Sustainability Strategy & Reporting
Copenhagen Fashion Week strives towards making substantial changes to the way the organisation and event is operating and works to accelerate the industry’s sustainability efforts.
Our vision is to be an agenda-setting platform that uses its voice to accelerate sustainability efforts in the fashion industry. Copenhagen Fashion Week approaches sustainability holistically by focusing on environmental and social challenges and by acknowledging cultural and behavioural aspects that are crucial to reinventing and innovating business models in the long run.
That is why Copenhagen Fashion Week aspires to lead by example by not only being an inspirational fashion event but an organisation that addresses sustainability holistically for us as well as the brands and partners we work with.
Sustainability Action Plan and Sustainability Requirements
Keenly aware of the fashion industry’s substantial environmental and social impact, Copenhagen Fashion Week announced its goal to intensify efforts to become an agenda setting platform and event.
During 2019, Copenhagen Fashion Week developed their Sustainability Action Plan 2020-2022 which was unveiled in January 2020: Reinventing Copenhagen Fashion Week – Reducing negative impacts, innovating our business model and accelerating industry change. The new Action Plan 2023-2025 is the continuation of our first strategy and follows the pillars: educate, reduce, accelerate.
The Action Plans present how Copenhagen Fashion Week aims to reduce its climate impact and resource consumption while fostering partnerships and driving sustainability efforts in the industry through the Sustainability Requirements.
Annual Sustainability Report
Copenhagen Fashion Week annually reports on our sustainability efforts based on the targets set in the current Action Plan. It showcases our commitments, challenges and ambitions in living up to our strategy, discussing the barriers we faced and our plans to overcome them to progress in the future. This report is important to us as it gives us the opportunity to reflect on the past year, fulfils our ambition to be transparent and creates a possibility for knowledge sharing and conversation.
To learn more, access the reports below!
Annual Sustainability Report 2023
You can access past reports here:
Annual Sustainability Report 2022
The Sustainability Requirements introduce a minimum set of standards that all CPHFW show and presentation schedule brands must comply with.
As of 2020 Copenhagen Fashion Week introduced their first Sustainability Action Plan that set out to incur longterm change within the fashion industry.
That Action Plan introduced a minimum set of standards that all show & presentation schedule brands must conform to. Since the January 2023 only show & presentation schedule applicants whose sustainability efforts meet the minimum standards will be considered for the official Copenhagen Fashion Week show and presentation schedule.
In March 2024 Copenhagen Fashion Week launched revisions of the Sustainability Requirements based on industry developments and learnings from the past years as well as close observations and mapping of the EU policy landscape. These updates will replace the current framework and be the new mandatory admission criteria for brands on the official show and presentation schedule as of January 2025.
You can find more details under Sustainability Requirements.
Event and Show & Presentation execution guideline
The Event and Show & Presentation execution guideline lays out the fundamentals on how we at fashion week strive to execute our events. Our goal is to produce events that consider their climate impact and the scarcity of raw materials as well as the wellbeing of attendees, models and employees behind the scenes.
By making the Event and Show & Presentation execution guideline publicly available, we also strive to provide inspiration for brands, production agencies and suppliers alike. It is meant to be a practical and inclusive guideline for everyone executing and producing events and covers recommendations related to planning and decision making on areas such as venue, production, hospitality or food and beverages, alongside guidance to ensure accessibility and good working conditions for models, staff and freelancers.
Access the full guide here.