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”.

Brazil is the 4th largest producer and 2nd largest cotton exporter worldwide. More than 75% of domestic production has socio-environmental certification. The cotton produced in Brazil by Abrapa (Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers) members follows criteria such as the prohibition of labor of children, analogous to slavery or degrading work conditions, preserves biomes, respects and conserves natural resources and develops the economy of the producing regions.

That was how the Sou de Algodão (I’m made from cotton) came to be: at SPFW- in the main fashion week in the country- showing fashion designers, journalists and opinion makers that cotton endures in fashion and is versatile enough to follow strongly in future collections.

Since the beginning of the movement, in 2016, the numbers show how much Brazilian fashion values ​​cotton, “in addition to having the entire vertical chain, from plume to garments production, 237 brands- from the most diverse segments- joined the movement in 2020: from small entrepreneurs to major brands, all for the sake of responsible fashion and conscious consumption ”, Júlio Cezar Busato, president of the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers.

With the pandemic, the textile industry and fashion brands suffered immediate hits with a big drop in sales and no clear prospects for the future. Sou de Algodão created campaigns such as #produzidonobrasil (#madeinbrazil). The movement’s exclusive tag brought the message of appreciation for the domestic production chain to all brands that want to communicate the partnership. Used in products with a minimum composition of 70% cotton, Sou de Algodão has distributed over 7.5 million tags to most of 350 affiliated brands.

Today, there are more than 430 affiliated brands. Some are Abest members, such as Iorane, Cecília Prado and Martha Medeiros. Other affiliated among more than 30 acclaimed fashion designers are João Pimenta, Reinaldo Lourenço, Isaac Silva, Das Haus (Rober Dognani and Felipe Fanaia), Fabiana Milazzo, Angela Brito and Amapô, in addition to brands from the most diverse segments, such as MMartan and Artex, Kyly Group, Lunelli Group, Track & Field, Melissa (Grendene), Ginger- from actress Marina Ruy Barbosa, and Lojas Renner. In addition to brands that reach the final consumer, there are important and traditional conventional weaving and knitting plants and textile mills that provide the basis for the collections of all Brazilian brands, such as Vicunha, Canatiba, Covolan, Cataguases, Menegotti, Dalila Têxtil, Renauxview and G. Vallone among others.

One of the main actions this year is the 2nd challenge Sou de Algodão + Casa de Criadores, a cultural contest aimed at undergraduate students in fashion courses, design and related areas. “We designed an entire experience that, in addition to rewarding the winning student with a permanent place in the official line up of the main Brazilian fashion week, brings information and, why not, training to these young people who are the future of Brazilian fashion”, Júlio Cezar Busato, president of the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers. Among the mandatory activities for enrollers- in addition to creating an exclusive collection with 6 complete looks- the movement offers a series of videos with tips from experts on various topics, such as cotton, sustainability, fashion, styling and fashion show production among other topics.

Another planned action is an activation at the point of sale with affiliated brands of the movement to get closer and talk to the consumer, explaining what it means to take home a piece made with this natural fiber so important for the industry, for families and for the country’s economy.

They also initiate two new pillars: the business one, involving affiliated brands, and the colleges one, aiming to establish partnerships with the country’s fashion education institutions.

BOF Sustainability

Sustainability: what brands are prioritizing in 2021

Sustainability and conscientious consumption are the current goals to tackle as the sector learns more about its impact on the planet.

BoF looks at the issues that are likely to turn the spotlight on in 2021.

The past 12 months have radically reshaped the fashion industry, but sustainability remains one of the sector’s themes and challenges.

While the pandemic is an ongoing and immediate crisis, brands are doubling down on commitments to reduce emissions, keep clothing in a virtuous loop of recycling and tackle human rights abuses in the supply chain in a bid to mitigate the risk that the next disaster to hit the industry is environmental.

“The industry is not resilient to crisis and that is worrying,” said Morten Lehmann, chief sustainability officer of the Global Fashion Agenda, an industry advocacy group. But there’s a growing understanding that the industry needs to change if brands are to align with global climate goals and increase consumer interest in more socially responsible models.

“We see a polarization of brands, where some see sustainability as a way to become more resilient,” Lehmann added.

There’s certainly no shortage of problems to pick from, but a number of key issues are coming into focus this year as brands react to the social, economic and technological shifts of the last 12 months.

Scaling Circularity

Companies have been talking about ways to minimize waste, keep clothes in circulation for longer and scale up recycling technologies for years, but 2021 looks set to be a pivotal moment for the circular fashion movement.

The pandemic served to highlight fashion’s huge over-production problem and ratcheted up pressure within brands to find economic ways to manage excess inventory. That’s boosted the profile of the resale market, sparking the interest of luxury brands, preventing second-hand marketplaces from affecting their brand value.

Last year, Gucci partnered with The RealReal and LVMH flagged in December that it is looking at ways to integrate resale into its business.

Elsewhere, brands like Cos and Levi’s have launched their own resale offers, and second-hand platforms Poshmark and ThredUp are gearing up to go public.

Though the second-hand apparel market is still relatively small, it’s growing fast, with sales expected to more than double from $28 billion in 2019 to $64 billion in 2024, according to GlobalData estimates cited in a 2020 report by ThredUp.

Those numbers make it particularly appealing for executives looking for ways to boost their sustainability credentials and their bottom line.

The potential to shift to more circular models is set to get an additional boost in 2021 as recycling technologies that have been years in development finally begin to scale.

“The [next] key thing is going to be scaling technologies now, because a lot of them have just reached pilot scale,” said Laura Balmond, program manager for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Make Fashion Circular initiative.

For instance, over the next 12 months, one of H&M Group’s suppliers is test-driving a machine that can recycle blended cotton and polyester in a factory setting for the first time, with the fast-fashion giant committed to supporting the technology’s wider rollout if all goes well. Meanwhile, textile recycling company Renewcell listed on the Swedish stock market in November, with plans to ramp up production capacity almost fivefold by 2026.

To be sure, volumes still remain fractional within the context of the global textile advancements and building on the progress made in the coming year will require long-term commitment and widespread industry collaboration.

“Circularity is a much bigger idea than just one technology, or one change in the business model,” said Balmond. “It really is looking at the whole system within which clothes are offered and how they’re made.”

The Next Big Thing: Biodiversity

Fashion brands aiming to level up sustainability ambitions are increasingly looking beyond initiatives that simply reduce harm to opportunities to have a positive impact. That’s increasing focus on one of the industry’s most poorly understood and complex environmental pain points: its effect on biodiversity.

It’s a relatively emergent topic within the fashion sector, reflecting a broader and growing awareness of the devastating impact climate change and industrial agricultural practices have had on the world.

For instance, a recent report by the World Wildlife Fund found animal population sizes have declined 68 percent since 1970 as a result of ecological disturbance that has affected around three-quarters of the planet’s ice-free land. Agricultural practices linked to many of fashion’s key raw materials are one big contributor.

The issue is expected to gain more attention next year as a central component of The Fashion Pact, a high-level coalition brought together by Kering Chief Executive François-Henri Pinault at the request of French President Emmanuel Macron in 2019.

As part of a broader set of goals intended to tackle fashion’s biggest environmental risks and pressure points, signatories committed to developing biodiversity blueprints by the end of last year. In the coming months, companies are expected to set clearer targets to develop solutions based on their findings.

“We’re so out of balance with nature at this point. And so we can’t expect nature to bounce back on its own,” said Claire Bergkamp, chief operating officer of Textile Exchange, a nonprofit aimed at improving the environmental standard of raw materials production. On the other hand, understanding and addressing biodiversity could prove pivotal in addressing the climate crisis.

“How we manage our agricultural processes is going to dictate whether or not we can actually achieve the 45 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030,” Bergkamp said, referring to global goals to reduce emissions to a level that would avoid catastrophic climate change.

Social Justice

Climate has dominated fashion’s discourse on sustainability in recent years, but the cultural unraveling and economic devastation caused by the pandemic has shifted focus back onto long-standing social challenges.

From Leicester to Dhaka to Xinjiang, reports of labor rights violations in the garment and textile industry have piqued the attention of consumers, investors and policymakers. The reports haven’t simply served as fodder for PR scandals; they’ve also increased regulatory scrutiny, hit share prices and sent investors running.

The crisis has raised the profile of calls from human rights campaigners and labor advocates to address long-standing problems in the fashion supply chain, pushing for more systemic change to ensure workers are paid living wages and guaranteed decent working conditions.

But the pressure to change isn’t just coming from labor rights groups. Allegations of widespread human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang autonomous region, where one-fifth of the world’s cotton is produced, have left the industry exposed to intense regulatory scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic. The United States has said it will bar entry of all cotton products and tomatoes imported from the region.

It’s a challenge for the fashion industry, which has little visibility over the raw materials origin in its supply chain, but it’s ratcheting up pressure for brands to optimize its system.

“For a large percentage of the industry, that lack of traceability and the lack of long-term, equal partnerships with manufacturers, and the vulnerability of many manufacturing countries with their weak institutional setups, has really come to the fore in 2021,,” said Lehmann of GFA.

The coming year presents new challenges that threaten the fundamental business of fashion, but it also presents an opportunity to improve practices that have failed to meaningfully advance for years.

“We can’t go back to business as usual,” said Amina Razvi, executive director of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. “That would be the worst outcome.”

Osklen introduces OSKLEN AG, the brand's most sustainable sneaker as a result of combining the brand's best socio environmental practices in 20 years. " A more conscious relationship with the planet has been inspiring us to do research and create products that can be a more sustainable option for our customers from a long time ago. For over 20 years we have dedicated ourselves, in a pioneering way, to the purpose of sustainability, incorporating our style and design into ethical products that inspire more and more people to adopt a more balanced and conscious lifestyle", says Oskar Metsavaht, founder and creative director of OSKLEN. 

OSKLEN AG promotes the chain of new sustainable materials with a guarantee of origin, transparency, traceability and income generation for riverside and indigenous communities. 

OSKLEN AG is a milestone in the sneaker category, by using in its manufacture an elaborate and rich mix of sustainable raw materials in a single project. Developed to create the least possible environmental impact, it promotes the economy of the floresta em pé (standing forest- the sustainable use of forest products and harvest) and the generation of income and the empowerment of riverine groups, indigenous and communities in Brazil. 

From reused waste to fully traceable leather, the sneaker line uses e-fabrics, raw materials of sustainable origin developed in partnership with Instituto E, in addition to natural latex from the Amazon. The manufacture of each pair of sneakers uses discarded tires, cork, rice straw, sugar cane, cotton thread and canvas waste. The raw materials used are: eco canvas made from recycled fibers and cotton; certified bovine leather with traceability guarantee, zero chromium; Osklen AG sole- a combination containing natural latex from the Amazon and reused waste (recycled rubber, discarded tire powder, cork and rice straw)- and green EVA insole produced with 70% sugar cane. 

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