Accelerating sustainability efforts in the fashion industry

The Sustainability Requirements were introduced by Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPHFW) in conjunction with their first sustainability strategy in January 2020.

The Action Plan 2020-2022 outlined how CPHFW aimed to reduce the event’s climate impact, resource consumption and waste creation while accelerating the sustainability efforts of brands given the influential role fashion weeks are playing in the wider fashion eco-system. The Sustainability Requirements came into effect with the AW23 edition of fashion week in January 2023 and have since been updated once based on CPHFW’s learnings as well as industry and policy developments (in the EU).

Since their launch, CPHFW joint forces with multiple organisation that are adapting the framework for their organisations and brand network, currently counting CIFF, Oslo Runway and Norwegian Fashion Hub.

The Sustainability Requirements Framework

The Sustainability Requirements span the focus areas Strategic Direction, Design, Smart Material Choices, Working Conditions, Consumer Engagement and Showcase.

  • Strategic Direction

    Actions aim to embed sustainability in the overall business strategy, for brands to better set milestones, keep track of progress and measure impacts.

  • Design

    Actions aim to minimise a product’s negative environmental and social impacts throughout the value chain based on thoughtful design and development practices.

  • Smart Material Choices

    Actions aim to reducing harmful impacts on people and planet based on choices related to a brand’s material consumption and production processes.

  • Working Conditions

    Actions builds upon human equality where all people are born with fundamental freedoms and inalienable rights, and aims to challenge existing social inequalities and the negative impacts of employment in the fashion industry.

  • Consumer Engagement

    Actions aims to challenge fast production and consumption cycles by encouraging brands to rethink current business models and stragetically engage with customers.

  • Showcase

    Actions aim to limit resource consumption and waste creation, while ensuring events are accessible.

Since fashion and sustainability encompass a multitude of aspects, the six focus areas touch upon economic, environmental, cultural, social and ethical issues. For this reason the Sustainability Requirements were developed to permit flexibility and cover the multifaceted approaches that brands use when working with sustainability.

The framework is divided into two aspects

Being aware that the requirements are not a new or additional certification or reporting system, CPHFW decided to focus on the Minimum Standards as the main admission criterion to become part of our fashion week. Although brands report on the addition actions as well, answers in that category will not benchmark brands for the Official Show & Presentation Schedule; rather, they can be used by brands for inspiration and self- evaluation purposes.

  • Minimum Standards

    Brands have to comply with to be part of the official Official Show & Presentation Schedule.

  • Additional actions

    Brands can and are encouraged to take based on their business model which are not admission criteria for the official Official Show & Presentation Schedule.

As a biannual event, CPHFW and our partners may not directly influence the everyday operations of brands, but we believe that our sustainability requirements are crucial in advancing the industry’s practices from a full value chain perspective, extending beyond showcases and presentations. For more details, visit the CPHFW website.

Supported by dedicated partners

  • Knowledge partners

    Copenhagen Fashion Week’s Knowledge Partners are long-term and close collaborators feeding into our sustainability strategy and requirements.

  • Sustainability Requirements Partners

    Copenhagen Fashion Week strives to share knowledge and accelerate the fashion industry’s sustainability efforts through their Sustainability Requirements.

  • Sustainability Committee

    The Sustainability Committee is an external committee tasked with screening CPHFW brands’ sustainability requirements survey responses.