2020 has revealed a very unique year of its kind. The pandemic has forced repeated lockdowns, which in part slowed production and slowed down the global market, on the other hand, offered a time for developing thoughts and challenges to be achieved. So it is also for Copenhagen Fashion Week that had already announced a year ago its commitment in the name of sustainability, transparency, and ethics of the participating brands, urging the fashion world to follow suit.

The Copenhagen Fashion Weeks 2020-2022 Sustainability Action Plan was finalized last year. This is an action plan aimed at eliminating textile waste and increasing the commitment on the part of the participants to improve data relating to respect for the environment.

The 2020 annual report published by the organizers revealed although the objectives are not yet fully achieved, a very positive data regarding the CO2 emissions generated by the participating brands: compared to 2019 in which the figure was equal to 45 tons, 2020 reports only 22.38 tons. This is very encouraging and helps to define even more in detail a line to follow, also in terms of travel.
In fact, during the Fashion Week 2020 in August, emissions were also reduced due to travel restrictions.

“Despite a challenging year, we believe the status of our sustainability action plan shows the potential of our three-year strategy and goals to inspire and push fashion companies to adopt more sustainable business practices,” said Cecilie Thorsmark, Copenhagen Fashion Week CEO.

But it is not enough to reach the set goals: Copenhagen Fashion Week has decided that from the next editions, starting from 2023, it will evaluate and select the participating brands based on ecological standards, which will follow even more restrictive minimum standards.

Unity = strength

An important goal of the CFW is to create alliances with local events in aligning the same parameters of sustainability, following the minimum requirements established by Copenhagen Fashion Week. In this sense, the CIFF fair has given full participation.

With this approach, Zalando, main promoter of the CFW, issued the Sustainability Award, launched on the Zalando Greenhouse, the digital platform created exclusively for the Danish fashion week, within which it is possible to interact with the fashion collections of the Prize finalist brands. Among which, Henrik Vibskov, the colorful Finnish brand Marimekko, and House of Dagmar, which stood out as the winner of the first Zalando Sustainability Award.

Here the link: Zalando Green House

Zalando also joins the leading network for the global circular economy by joining the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) and is committed to applying the principles of circularity and extending the life cycle of at least 50 million fashion products by 2023.

Here, the link to: The sustainability Copenhagen fashion week report

Discover all the Copenhagen Fashion Week brands: 31 are the brand chosen at Copenhagen Fashion week, according to their ethical and eco-friendly vision.
Here is the link to view every selected brand collection presented digitally and their video shows:
All brands - Copenhagen Fashion Week