娱乐英语新闻:Copenhagen Fashion Week opens with understated elegance, innovative design

COPENHAGEN, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Northern Europe's biggest fashion week began here Wednesday with a focus on understated elegance and innovative design, to suit the needs of both consumers and producers in a world pulling-out of recession.

"We are in an industry that has suffered quite a bit from the financial crisis," said Eva Kruse, CEO of Copenhagen Fashion Week (CFW). Speaking to journalists at the CFW launch, in Copenhagen City Hall, Kruse said the fashion industry is "facing a new reality, a new kind of consumption."

She believed this is reflected in the current CFW, where a relatively small selection of designers are being showcased.

"It looks like people are keeping it very tight," she told Xinhua about her expectations for the event. "It is a very professional fashion week. People are doing exactly what they need to in order to present their collection, targeted at the right audience."

Copenhagen, the self-styled fashion capital of Scandinavia, hopes to rival established fashion hubs like London, Milan, Paris and New York. Some of the designers exhibiting at CFW are Malene Birger, Stine Goya, Spon Diogo, Baum und Pferdgardten and Veronica Vallenes, who recently won the Max Factor New Talent Award 2011.

The CFW, which runs until Feb. 6, will host a program of 35 shows by various designers, five trade fairs catering to a global clientele, make-up shows, street-catwalks, late-night shopping for designer labels, music and food events and exclusive fashion parties.