By ELLE Denmark, August 2026
CIFF is moving fast. Over the past three years, the Danish fashion trade show has grown from 200 exhibiting brands to 1,000. And it doesn’t stop there. CIFF is set to become an international fashion platform that the industry simply cannot afford to ignore – that is the vision of its director, Sofie Dolva. ELLE met with her to talk about new initiatives and CIFF’s role as a springboard for the future of Danish fashion.
YOU HAVE BEEN AT THE HELM OF CIFF FOR ALMOST FOUR YEARS NOW. WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF HAVING CHANGED?
It’s the growth itself – but not the numbers in isolation. We have gone from 200 to more than 1,000 brands in three and a half years, and that only tells part of the story. What I am most proud of is that we have made CIFF relevant again. We have turned it into a place that brands actively want to be part of – not because they have to, but because it gives them something.
Making a platform attractive enough that the market chooses you is the hardest thing to achieve, and also the most meaningful.
WHAT ROLE SHOULD CIFF PLAY IN THE MAJOR CHANGES TAKING PLACE?
We need to be the place where the industry comes together to think ahead – not just to sell. Consumer habits are changing faster than ever, orders are coming in differently than they did five years ago, and geopolitical uncertainty is affecting sourcing and pricing.
In this reality, brands and buyers need a platform that is not just a marketplace, but a place where they can get their bearings, gain perspective and meet the right people. That is the role CIFF needs to fulfil.
WHAT WAS THE REALISATION BEHIND THE DECISION TO DEVELOP THE PLATFORM?
That two weeks a year simply isn’t enough. It wasn’t one major realisation – it was many conversations with brands and buyers who were saying the same thing: we need you all year round.
Relationships aren’t built through two trade shows. Brands need visibility, buyers need insight, and the industry needs a shared meeting point that doesn’t switch off on 31 January and turn back on again in August.
CIFF Media is our answer to that – an editorial and content layer that keeps the platform alive throughout the year.
WHERE DO YOU SEE THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH?
Paris is the obvious answer, and that is no coincidence. The buyers are in Paris. Not all of them – but enough that it is a strategic necessity to meet them there.
Our ambition is to establish CIFF as a two-city platform: Copenhagen as the foundation and creative nerve centre, and Paris as the international window.
Beyond that, I see CIFF Media as an independent growth engine – both B2B, where we can give brands and buyers genuine market insight, and eventually B2C, where we can build a direct bridge to consumers.
HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT INTERNATIONAL BRANDS AND BUYERS PRIORITISE COPENHAGEN?
By making Copenhagen Fashion Week indispensable. We work closely with CPHFW to ensure that the overall experience of coming to Copenhagen is strong enough that people choose to travel here rather than to another destination.
It’s about the programme, the curation of brands, the buyers we actively bring to the city – and the atmosphere and energy that Copenhagen has, which no other city can replicate.
It’s not something you can buy your way into. It’s something you build over time.
Twice a year – during CPHFW – CIFF opens the doors to its trade show at Bella Center with 1,000 exhibitors. Just three years ago, that number was 200. Among them are Danish fashion brands such as Herskind and MKDT Studio, presenting their collections to buyers.
CIFF and CPHFW work closely together to ensure that the overall experience of coming to Copenhagen is strong enough for the international fashion industry to travel here rather than choose another destination. Pictured here are CIFF Director Sofie Dolva and CPHFW Director Cecilie Thorsmark.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE CIFF IN 2026?
Relevant. Ambitious. Alive.
Relevant because we have earned our place in the industry’s conversation – not just during Fashion Week, but throughout the year.
Ambitious because we are not satisfied with simply consolidating – we are building further.
And alive because that is what sets us apart from many other platforms: things happen here. There is energy, there is something new, there is an appetite to create.
WHAT IS CIFF’S MOST UNIQUE STRENGTH?
The combination of scale and a curated character. We are Europe’s largest combined trade show for men’s and women’s fashion – giving us a breadth and appeal that few can match.
And yet, we are not a mass event. We actively curate who takes part and what happens. That combination is difficult to achieve and even harder to replicate.
Then there is our location in Copenhagen, during one of the world’s most respected Fashion Weeks – an advantage we should never take for granted.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE PEOPLE WILL SAY ABOUT CIFF IN FIVE YEARS?
That CIFF is the place you simply cannot afford to ignore.
Not just as a trade show – but as a platform.
That people follow CIFF Media because it gives them genuine insight into what is happening in the industry. That brands from around the world actively seek a place with us, not only in Copenhagen but also in Paris.
And that the industry sees CIFF as a partner in navigating a complex time – not simply as a sales event twice a year.
WHAT PERSONALLY INSPIRES YOU WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE OF FASHION AND CIFF?
The brands that don’t play by the old rules.
There is a new generation of designers and brand builders who think differently about what a collection is, what a showroom is, and who their customer is.
They are not afraid to experiment – and they need a platform that gives them the space to do so.
That is the part of our work I find most meaningful: creating a space where the next great brand can emerge and be seen.
WHICH PARAMETERS ARE MOST IMPORTANT WHEN ASSESSING WHETHER CIFF IS SUCCESSFUL?
Not just visitor numbers and turnover – although both are, of course, important metrics.
For me, the most important parameter is returning rate: how many brands and buyers come back. That tells us something about the real value they experience.
Then there is the number of new international brands we attract.
And, in the longer term, whether CIFF Media creates an audience that engages with us between the trade shows.
Success for CIFF in 2026 looks different from success in 2020 – and the parameters we measure ourselves against need to reflect that.
*This article has been translated from Danish into English.
