What people are wearing in Scandinavia: The CEO Edition

Introducing the CEOs - the baddest bitches in the fashion industry.

They say you should dress for the job you want, and in the fashion industry it matters all the more. But at the top of the ladder, how much do they really care about what they wear?

Over the years we’ve seen what people working in fashion are wearing: the trendy PR girls, the artsy designers and stylish creative directors, but what about those that have business, and not fashion, as their priority? The ones that (I quickly learned) have absolutely no interest in being photographed?’

Keep scrolling to find out.

At Stine Goya, two captains steer the ship, so when it comes to CEO Thomas Hertz’s style, it’s only natural to also turn to his wife and creative director, Stine Goya herself. The 'it' mum and dad of Scandinavian fashion dress for work with a playfulness the brand is famous for: “No matter what, we always add some colour” says Herta, glancing sweetly at Goya (if you are single and want to feel more single I suggest spending 10 minutes with this pair.).

Running operations in the office and at home with their two little boys, the pair’s approach to dressing for work has changed as life has shifted. For Goya, “dresses and heels were my go-to, and I rarely wore flats”. Jump to now: “With two kids and many collections later, my approach varies and is more relaxed.”

The traditional ‘I work with numbers’ uniform is history for Hertz – the CEO can barely remember the last time he wore a suit. “Today you can dress more personally… It’s almost expected... and I like it”. In a nod to his industry’s old friend, he says: “Thinking about it, I’m actually missing a nice suit - maybe it will soon be time for it.” While a shift in favour of formality might be due, for now this CEO is happy to embrace a more lighthearted approach, native to the ship he co-sails.

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For Sellpy CEO Michael Arnör, convenience drives both his business and his wardrobe. More explorative in career than style, he says his approach to dressing has stayed the same since his college days. Throughout his eclectic past as army ranger, engineer, and Stanford scholar to management consultant, and now co-founder and CEO, his ethos for getting dressed has always been to “keep it simple”.

Aiming to offer accessible, affordable, and sustainable clothes for everyone, Arnör is happy to leave fashion to the customer – whatever that means to them. I ask him what he wants his wardrobe to say about him. “I don't spend too much time thinking about that.” His lightning-speed response reminds me that I’m talking to the CEO of an innovative platform, not a fashion brand. An engineer to his core, Arnör is more interested in lead times and delivery speed than buyers’ meetings and fashion weeks.

Implementing secondhand into his own wardrobe was too a choice of convenience and logic. “Why would I buy a new shirt for 500 kr when I can get the same one for 120 kr secondhand? And the fact that somebody's worn it before, I mean, I literally don't give a s***. What do you do when you go to a hotel? Do you sleep in their sheets? Or do you bring your own?”. Man’s got a point.

Every time I see Cecilie Thorsmark, CEO of Copenhagen Fashion Week, she is floating graciously through a packed schedule of shows and events, hair slicked back, wearing an amalgamation of Scandi brands, her Chief Operating Officer (director of getting s*** done) Isabella Davey somewhere in her radius.

At an office where the topic every week is fashion week, I couldn’t help but wonder if her job leaves her feeling stressed to serve at all times? But it turns out her own outfits are usually left to the last minute, “It’s definitely not always ideal when I have an important event or appearance - or fashion week – but I guess I’ve learned to make really quick decisions.” At the time of our conversation, Thormark is getting ready to head off to The Fashion Awards in London and admits to not having even thought about what she’ll wear, preferring to “embrace the spontaneity rather than stress about it.”

Having implemented sustainability standards at fashion week, Thorsmark happily holds herself to the same standards, her work wardrobe primarily made up of brands that follow the CPHFW Sustainability Requirements. A girl that can walk the walk as well as talk the talk - just what fashion week needs.

The Han Kjøbenhavn HQ is the mecca of hot tattooed Copenhagen guys. So what does their head honcho wear to work? For Daniel Hummel, it was his childhood friend and creative director of the brand, Jannik Wikkelsø Davidsen who got him out of the suit and tie. Life before fashion emergencies involved actual emergencies – in his role as managing director for a rapid response healthcare service, where he donned the classic corporate uniform. Switch to now, where there's “almost an expectation to dress fashionably... to show who you are”.

The deal between the pair is crystal clear. Hummel does business, and Wikkelsø Davidsen does the creative.“The ideas come from Jannik. If I have one good idea, Jannik has 20. And that's the way it should be”. When it comes to which wins out, Hummel is diplomatic: “I think they have to clash,” he says, before admitting “...It’s usually the creative part that wins.”

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Hummel’s favourite piece to wear from the brand right now is their technical running gear, which is no stretch from what he grew up wearing, “Jannik and I, we're from the suburbs, right? We've been in the football club forever. The brand is a continuation of where we're from.”

At a small fashion brand, CEOs often wear more than one hat, and it’s no different for Sania Claus Demina. Getting dressed for a day in Demina’s (heeled) shoes demands equal amounts of comfort and class, her daily to-do’s ranging from design to customer service to accounting and PR.

Her approach to dressing for work is simple. “I guess I want to feel like I have my s** together” reasoning that “I built this on my own and I want to be taken seriously”. She describes her office style as having a bit of edge and power to it, partially down to an observation she made on the job: “I notice a difference in how I was perceived when wearing a black suit versus a floral dress”.

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For Demina, a pair of heels is an important part of her outfit formula and is committed to offering others something that is flattering, comfortable, and chic. And when you slip into one of her soft leather numbers I guarantee you’ll feel all three.