After a year into its ‘sweeping’ sustainability strategy publicized in January 2020, Copenhagen Fashion Week has issued its first yearly report. Where the Copenhagen Fashion Week want to strictly maintain transparency, while it inspires other fashion brands to do the same.
The report says that 2020 was an ‘extraordinarily eventful and challenging year’ and the COVID-19 global pandemic ‘unleashed unpredictability, unprecedented changes and a new normal on the world’.
Though, it adds that 2020 also provided ‘a much-needed focus on social issues and injustice’ with discussion on bigotry, inequality, racism and the environment.
Cecilie Thorsmark, Chief Executive of Copenhagen Fashion Week said, “Despite a challenging year, we believe that the status of our Sustainability Action Plan shows the potential of our strategy and three-year targets to inspire and push fashion companies to embrace more sustainable business practices. Although unable to meet every one of the goals set for 2020, most goals were accomplished and we look forward to continuing the work.”
Although the fashion organization reports that it did not fulfil all of its goals set for 2020, it did record what it calls ‘significant milestones’ in fetching further sustainable.
In the report, Copenhagen Fashion Week also notes that growth was made in the development of the 2023 sustainability requirements for participating brands. In order to take part in its fashion week by 2023, brands will have to obey with least standards as well as get a minimum points score in a sustainability survey.
All over 2020, in collaboration with Rambøll, In futurum and Dansk Fashion and Textile, Copenhagen Fashion Week has developed a sensibly partisan point system, which reflects both impact and challenge level, to allow the technical implementation of the requirements in an online survey for brands to fill out.
Furthermore, Copenhagen Fashion Week started discussions with the local trade fairs to endeavor towards a closer alliance of its sustainability goals.
The trade fair Ciff has committed to starting a procedure of adopting the 2023 sustainability requirements “in a way that resonates with and creates value for their own platform as a fashion fair, their business model and their exhibitors and buyers,” clarified fashion week organizers.
This transfer means that Ciff, as of 2023, will need brands to obey with Copenhagen Fashion Week’s minimum standards and get the minimum score needed in order to exhibit.
