According to Vogue, Copenhagen, voted the greenest capital in Europe, one of the ten best places to live in the world, and home to one of the largest and most important fashion summits, announced a sustainability action plan during the fashion week, which encourages and evaluates brands to act in a more conscious and responsible manner.

“This moment serves to reaffirm what we believe: that fashion weeks need to take action to drive a sustainable transition within the fashion industry and not just be a platform to showcase collections,” Cecilie Thorsmark, CFW CEO.

CO2 emissions from a fashion week – compared to the manufacturing impact – are small. Approximately 70% of emissions are from upstream operations, such as production and processing of materials. While CFW is working to reduce its own emissions and plans to return to being a live event, its biggest influence will be in reducing negative impacts within the industry in general.

“CFW can play a vital role in setting a global agenda”, “its action plan encourages participating brands to become more sustainable in a relatively short period of time” say Rikke Baumgarten and Helle Hestehave, founders of Baum und Pferdgarten.

The CFW 2023 action plan includes 17 minimum requirements that brands will have to meet to accelerate the sustainable transition – such as not destroying unsold clothing, having at least 50% certified, organic, recycled or reused textiles in all collections and to use only sustainable packaging.

The guidelines now also state that brands must offer equal opportunities and operate a safe, healthy and respectful work environment for all employees, free from harassment and discrimination. “We wanted to develop work guidelines that considered all aspects of the business value chain,” says Thorsmark. “You could get a high score, but neglect to consider an area such as working conditions – that’s what motivated us to add minimum standards.” “In our world, you have to look at sustainability holistically. I don’t think you can call yourself a sustainable brand if you’re not actively working throughout your entire value chain”.

For now, Copenhagen is an exception in the monthly fashion calendar with a minimum standard of sustainability for the participating brands, but CFW CEO expects other platforms to use work guidelines.

” If we want to have a real impact globally on the fashion industry, then it’s not just CFW that should be doing it”, said Thorsmark. “The industry is definitely receptive to change now”, “most brands have embarked on their sustainable journey”, “we need other fashion weeks and other major fashion platforms to continue with that work too”.