When it comes to fashion weeks, there used to be four key cities: New York, London, Milan and Paris. While they remain titleholders, a host of other cities spanning everywhere from Berlin to Seoul and Lagos have been vying for the same recognition in order to become “the fifth fashion week”. But so far only one real winner has emerged: Copenhagen fashion week. On Tuesday, the Danish showcase, which has helped catapult homegrown brands including Ganni into the international spotlight alongside spearheading sustainability initiatives, kicked off the start of its 20th anniversary celebrations.

What began as the merging of two small trade fairs in 2006 has now become a key biannual event on the fashion calendar attracting editors from glossy publications including Vogue, buyers from global luxury stores and influencers who descend in their droves for the street style scene. But back in its infancy in 2006, it was mainly met with scepticism. Cecilie Thorsmark, the chief executive of Copenhagen fashion week (CPHFW), describes the showcase’s founder, Eva Kruse, as “a visionary”. The former Eurowoman magazine editor “set out from the start to make it the fifth fashion week. But she was met with a lot of doubt. People found her vision to be unrealistic. Yet, here we are today”.

Cecilie Bahnsen’s ‘meticulously crafted’ dresses appeal to US customers. Photograph: James Cochrane

Since CPHFW’s inception, the Danish fashion industry has grown significantly. Fashion is now the country’s third-largest export commodity. International demand from countries including the US and Germany are up 84% and fashion now represents 5% of Denmark’s total merchandise exports.

Linda Cui Zhang, fashion director of Nordstrom, a luxury retail chain that operates in 39 US states, says Danish brands appeal to its customers as they “embody principles of the Scandinavian lifestyle”, pointing to Cecilie Bahnsen’s intricate romantic dresses that are “meticulously crafted and versatile enough for many occasions” and Lié Studio’s sculptural jewellery “made to be worn daily.”

Reflecting on its vicennial anniversary, Thorsmark, who became chief executive in 2018, says the biggest highlight has been the successful implementation of its sustainability framework. In 2020, CPHFW gave brands three years to meet 18 minimum standards – ranging from the banning of plastic hangers to rules around the type of textiles that could be used – or face being banned from the schedule. For an industry known for greenwashing, it was a bold move. In its first year, several brands failed to meet its requirements but today more than 30 brands comply, while fashion councils in Britain and Germany are also following its lead. Thorsmark says the framework has “really underlined the potential of taking a fashion week and transforming it from a showcase event to a catalyst for change”.

One the country’s biggest success stories is Ganni, a brand that has popularised everything from leopard-print jeans to fruit-emblazoned T-shirts, leading it to a £500mn valuation in 2022. As a further marker of its success, two years later it followed in the footsteps of Bahnsen, another homegrown talent, and decamped to Paris fashion week, the acme of fashion, home to Chanel and Dior.

Copenhagen fashion week helped Ganni ‘to become an international brand’. Photograph: Ganni

Ditte Reffstrup, the brand’s creative director, says showing biannually in Copenhagen from 2014 – during which its #GanniGirls street style phenomena emerged – was instrumental to its success. “There is no doubt Copenhagen fashion week has been our main stage and helped us to become an international brand.”

It is a sentiment echoed by Rikke Baumgarten and Helle Hestehave, co-founders of Baum und Pferdgarten. When they took part in the inaugural edition of CPHFW their families helped build the catwalk, friends helped cut out seating cards and the show was watched by mainly local or Scandi press. Twenty years later, the brand is stocked in more than 30 countries. “In the beginning the shows were far more primitive and intimate,” Baumgarten says. “It felt much more amateur. Copenhagen fashion week has changed enormously, and it has been a crucial platform for our growth as a brand. Giving us visibility, credibility, and the opportunity to evolve from something very local into something truly international.”

Reffstrup says CPHFW is essential for supporting new talent, and Ganni now assists by providing patronage and mentorship to emerging Nordic brands. “You can very easily drown in Paris or Milan. There are so many brands to compete with and even to get a time slot on the schedule is difficult. Here in Copenhagen you are centre-stage.”

This year a new homecoming annual slot has been introduced, with the aim of welcoming back brands after presenting elsewhere. Holzweiler, which has most recently shown in London, will be the first to take part on Wednesday. It was inspired by Bahnsen, who last August staged her 10th anniversary show in the Danish capital rather than Paris. Thorsmark says: “The ambition will never be to keep brands in Copenhagen for ever but to support them in whatever feels relevant for the brand itself so that they continue to develop and thrive. Even though we do miss the brands incredibly, it’s a positive progression that shows the potential of what we can nurture in Copenhagen.”