Cueva and CIFF bring the spirit of New York to Copenhagen A new collaboration celebrating menswear at Copenhagen Fashion Week

For its 67th edition, CIFF welcomes Cueva, the New York-based multi-brand menswear retailer founded by Justin Felizzari, to Copenhagen during Copenhagen Fashion Week SS27. From August 3 to 5, the CIFF × Cueva space will bring together four exclusive capsule collections created in collaboration with Barena Venezia, Doppiaa, YMC, and Small Talk Studio, expressing a shared vision rooted in craftsmanship, creativity, and the value of relationships. The project reflects Cueva's approach to the world of menswear: creating a space where independent brands, designers, and communities can come together through unique products and a shared commitment to quality, research, and design. 

Each collaboration grows out of a direct relationship between Cueva and the brands involved, highlighting the increasingly significant role of multi-brand retailers as places of discovery and dialogue. The initiative with Cueva also fits into the new direction of CIFF, the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair, founded in 1993 and today an international platform increasingly focused on building connections between brands, retailers, and audiences, through new models for the future of physical retail and its role within the contemporary fashion system.

We spoke with Justin Felizzari, Founder of Cueva, and Sofie Dolva, Director of CIFF, about how this collaboration came about, the dialogue between New York and Copenhagen, the importance of community, and how physical retail can evolve at a time of profound transformation for the fashion industry.

How did the collaboration between CIFF and Cueva come about, and what does this project mean to you?

Sofie Dolva: It came about the way so many of the best things at CIFF do: through a relationship. We had been following Cueva for some time, and what Justin has built in New York is exactly the kind of retail we want to present to our brands and buyers: an independent, highly curated store that has grown by working closely with the brands it carries. Justin is bringing four brands to Copenhagen - Barena, YMC, Small Talk, and Doppiaa - and each of them is presenting an exclusive capsule collection created for this occasion, offering a concrete demonstration of how a close collaboration between a brand and a retailer can generate real value.

Justin Felizzari: CIFF reached out and invited us to participate in Copenhagen. It was a great honor, because it's a very important platform and many of the brands we work with have their roots right here. I've always had a deep admiration for the city and for its menswear scene. For us, this project goes far beyond a simple pop-up. It's an opportunity to show people what Cueva is really about. We're not just a store that buys collections; we love working closely with brands, creating exclusive products together, and building long-term relationships. That's what makes this project so special.

What does it mean to bring the spirit of New York and its menswear scene to Copenhagen, creating a dialogue between two cities and two different creative cultures?

Justin Felizzari: New York is a city built on individual expression. I think that's exactly what makes the city so special. That same spirit is reflected in Cueva. Our community is made up of people from very different worlds, it's an incredibly diverse group, and it's precisely that diversity that makes it interesting. I think the New York menswear scene is all about individuality. There's no single way to dress; everyone brings something different, and that's the spirit we wanted to bring with us to Copenhagen.

Sofie Dolva: Copenhagen has become one of the most important cities in the world for menswear, while New York has a more spontaneous retail culture that is deeply rooted in community, something that doesn't exist here in quite the same way. Bringing Cueva to the Bella Center isn't simply about importing a store; it's about putting two very different retail realities in the same room and allowing brands and buyers to see what can emerge from their encounter. The four capsules are a physical embodiment of that exchange. It's something tangible, something you can experience and take with you.

What does it mean to you to build a community around fashion today, and how important are relationships and the exchange between people, brands, and creatives?

Justin Felizzari: For me, relationships are everything. A lot of people think retail is simply about selling clothes, but I don't see it that way. It's about people first and foremost. Of course business matters, but without the community, Cueva wouldn't exist. The brands we work with aren't just suppliers, they've become friends. The same goes for our customers. Some have been shopping with us since day one and have become part of the Cueva family. When you build genuine relationships and truly care about people, everything else follows.

Sofie Dolva: Fashion is a relationship-driven business, and it always has been. Orders are placed between people who trust each other, and the brands that manage to weather the hardest times are the ones that have built the strongest bonds with their retailers. That's exactly why CIFF exists. We're not simply a venue with stands: we're a space where those relationships can begin, grow, and be sustained, increasingly throughout the year, not just twice a season.

(For Sofie Dolva, Director of CIFF) What did you see in Cueva that reflects CIFF's new direction and its role as a platform for connection within the fashion industry?

CIFF is evolving from a traditional trade fair into a genuine platform, and a platform must offer more than just square footage. It must give people something they can actually use. What I saw in Cueva is a concrete answer to the question many retailers are asking themselves today: How do I stand out at a time when physical retail is under pressure?

Justin's answer speaks to the value of deeper collaboration with brands, a more precise curation, and a genuine understanding of your own audience. Four brands, four exclusive capsules, created together with people he has built a real relationship with. It's a lesson that can be applied equally to a small independent store in Copenhagen and to a large international chain. Showing concrete examples, rather than simply talking about them on a stage, is exactly what I want CIFF to stand for.

(For Justin Felizzari, Founder of Cueva) What is the role of physical retail today, and how do you envision the evolution of physical spaces as places of discovery, connection, and culture?

I believe physical retail is actually becoming more important today. You can buy almost anything online now, so stores need to offer something different. They need to give people a reason to walk in. For us, that means helping someone discover a new brand, explaining why a fabric is special, describing how a product is made, or simply having a great conversation. Sometimes people come in and don't buy anything, and that's perfectly fine. I believe the future belongs to stores that can create experiences, build communities, and offer customers something they simply can't find online.