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 2022
You can access past reports here:
The Sustainability Requirements introduce a minimum set of standards that all CPHFW show schedule brands must comply with by 2023.
As of 2020, Copenhagen Fashion Week introduced their 2020-2022 Sustainability Action Plan that sets out to incur longterm change within the fashion industry. In order to deliver on our vision to become a leading fashion week, the Sustainability Action Plan introduces a minimum set of standards that all show schedule brands must comply with. As of Copenhagen Fashion Week AW23 (31 January - 3 February 2023), all show brands on the official show schedule have been through an extensive screening process and are living up to the 18 Minimum Standards.
The Sustainability Requirements are an online self-assessment survey covering 76 questions divided into six focus areas: strategy, design, materials, working conditions, consumer engagement and show production, hence encompassing a full value-chain perspective
The 76 questions of the Sustainability Requirements are divided into two parts:
- Minimum Standards: The Minimum Standards function as the entry criteria for brands to be on the official show schedule of Copenhagen Fashion Week and must be met. Brands are screened on them by an external Sustainability Committee. The Minimum Standards will be expanded and updated annually to keep accelerating brand efforts. As of January 2023, they count a total of 18.
- Additional questions: Next to the Minimum Standards, the Sustainability Requirements survey covers 58 additional questions within the six focus areas in which brands receive a brand-individual score based on their self-assessment. The score is calculated based on the impact and complexity level of each question/action.
In recognition of already existing guidelines, tools, codes of conduct, standards, certifications and/or agendas, many of which have been taken into account when developing the Sustainability Requirements, CPHFW strove to achieve alignment and a shared focus.
You can find more details under Sustainability Requirements.