Gags Are Out, Sustainability Is In: Introducing A New Kind Of Fashion Week
by Zibby T.W.
@jamescochranephoto | Sinéad O'Dwyer
We’re officially in fashion week season, which brings up a mix of excitement and some very justified criticism. As sustainable baddies, we know that seasonal showcases are part of the larger trend cycle machine. Historically, fashion week is a show of excess that incentivizes consumption and platforms an inaccessible upper echelon of society. However, it’s also a place for us to see up-and-coming designers, increasingly more from underrepresented backgrounds, and it’s a singular space for artistic and sustainable innovation. Fashion week, for all of its virtues and faults, is a feature of the garment industry, and can be a site for radical change. When we think about fashion weeks and activism, it’s usually those images of PETA activists covered in red paint. But in years since, both designers and organizers have progressed in meaningful ways, particularly outside of the United States. This month, our eyes have been on Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPHFW), a showcase uniquely marked by its commitment to sustainability and ethical production. CPHFW shows us how Fashion Week can catalyze change by using its cache as a must-be-at event for designers to implement more ethical, conscious processes; disruption in fashion can mean circularity and evolution over temporary shock value.
CPHFW requires all brands to abide by sustainability requirements and minimum standards to participate. To showcase, designers must submit proof that their collections satisfy all of CPHFW’s 19 action points. Action points range from requiring that designs be made primarily from deadstock or preferred natural fabrics; designs be free of virgin fur, feather, and animal skin; and harm-free working conditions at all levels. CPHFW’s commitment to sustainability creates an incentive toward better production norms for both emerging and longstanding brands: if they want to walk, they have to do it with people and planet in mind.
@jamescochranephoto | Baum und Pferdgarten
At this year’s Spring 2025 Fashion Week showcase, international guests ranging from designers, influencers, activists, celebrities, and even government officials sat in audiences, walked on runaways, and showcased designs, all while engaging in conversation around fashion and its impact on our planet. Brands like (di)vision, Joao Maraschin, Deadwood, and more showed out in dazzling susty presentations. Other onlookers, including representatives from Berlin Fashion Week, touted CPHFW as a change agent, inspiring Berlin to introduce similar benchmarks and minimum requirements as they prepare for future events. Chain reactions like this one are exactly why fashion weeks can be invaluable for a sustainable future. Collaborations across cities and cultural contexts can lead to resource and knowledge sharing in sustainable design. And even for individual designers and brand representatives, observing the innovation of the designers at Copenhagen Fashion Week inspired many to approach their own lines with more awareness towards sustainability.
Although sustainability standards have not yet made their way to fashion weeks in New York and Los Angeles, they aren’t being ignored. Over the last year, we’ve watched designers, big and small, sign on to support New York state’s Fashion Act, a fashion industry regulation bill affecting brands shipping to and selling out of New York state. Some U.S. brands are looking for ways to make this completely unregulated industry a better one for consumers, garment workers, textile farmers, and all residents of our shared planet. CPHFW is a change agent, inviting the conversation and pressuring the global market to follow suit. As more cities in the EU and abroad reflect on the standards set by Copenhagen Fashion Week, we believe there will be a powerful ripple effect. The world (especially sustainable baddies everywhere) will be watching closely.