CPHFW Official Talk Program: More Than a Garment – The Ripple Effect of Adaptive Fashion
Our SS26 talk series with Vogue Business as media partner make up a vital element of the official schedule each season, representing an opportunity to dig deeper into wider issues facing fashion.
Copenhagen Fashion Week will bring the SS26 talk program to a live audience, with a dedicated talk being held each day in the Copenhagen Fashion Week Talk hub hosted in Verpan, right in the center of the city.
Attendance to the talk program is open to the public and will be on a first come first served basis and will include a 30-minute panel talk followed by a 15-minute Q&A. The talk will activate the global network of Copenhagen Fashion Week, inviting industry leaders from a variety of organisations and practices to speak across the topics at hand.
Furthermore, Copenhagen Fashion Week is excited to announce Vogue Business as an official media partner, who will use their global audience to amplify the reach of the talks that will be launched as podcasts post release.
About Verner Panton:
Verpan – for Verner Panton – is a design company working closely with Verner Panton Design to preserve, reissue and recontextualise the Danish architect and designer’s radiant body of work.
Born in 1926, Verner Panton came to represent a new direction and energy in Danish design history – deeply original, daringly experimental – for close to five decades. Creating visually distinctive furniture, lighting and objects as well as immersive interiors, his spirit and work remains radically ahead of the curve. Concerned with the future and our capacity to imagine it, his vast output is full of vibrant and playful pieces with a social character, made to be enjoyed, for pleasure.
More Than a Garment – The Ripple Effect of Adaptive Fashion
Beyond access, a discussion on the transformative power of Adaptive fashion for wearers and fashion brands.
For the forthcoming season, Zalando will present the second edition of its Adaptive Fashion talk series, continuing the dialogue launched in January. This session will focus on the transformative power of Adaptive fashion for wearers and fashion brands, exploring the challenges and opportunities in inclusive design and social impact.
To explore the topic, moderator Kay Muwoki, Senior D&I Manager at Zalando, brings together Lauren Wasser, Model & Activist, Emma Matell, Casting Director at Emma Matell Casting, and Francesca Harvey, Apparel Designer at Adidas.
Moderator:
Kay Muwoki, Senior D&I Manager, Zalando
Kay is a global inclusion strategist with over 15 years of experience driving equity-focused change across Europe, Africa, and North America. Currently leading inclusive brand programs at Zalando, she shapes initiatives that connect D&I and commercial impact. Her background spans leadership roles at UNICEF, Transparency International, and INCO, where she built cross-sector partnerships and guided strategic transformation. She brings a systems-level perspective and a zeal for amplifying Adaptive innovation and inclusion in the fashion industry.
Panelists:
Lauren Wasser, Model & Activist
Lauren Wasser, "fashion's girl with the golden legs," is a model, actress, and activist. Her career shifted in 2012 after contracting life-threatening menstrual Toxic Shock Syndrome (mTSS), leading to the amputation of both legs. Lauren bravely reclaimed her narrative, transforming her prosthetics into striking golden legs and relaunching her career at New York Fashion Week in 2018. She has since walked for major brands like Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga, starred in Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty shows, and earned "Woman of the Year" accolades. Lauren uses her platform to advocate for the safety of feminine hygiene and women's rights, proving that beauty thrives in diversity and that dreams are always worth pursuing.
Emma Matell, Casting Director, Emma Matell Casting
Emma is one of the industry's most astute, progressive young voices in casting. Hailing from Copenhagen and based in London, her ethos is guided by a desire to afford visibility to bodies and identities that have historically been absent from prestigious fashion narratives. Ethically conscious and all-encompassing, Emma's work is a testament to her generation & social attitudes, and positions her as a key figure in the introduction of unexpected and radical perspectives on beauty to contemporary fashions visual discourse. Emma's clients include Vivienne Westwood, Diesel, Gucci, Sinéad O'Dwyer, Cecilie Bahnsen and magazines including The Face, Dazed, i-D, Another Magazine & Acne Paper.
Francesca Harvey, Apparel Designer, Adidas
Francesca is a British apparel designer based in Nuremberg, Germany, currently working at the Adidas headquarters as a Performance Sportswear Designer. In her role, she led the design of Adidas’ first released adaptive garments tailored specifically for individuals who use wheelchairs, supporting both sports and everyday wear. These designs were offered to teams of athletes in the lead-up to the Paris Paralympics 2024 and are also available commercially. Francesca holds a diverse academic background in fashion, accessories, and 3D digital design, having studied at Central Saint Martins, Kingston University, and Amsterdam Fashion Institute [AMFI]. Her multidisciplinary experience informs her innovative approach to performance sportswear design, with a strong focus on inclusivity and functionality.
