Jan
Carlsen, a former CIFF employee, established a new and competing fair: CPH
Vision, which started a rivalry between Jan Carlsen and CIFF.
CPH Vision concentrated on the trendsetting Scandinavian fashion with more focus
on design. CPH Vision soon established itself as the unofficial but important part of
CIFF and as the place to spot the new and upcoming designers.
CPH Vision is located at Øksnehallen, in the heart of the vibrant old meat district in
the center of Copenhagen. With an area of 5000 m2, it is the ideal setting in which to
promote and exhibit some 170 Danish and international design-wear labels, in an
exhibition space for first movers and exclusive designers within the field of
contemporary fashion, feminine classic, direct fashion, and shoes and accessories—
half of them international.
CPH Vision is marketing the fashion fair as the home of the innovation-driven Danish
fashion brands, established and up-and-coming.
Terminal-2
In February 2009, CPH Vision launched the additional fair “Terminal-2” as an
integrated part of CPH Vision. Hosting a range of denim and street wear labels and
fashion companies, Terminal-2 shows the characteristic of the urban, denim, sport,
and street wear lifestyle with shows, lounges, performances, and music.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 77
Terminal-2 is the melting pot for buyers and an exclusive mix of Scandinavian and
international brands aimed at a contemporary audience. Here you find everything
from high-end heritage brands to denim and urban-wear brands.
Playing host to an impressive range of denim and contemporary urban labels,
Terminal-2 is intended to showcase the universe of the urban, denim lifestyles. Being
one of the most innovative fashion trade fairs in Europe, Terminal-2 offers exhibitors
and buyers alike a remarkable space in which to contribute to the spirit and character
of the building. The raw and unpolished surroundings of the new exhibition space
play host to shows, performances, lounges, and music in a young, vibrant, and
inviting atmosphere.
Gallery
Gallery is a Scandinavian Fashion Fair for innovation-driven premium fashion brands.
In line with the rivalry between Jan Carlsen from CPH Vision and CIFF, a new fair
Gallery was established in 2007 by CIFF and Gregersen Communication. The fair
included an exorbitant marketing budget and free shuttle service between CIFF and
Gallery.
Most of the brands on the first Gallery fair were part in a “hostile takeover” coming
from CPH Vision. They included Baum und Pferdgarten, Acne, Mads Nørgaard
Copenhagen, J Lindeberg, Filippa K, Whyred, Sand, Peter Jensen, Designers Remix
Collection, and Tiger of Sweden.
Gallery international fashion fair Copenhagen, taking place in Forum, presents more
than 200 of Scandinavia’s leading designer-driven and international “hipster” fashion
brands and premium brands within clothing, shoes, and accessories.
CPH kids
CPH kids is one of two children’s fairs during Copenhagen Fashion Week. The other
children’s fair is located in the Bella Center and is called CIFF Kids.
CPH kids was founded by Lone Holm in 2009, answering a quest for a new and fresh
international fashion fair and obviously caused by a competitive strategy to CIFF
which had not developed itself sufficiently.
The ambition is to create a new look and energetic feel to our fair and to infuse
presenting on a fair with a new spirit. This has led to a fair presenting some of the
more innovation-driven brands in the industry, both national and international.
CPH kids is held in cooperation with Copenhagen’s new venue TAP 1 in their second
hall called TAP 2. The venue TAP 1 is located on the old Carlsberg site and is a part

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 78
of the new Carlsberg City, which will be a green and sustainable “city in the city” with
habitation, business, and shops side by side.
So far 60 labels have signed up, but will the fair be sufficiently strong to compete
against the major players?
Copenhagen Jewelry Fair
Copenhagen Jewelry Fair is the largest Scandinavian trade fair within jewelry and
watches.
The fair takes place once a year in August at Bella Centeret and counts close to 200
exhibitors and 6,000 visitors.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 79
Key Players and Associations in Danish Fashion
NICE—Nordic Initiative Clean and Ethical
Nordic Initiative Clean and Ethical (NICE) is a joint Nordic project with the main
purpose of motivating and assisting companies in integrating sustainability and social
responsibility in their business processes and practices for the better of society. NICE
is an educational project and process created for and in collaboration with the Nordic
fashion industry.
NICE is a new and ambitious Nordic partnership initiative with the overall objective to
lead the Nordic fashion industry toward a stronger focus on responsible, ethical, and
sustainable production. NICE includes a number of projects and partners across the
Nordic countries—the Nordic fashion industry being the focal point of the initiative.
NICE was kicked off at the Fashion Summit, December 2009, held in Copenhagen
during UN Climate Change Conference in December 2009.
The background is the structure of Danish fashion where brands may have ethical
charters and codes of conduct, but many are still too small scale to follow up on the
ideology and make sure that agreements are kept and constantly improved.
CSR advisory services are from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, and the Trade Council.
In 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched its own consultancy for CSR to
complement its other business services to Danish companies involved in outsourcing
and other internationalization activities.
Initially, the consultancy will focus on India and China, but it is expected gradually to
be rolled out to other emerging markets. From the very beginning, fashion is one of
the priority areas.
For fashion companies involved in the poorer developing countries, in particular in
Africa, Danida has a program for assistance to innovative CSR projects, called
Innovative Partnerships for Development (formerly the Public Private Partnership
Program). Companies can receive up to DKK 5 Mio. and up to 90% of the total
budget—in support for projects of this nature.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 80
“Modezonen”/“The Fashion Zone”
The Fashion Zone was founded in September 2008 and was the first to come of four
“experience zones” due to the initiative of the Danish Enterprise and Construction
Authority. The main goal for the Fashion Zone is to give “Fashion Denmark” as a
whole, a platform that strengthens the fashion industry in order to meet the global
competition. In addition it leads to the situation where Denmark has become the fifth
international center of fashion.
Today the global fashion industry is to a great extent concentrated in four cities: New
York, Milan, Paris, and London. These four cities have interdisciplinary networks for
branches within the fashion industry, which has strengthened their position as
fashion centers. A Fashion Zone, with the goal to unite a fragmented Danish fashion
industry, brings Denmark a big step closer to becoming part of the international
fashion elite.
Fundamentally the Fashion Zone plays the part of creating a greater value for the
fashion companies in Denmark by putting in an effort where the companies are not
able to perform the task, for instance, by developing a perennial joint fashion
strategy, which strengthens the formation of clusters through knowledge and
strategic networks and alliances, all across the industry, and in the field between
educational institutions and the industry.
The Fashion Zone consists of a consortium of strong partners from the Danish
fashion industry:
Danish Fashion Institute (Project Manager)
Danmark Designskole
Designskolen Kolding
TEKO
KEA design/business
CBS
Wonderful Copenhagen
Danmarks Eksportråd
Dansk Design Center
Dansk Erhverv/Tekstil og Tøj
Modekonsortiet
The Fashion Zone is inspired by New York fashion district where companies within
the fashion industry are closely located. The result should be a visible fashion milieu
and a place where the companies can collaborate and network with each other. The
Fashion Zone should also assist the start-up companies and other fashion

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 81
companies with business development, export, marketing, etc., thereby hoping that
more fashion companies will show a sustainable growth and become more
professionalized.
The cooperations have resulted in the online fashion platform, Fashion Forum,
www.fashionforum.dk, which has been created for people who work in the fashion
industry. The site has been initiated by the Fashion Zone and will feature in-depth
articles and analysis of the fashion industry domestically and internationally. Fashion
Forum works as a news media and business review site, but it also comprises debate
blogs and in-depth articles as well as people and business profiles.
Copenhagen Fashion Council (CFC)
The Copenhagen Fashion Council was established in April 2010 with the purpose of
ensuring an even stronger Copenhagen Fashion Week for the future. Behind the new
council are the major fashion fairs and organizations in Copenhagen.
The fashion fairs include the following:
CIFF and CIFF KIDS at Bella Center, Gallery International Fashion Fair CPH
(Gallery) at Forum (Gregersen Communication), CPH Vision at Øksnehallen, and
Terminal 2 in the old Locomotive Maintenance Building near the Main Train Station
(Exhibition Professionals).
The founders wish to create an even more exciting and professional event for the
more than 100,000 buyers and representatives from the international press who visit
our fashion week each year.
Copenhagen Fashion Council arranged the World’s Greatest Catwalk in August
2010, a fashion event of unseen dimensions—1,609 meters of pink catwalk, this
broke the world record, 220 models, 100,000 spectators in the streets, and TDKK
150 donated to the Chernobyl Children’s Project International.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 82
Dansk Fashion and Textile (DFT)
DFT is the trade association for Danish textile and clothing companies.
DFT is a trade organization for more than 300 Danish textile and clothing companies.
Rooted in an 1895 employers’ association, DM&T is based in Herning in Jutland, the
home of the big trend-driven fashion business in Denmark, and in 2006 the
federation expanded with a new office in Copenhagen as well.
As a trade organization DFT is dedicated to issues of strategy, resources, and
organization. DFT deals with international legislation and trade conditions in order to
assist Danish companies in expanding their market position.
DFT is the official project leader of Copenhagen International Fashion Fair CIFF.
DFT also plays an important role in coordinating activities during the Copenhagen
Fashion Week and other fashion and textile activities in Denmark and abroad.
On the domestic front DFT work to improve framework conditions by influencing the
political system as well as other stakeholders in the business. Internationally DFT
deals with legislation and trade conditions in order to assist Danish companies in
expanding their market position.
The strength of current Danish fashion is to a great extent based on organizations
founded in the early days such as DFT having a history of more than 110 years.
DFT is specializing in clothes and garments.
Danish Fashion Institute (DAFI)
The Danish Fashion Institute, DAFI, is a network organization aimed to promote
Danish fashion and to develop an extensive global network to support market and
drive Danish fashion forward.
DAFI is a network organization with some 90 brands and labels, independent
designers, and educational establishments. Founded in 2005, the institute is based in
Copenhagen.
DAFI was initiated as part of the effort to support and drive Danish fashion forward
and to promote Copenhagen as the next international fashion metropolis. The aim is
to develop an extensive global network which can promote Denmark as a design
nation with a unique angle on aesthetics and design.
Encouraged by this success and driven by a group of players in Danish fashion, this
led to the establishment of a network organization, Danish Fashion Institute, in the
fall of 2005. The institute has the primary task of promoting the growth and

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 83
international awareness of Copenhagen Fashion Week and to promote Denmark as
a fashion-forward country—a fashion brand in itself.
DAFI is the official project leader of Copenhagen Fashion Week, the largest fashion
event in Northern Europe today. DAFI is also the project holder of the national project
Modezonen.
DAFI has been able to change the fashion week from only focusing on buying to
becoming an event, which extends beyond trade fairs and is more interesting for the
consumers. DAFI has been gathered significant players from home and abroad to
other relevant, professional events during the years.
DAFI is specialized in clothes apart from a few exceptions and is mainly focused on
labels from Copenhagen. DAFI finds its members mainly among a more limited part
of the fashion industry; the innovation-driven fashion players.
Danish Foreign Ministry/Trade Council
The Trade Council offers different options for SMEs who are interested in entering
new markets.
Export Start Program
The Export Start program helps companies to begin exporting to new markets. Here
The Trade Council can assist by doing market analysis, partner search, marketing,
competitor analysis, or by giving other kinds of assistance to get the business going.
The program is for companies that have export potential and already have a clear
internationalization strategy. Moreover, to qualify for the program, companies must
have less than 50 employees and annual revenue of maximum 50 million DKK.
One Export Start Package consists of 35 hours and the company only has to pay 50
% of the expenses.
Export Preparation Package
In addition to the Export Start Package an Export Preparation package is offered.
This program aims at getting companies well prepared to begin their exports. It
consists of individual counseling that focuses on internal relations within the
company. The program finishes with a tailor-made action plan that includes a
concrete plan of activities. Companies that have international potential but do not yet
have a clear internationalization strategy can apply for the Trade Councils Export
Preparation program. Moreover, companies must have less than 50 employees and
annual revenue below 50 million DKK.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 84
Export Preparation is done by experienced consultants, and the program is free of
charge for the company.
BornCreative
The government’s ambition is to strengthen the growth and the development within
Danish design and fashion industry as it is believed that the design industry will
enhance Denmark as a country that is filled with ideas and creativity and at the end
transfer into larger export and more jobs. The government’s vision is to “bring
Denmark back in the world elite of design.”
In order to reach that goal the government has crafted different initiatives that would
support the Danish design industry and that include the Danish fashion industry as
well.
The small- and medium-sized fashion labels do not have much competence within
international trade; therefore it is necessary to support the companies.
An initiative that has been taken to fuel export is the development of BornCreative in
2005, which is part of the Foreign Ministry. The purpose of BornCreative is to
promote Danish design internationally and to assist design companies cope with the
international market. A global team of consultants has been established to achieve
the goals of BornCreative.
BornCreative is a service offer directed at small- and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) operating in creative industries who are seeking to strengthen their
international profiles. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the Trade Council
employs BornCreative Counselors with knowledge of creative lines of businesses
and great experience within export initialization. Based on a service portfolio
particularly relevant to creative firms the counselors are able to construct company
plans tailored to individual needs.
Modekonsortiet (MOKO)
MOKO was founded in 2006 as a platform for fashion research. In a crossover
between public and private fashion institutions in the field of design, clothing,
strategy, marketing, and media, MOKO focuses on the economical and cultural
circulation of fashion and how it can be optimized through networking, shared
knowledge, and research.
The founding of MOKO points to the history of Denmark as a strong design nation
due to its analytical focus as well as its strong educational tradition which is
associated with Danish fashion in general. It is a general notion among international

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 85
observers that Danish designers are well educated and have sound knowledge
foundations within issues such as fashion history, design history, or origin of
materials. Hence, Danish designers are generally conceived as trustworthy and
professional.
The institutions involved in MOKO are four educational establishments to the Danish
Ministry of Cultural Affairs: Kunstindustrimuseet, Center for Designforskning,
Designskolen Kolding, and Danmarks Designskole.
The Fashion Accelerator Program
The Fashion Accelerator Program is a cooperation between Danish Fashion Institute,
TEKO, Dansk Fashion and Textile, Business Link Copenhagen (Væksthuset), and
Business Link Central Jutland.
It offers guidance to start-ups and businesses with ambitions toward growth and
reaching new heights of success. There are five Business Link centers (Væksthuse)
in Denmark covering the five regions. The target group for Business Link is start-ups
and businesses that wish to enter new markets, develop new products, and increase
profit. Business Link identifies the business’s need for development and offers
targeted counseling on the next steps of development. Business Link’s services are
free of charge.
Business Link cooperates with a network of banks, financial institutions, investors,
accountants and law firms, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the Trade
Council of Denmark, and a number of other providers of public service to businesses.
The Fashion Accelerator is a program under Business Link which is offered to Danish
fashion companies with growth potential. Fashion Accelerator strives to strengthen
the business skills of small- and medium-sized fashion companies and give them a
larger network, better working relationships and a clear strategy for growth in their
company.
Fashion Accelerator consists of master classes, theme meetings, workshops and
networking with experts and businesspeople from Denmark and abroad. The course
is made of several modules with themes on sales and marketing, distribution,
sourcing, capital and internationalization. Throughout the course the participants are
supported by skilled mentors and coaches.
Symbion
Symbion is the largest science park in Denmark.
The mission is to commercialize innovative and high-tech projects in the fields of IT,
telecommunication, biotech, pharma, and medtech, by creating

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 86
a conducive entrepreneurial environment, where research meets with trade and
commerce. Moreover, Symbion invests in start-up companies through DTU
Innovation and SEED Capital. Symbion has signaled increased interest in fashion
which can be supported through either GazelleGrowth or Accelerace.
GazelleGrowth
For labels which are looking to expand internationally or looking to bring a new
product to market GazelleGrowth offers hands-on support and know-how for the
internationalization of small to medium-sized innovative Danish (fashion) companies
with high potential and growth ambitions.
An action-oriented program helps selected companies develop a feasible
international market entry strategy with the provision of a dedicated business
consultant, access to an international network of industry experts and, customers,
and a proven strategy development framework. GazelleGrowth is complementary to
the internal functioning of a growth company. The target group for GazelleGrowth is
innovative growth companies with an established customer base in Denmark with
minimum revenue of DKK 2 Mio. and who are looking to internationalize.
Results are attained through a combination of camps run by international experts,
one-on-one meetings with world-class experts and industry experts, operational
support and market intelligence from the Danish Foreign Ministry, and hands-on
support from a dedicated business consultant.
Accelerace
Accelerace offers hands-on support and know-how for start-ups and small companies
seeking to increase the success of their product development and commercialization
efforts. This program provides selected companies with a commercialization strategy
enabled by insight into customers, markets, and competitors, as well as practical
tools, a proven methodology, and a dedicated business consultant. Accelerace
enables companies to meet investors, customers, and/or partners.
The target group for Accelerace are high-potential, small (less than 15 employees)
companies with an internationally innovative product/service in the proof-ofconcept/prototype
phase, looking to develop a commercialization strategy for a
beachhead market.
Results are attained through a combination of camps run by international experts,
Connect springboards, networks to business and technology experts, and hands-on
support from business consultants and MBA students.

Birger Christensen (1869)
Georg Jensen (1904)
Carli Gry (1948)
Søs Drasbæk / Dranella (1956)
Nørgaard paa Strøget (1958)
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 87
Evolvement of Danish Designer Brands
Sysser Ginsborg / Deres / (1957)
Margit Brandt / Margit Brandt Design (1966)
Kirsten Teisner InWear / (1969)
Ivan Grundahl (1982)
Bitte Kai Rand (1986)
Elise Gug (1986)
Sand (1981)
Noa Noa (1982)
Mads Nørgaard Copenhagen (1986)
Samsøe & Samsøe (1993)
Munthe plus Simonsen (1994)
Bruuns Bazaar (1994)
Day Birger et Mikkelsen (1997)
Baum und Pferdgarten (1999)
Peter Jensen (1999)
Rützou (2000)
Jens Laugesen (2002)
Julie Sandlau (2002)

Henrik Vibskov (2001)
Stella Nova (2002)
By Malene Birger (2003)
WoodWood (2004)
Noir/ Illuminati II (2005)
Stine Goya (2007)
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 88

Big Platforms
IC Companys
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 89
Brand Platforms in Denmark
Brands: Peak Performance, Tiger of Sweden, InWear, Jackpot, Cottonfield,
Matinique, Part Two, By Malene Birger, Saint Tropez, Soaked in Luxury, Designers
Remix
Bestseller
Brands: Jack & Jones, Mama-Licious, Name It, Object Collector Item, Only, Outfitters
Nation, Pieces, Selected, Vila, Vero Moda
BTX Group
Brands: Blend, Brandtex, 4-You, B-Young, Share Female, Ciso, Dranella, Frank Q,
Fransa Kids, Fransa, Psycho Cowboy, Freeze, Ichi, Share Female, Signature, Veto,
Jensen Women
Medium Platforms
DK Company: Jasmin, Kaffe, Cream, Sirup, Kön & Mön, and Blue Willi’s
DK Company merged with Pardon March 2011 to DKC Classic Division.
Ball Group: Culture, Pulz, Zizzi, Zizzi Jeans, and Zay
Metropol: Margit Brandt, St.-Martins, S’NOB, SUIT, Noblesse
Small Platforms
Bruuns Bazaar has two own labels and has the ownership of Baum und Pferdgarten.
Aagaard has the ownership of Kranz & Ziegler.
Nümph has five labels: Nümph, HUMÖR, and Rütme for adults, and Kulör and Mini
Nümph for children.

Jewelry
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 90
Leading Danish Fashion Brands
Pandora
Business area: Pandora designs, manufactures, and markets hand-finished and
modern jewelry made from genuine materials and at affordable prices.
Revenues: DKK 6.7 Bio.
Employees: 3,100
Ownership: Initially 59.3% Axcel, now public listed on the stock exchange
Pandora was founded in 1982 by goldsmith Per Enevoldsen and his then wife
Winnie. The company’s roots go back to the 1950s, when Per Enevoldsen’s father,
Algot Enevoldsen, designed and manufactured jewelry.
Pandora designs, manufactures, markets, and sells handmade jewelry all over the
world. Pandora’s core product is bracelets with charms in precious metals and
gemstones which are available in numerous combinations. The bracelets were
launched in 2000 and became the booster for Pandora’s huge success, enabling the
company to double its revenues each year since.
The Pandora jewelry is sold in more than 55 countries on six continents through over
10,000 points of sale, including more than 420 Pandora-branded concept stores.
Georg Jensen
Business area: Jewelry, silverware, and watches
Revenues: DKK 768 Mio.
Employees: 1,047
Ownership: Axcel 70%
Georg Jensen is a global luxury brand offering a wide product assortment from
jewelry to gift articles. Georg Jensen is leveraging 100 years of experience based on
unique design language, craftsmanship, and superior quality to become a high-profile
player in the luxury good markets.
Georg Jensen is present in more than 12 countries through its international retail
network of more than 100 shops complemented by wholesale accounts in Europe.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 91
Georg Jensen product assortment includes diamond and precious stone jewelry,
platinum, gold and silver jewelry, watches, stainless steel and silver cutlery,
hollowware, gift articles for the home and office, and seasonal decorations.
Aagaard
Holding company Bræmer Holding A/S (recently including Kranz & Ziegler)
Business area: Distributor of jewelry
Revenues: Gross profit DKK 72 Mio.
Employees: 147
Ownership: Capidea
Aagaard is a leading distributor of jewelry in Denmark. The company designs, sells,
and distributes jewelry in precious metals in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany,
United Kingdom, Norway, Austria, and USA. The company is located in Svendborg
and Randers.
Shoes and Leather
ECCO
Business area: A world leading brand within innovative and comfortable quality shoes
and other leather apparels
Revenues: DKK 6.1 Bio.
Employees: 15,000
Ownership: Privately owned
Karl Toosbuy—the founder of ECCO—had a dream. He wanted to own a shoe
factory and run his own business. Trained from an early age as a shoemaker, he
gradually rose through the ranks and by his early 30s was managing a shoe factory
in Copenhagen. The business, however, was not his.
As a result, functional, comfortable ECCO shoes were launched in the 1970s and
became an instant success.
Karl Toosbuy was also the first to realize that the shoe industry needed large-scale
industrial production and went on to buy and develop high-tech machinery. He was
also the first to move production to developing countries in order to remain
competitive.

Fashion Clothing
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 92
Bestseller
Business area/Brands: Jack & Jones, Mama-Licious, Name It, Object Collector Item,
Only, Outfitters Nation, Pieces, Selected, Vila, Vero Moda
Revenues: DKK 13.6 Bio. excluding their China operations
Employees: 39,000
Ownership: Privately owned
Bestseller A/S is a privately held family-owned clothing company based in Denmark.
The company was founded in 1975 and has 10 brands. Today, Bestseller has well
over 5,700 stores selling its product in more than 43 countries, which makes it one of
the largest fashion companies in Europe.
IC Companys
Business area: IC Companys runs and develops 11 strong and independent
brands—Peak Performance, Tiger of Sweden, Jackpot, InWear, Matinique, Saint
Tropez, Part Two, Cottonfield, By Malene Birger, Soaked in Luxury, and Designers
Remix.
Revenues: DKK 3.5 Bio.
Employees: 2,500
IC Companys A/S is a Danish listed group formed in 2001 by the merger of Carli Gry
International A/S and InWear Group A/S.
The brands are sold through nearly 500 retail and franchise stores, through ecommerce,
and through close to 10,000 distributors in more than 40 countries.
Ball Group
Business area: Ball Group is a supplier of fashion clothing for women in the standardsize
segment (Culture and Pulz labels) as well as in the larger-size segment (Zizzi,
Zizzi Jeans, and Zay labels).
Revenues: DKK 400 Mio.
Employees: 225
Ownership: Partly Axcel

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 93
The company is active on both the wholesale side and in retail, where the group has
approximately 100 shops in the Nordic region under the Zizzi chain name. Most of
the shops are run on a franchise basis.
Ball Group was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Tistrup in Western Jutland.
Axcel became the majority shareholder in December 2006; however, the founders
have continued to hold a substantial ownership position together with a group of key
employees.
Noa Noa
Business area: Noa Noa is one of Denmark’s strong international brands within
fashion wear to women and children. The collections of Noa Noa are sold to
fashionable women under the brand Noa Noa and to girls of 2–12 years of age under
the brand Noa Noa miniature.
Revenues: DKK 600 Mio.
Employees: 542
Ownership: Axcel 70%
As part of a gradual succession process, the brothers Lars and Harald Holstein have
sold 70% of their shares of the family enterprise Noa Noa to Axcel.
The remaining 30% are still owned by the founders of the enterprise, the brothers
Lars and Harald Holstein. The management of the enterprise and the organization
are continuing unchanged after Axcel’s entry as the controlling shareholder.
Noa Noa sells its products through a combination of wholesale and retail, and today
the products can be bought in more than 110 Noa Noa shops, 45 of which are Noa
Noa’s own. The remaining shops are operated under franchise terms. Moreover, Noa
Noa sells through other 1,700 shops on a total of 18 different European markets.
The most important markets are Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the
Benelux countries.
Nümph
Business area: Nümph has five successful labels—Nümph, HUMÖR, and Rütme for
adults, and Kulör and Mini Nümph for children.
Revenues: DKK 150 Mio.
Employees: 32

Ownership: Partly Capidea
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 94
Nümph is a clothing company that designs and markets fashion clothing on the
Danish and European markets. The products are primarily produced in Asia, and all
logistics is outsourced. The business model has a cost-effective setup which enables
the company to quickly develop new concepts and collections while also getting
these quickly to the market through efficient distribution channels.
BTX Group
Business area: BTX Group consists of 16 individual clothing labels, all positioned in
the midmarket “value for money” segment of the market.
Revenues: DKK 2.050 Bio.
Employees: 683
Ownership: EQT IV (Acquisition date: May 2005)
During the past 15 years, BTX Group has moved from being a production company
to being a wholesaler.
BTX Group has a number of own stores, primarily in the Nordic region, and more
than 25,000 points of sale across Europe. BTX Group, until April 2006 Brandtex
Group, has a development history of more than 70 years. It has a history ranging
from Anna and Aage Petersen’s start under very modest circumstances in 1935 in
the father-in-law’s old water mill in Brande to the present position as an important
fashion group composed of a group of strong, independent companies and brands
with huge international development potential.
The group domicile in Brande has 200 employees.
The companies and brands are today strongly profiled and represented in almost
every aspect of fashion and lifestyle, ranging from children’s wear, teenage wear,
young girls’ and boys’ wear, fashion for the young and mature woman, evening wear,
men’s wear to shoes and accessories.
SoyaConcept
Business area: SoyaConcept A/S is a fast-growing company offering fashionable
women’s clothing to quality- and price-conscious consumers.
Employees: 35
Ownership: Partly 3I

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 95
Working closely with suppliers, SoyaConcept delivers 9 clothing collections a year to
more than 1,000 independent clothing retailers. SoyaConcept is based in
Sønderborg.
Day Birger et Mikkelsen
Business area: Women, men, home collections
Metropol
Business area: Margit Brandt, St.-Martins, S’NOB, SUIT, Noblesse
Bruuns Bazaar
Business area: Men’s and women’s wear, accessories, and eyewear. Bruuns Bazaar
and the younger BZR line.
DK Company
Business area: Jasmin, Karen by Simonsen, Kaffe, Cream, Sirup, Kön & Mön, and
Blue Willi’s. DK Company specializes in developing and managing value-for-money
fashion brands.
Hummel
Business area: Hummel International Sport & Leisure A/S designs, sources, and
markets sport and sport fashion products, and equipment for football, handball,
basketball, ice hockey, rugby, and volleyball.
The company offers beachwear, lifestyle, statement, and old-school clothes, as well
as footwear and accessories for men, women, kids, boys. Hummel International
Sport & Leisure A/S operates as a subsidiary of Thornico A/S.
Underwear
JBS Undertøjet
Business area: JBS is Denmark’s largest and leading underwear manufacturer.
Turnover: unknown
Employees: 300
JBS’s products are sold in many countries, with Northern Europe as its primary
market.

Work Wear
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 96
Kwintet
Business area: Kwintet is the European market leader in the top-to-toe work wear
with a range of strong brands and a reputation for quality among its customers
throughout Europe. The Kwintet group supplies high-quality professional wear for a
variety of uses and industries across Europe and owns a range of strong brands
including Kansas, Fristads, Wenaas, B&C, Lafont, KLM, Simon Jersey, and Hejco.
Kwintet is organized into four divisions: Fristads & Co, Wenaas, Indiform & Co., and
the Cotton Group.
Revenues: DKK 5 Bio.
Employees: 35
Ownership: Acquired from Axcel in December 2005 by IK
The company is headquartered in Malmö, Sweden, and has approximately 3,300
employees.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 97
Danish Fashion Retailed in Copenhagen
You will find most of the Danish brands in Copenhagen. Some of them have their
own flagship store on or around the pedestrian shopping street Strøget. The rest you
will find in the city’s many clothing and shoe shops and department stores Illum and
Magasin.
Baum und Pferdgarten
Their concept store is in Vognmagergade.
Bestseller
Bestseller shops with either Vero Moda, Jack & Jones, Selected, Only, Vila, Pieces,
and Exit can be found all around Copenhagen and vicinity including Copenhagen
Airport.
Birger Christensen
Birger Christensen remains the leading fur and fashion house in Scandinavia with a
flagship store on Østergade/Strøget.
Bitte Kai Rand
Their own store is located in Lille Strandstræde.
Bruuns Bazaar
Bruuns Bazaar has a section for men and one for women in Silkegade.
By Malene Birger
Malene Birger’s flagship store is in Antoniegade. In addition, she has her own shop in
Copenhagen Airport.
Day Birger et Mikkelsen

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 98
The fashion house has a large concept store in Pilestræde.
Designers Remix Collection
Designers Remix Collection has its own store in Pilestræde.
Elise Gug
Elise Gug’s shop is located on Store Kongensgade.
ECCO
There are 6 ECCO stores in Copenhagen and vicinity including Copenhagen Airport.
Companys
IC Companys has their multibrand store at Strøget.
Cottonfield, Jackpot, InWear, and Matenique can also be found at Copenhagen
Airport.
Figaros Bryllup
In Figaros Bryllup you will find necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, and cufflinks in
the design of Marlene Juhl Jørgensen. Materials are gold, silver, and platinum.
Flying A
At Flying A you will find a good selection of both Danish and international brands
inspired by Dover market in London.

Georg Jensen
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 99
Georg Jensen has a big concept store at Strøget and at Copenhagen Airport.
Heartmade
Heartmade has a small concept store in Pilestræde.
Henrik Vibskov
Henrik Vibskov runs a shop in Krystalgade in Copenhagen. You will also find other
brands in the store.
Holly Golightly
Holly Golightly has two shops—one with accessories in Store Regnegade and one
with clothes in Gammelmønt around the corner. Most of the brands are international,
but some selective Danish innovative brands can be found there as well.
InWear/Matinique
InWear/Matinique is located on Østergade on Strøget in Copenhagen.
Ivan Grundahl
Ivan Grundahl opened his first shop in Copenhagen in 1982, and it still exists in Niels
Hemmingsens Gade.
Julie Sandlau
Julie Sandlau has her flagship store in Niels Hemmingsens Gade.

Lot 29#
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 100
Copenhagen’s most New Yorker–style clothing store is located in Gothersgade. The
two Danish women, Cecilie Kølpin and Line Hallberg, combine their own clothing and
jewelry designs with other labels from around the world.
Mads Nørgaard Copenhagen
Mads Nørgaard Copenhagen is found at Strøget.
Moshi Moshi
Moshi Moshi is a multibrand fashion store with a separate clothing and shoe shop
in number 34 and 40 on Dag Hammarskjöld Allé in the Østerbro area. The clothes,
shoes, and accessories reflect a delicate combination of today’s trends and a very
personal style with focus on quality, Nordic minimalism, and sustainability.
Munthe plus Simonsen
Munthe plus Simonsen has their concept store in Grønnegade.
Noa Noa
You will find their store on Strøget and in Copenhagen Airport.
Ole Lynggaard
Concept stores can be found in Ny Østergade/Strøget and Copenhagen Airport.
Pandora
Pandora has a concept store at Strøget and at Copenhagen Airport.

Pilgrim
Pilgrim can be found at Copenhagen Airport.
Rützou
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 101
Rützou has a concept store in Store Regnegade.
Samsøe og Samsøe
Samsøe og Samsøe has stores in Studiestræde and Pilestræde, and one of
Værnedamsvej in the Vesterbro area.
Sand
You will find the Danish men’s and women’s fashion label Sand in elegant
surroundings on Østergade on Strøget. They also have a store at Copenhagen
Airport.
Soaked in Luxury
You will find Soaked in Luxury on Købmagergade 30 in Copenhagen city center. The
label is also sold in IC Companys on Strøget and at Copenhagen Airport.
Storm
The architect-designed store Storm in Store Regnegade is like no other in
Copenhagen. It radiates international coolness in both appearance and choice of
goods and is considered to be one of the highest-profile concept stores in
Scandinavia and Europe.
Ticket-to-Heaven
Ticket-to-Heaven has their own concept store in Vedbæk (20 km from Copenhagen).

Wettergren og Wettergren
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 102
In the cozy basement shop in Læderstræde you will find fine jewelry by Julie
Wettergren and stylish designs from, among others, Graumann, Julie Fagerholt, and
Aymara. The style is casual with knitwear, fine scarves, fine leather bags, and cult
fragrances from Santa Maria Novella.
Zarah Voigt
At Zarah Voigt In Gammelmønt you will find a broad selection of jewelry, such as
bracelets, rings, necklaces, brooches, earrings, and hair accessories.
Benedikte Utzon
Benedikte Utzon has a concept store in St. Kongensgade close to Kgs. Nytorv.
WoodWood
WoodWood has a shop in Krystalgade.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 103
Designer Awards
The national and international perception of Danish fashion as a successful industry
with new talents ever emerging is partly due to the efforts to promote talented Danish
designers by awarding and nesting up-and-coming designers.
In 1985, weekly fashion magazine Alt for Damerne was the first to launch an annual
design award. Since then, the fashion business has celebrated itself with numerous
design awards communicating an image of Danish fashion as constantly on the
move, innovative, and made by real people for real people.
The design awards have been picked up by the media as a good story, and with a
range of award shows every year, the design awards play an important part on the
self-perception of Danish fashion today. The most important awards are presented
below.
Guldknappen
Guldknappen (the golden button) was the first Danish design award launched by Alt
for Damerne fashion magazine in 1985. Designers such as Munthe plus Simonsen,
Susanne Rützou, Malene Birger, Trine Skoller, and many more have been awarded
with Guldknappen for unique and characteristic and at the same time affordable and
functional contribution to Danish fashion design.
Den Gyldne Pelsnål
Den Gyldne Pelsnål (the golden fur pin) is one of Denmark’s most prestigious design
awards, giving young designers a unique opportunity to present their ideas on
contemporary fur design. Every year, five designers are selected to create their
individual fur design within just 48 hours. The designers have complete freedom of
choice in their choice of materials and shape as long as fur constitutes the main
element of the design. Den Gyldne Pelsnål was launched by the Danish fur industry
in 1999 in a desire to work closer and more proactively with the fashion industry in
promoting up-and-coming Danish design as well as Danish fur. The result of the
designers’ work and the winner of the award are presented at a large-scale fashion
show.
Ginen
Ginen (the dressmaker’s dummy) was launched by fashion magazine IN in 2001. It
honors talented and innovative Nordic designers showing creative and artistic
interpretations of current trends. It is crucial that the design is original and functional
at the same time.

DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 104
DANSK Fashion Awards
To give Danish fashion all the attention it deserves, DANSK Magazine instigated
DANSK Fashion Awards in 2008. The award promotes and celebrates the flourishing
Danish fashion industry in no less than 15 different categories at a spectacular award
ceremony at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek.
Designers’ Nest
Designers’ Nest is an integral part of CPH Vision.
Designers’ Nest was created in 2003 as a professional and international platform for
Nordic design graduates to show their talents. CPH Vision has made available a
building for seven Nordic design schools: Danmarks Designskole, Copenhagen;
Designskolen, Kolding; TEKO, Herning; Beckman’s Designskole, Stockholm;
Swedish School of Textiles, Borås; University of Art and Design, Helsinki; and
Iceland Academy of the Arts.
Five graduate students from each school are selected to exhibit and present their
exam project. Designers’ Nest aims to expose and promote up-and-coming Nordic
designers to the global buyers, designers, press, and trendsetters who visit the
biannual fashion fair, thus consolidating and expanding Denmark’s status as a
fashion and design nation.
The Designers’ Nest Award
The Designers’ Nest Award was awarded for the first time in February 2005.
Created in order to select a particularly skilled and promising design student, this
accolade from the established world of fashion and design comprises an award
created by a Danish designer and a cash prize of DKK 50,000. The cash prize is
intended to allow the winner to further hone and promote his or her talent for design.

Henrik Spandet-Møller
Danish Fashion Going Global
www.danish-fashion-going-global.dk
1st edition May 2011
Front cover:
DANISH FASHION GOING GLOBAL 105
Jens Birger Christensen models pose at the Danish ambassador Freddy Harhoff’s
car during a fur promotion in New York 1966.
Publisher:
Henrik Spandet-Møller / HSMH Holding ApS ©
Callisensvej 23, 1
DK 2900 Hellerup
ISBN 978-87-994539-0-0
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