How Fashion Weeks Can Drive Real Sustainability

Fashion Weeks have always been seen as the pinnacle of innovation and trendsetting, influencing not just style but the direction of the industry. In 2020, Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPFHW) stepped out from the pack with a move that was as bold and pioneering as many of the styles featured on its runway that year. They were the first global Fashion Week to introduce sustainability requirements for participating designers. I was one of many who were genuinely excited by CPFHW’s striking intent—an influential platform leveraging its spotlight to advance environmental gains and a shift in luxury fashion. Who didn’t like that?

Those heady times have recently been tempered by greenwashing allegations directed at CPFHW and numerous participating brands. Now, attention is turning to whether sustainability expectations set by major platforms can actually trickle down to reshape fashion into something fundamentally more sustainable—or whether such initiatives are inherently doomed to be disconnected from material change.

Sustainability commitments without substantive actions mean little and expose institutions, companies, and the industry to larger risk. We know that CPHFW is not the only body facing criticism for sustainability frameworks where delivery falls short. This past season’s runways were still dominated by conventional, high-impact materials. Only a handful of designers showcased collections that reflect meaningful environmental progress. CPHFW’s requirement for collections to feature at least 50 percent certified “sustainable” textiles was a welcome push. But without verification, innovation in materials, and scaled production of the low-impact alternatives, fashion risks sustainability being relegated to marketing campaigns, rather than the path to resilient, low-risk supply chains that it really is.

Of course, there will always be a lag between commitment and changed reality. Supply chains don’t transform overnight. Game changing innovators, be it Circ, Circulose or Rubi, need to scale and old ways of working need to be renegotiated. But to navigate a consumer market with rising expectations, an increasingly complex regulatory landscape, and conventional supply chain volatility due to extreme weather, fashion must embrace circularity as a core element of business.

At New York Fashion Week, Christian Siriano’s 2023 collection featured Next Gen fabrics made from Circ fiber, showing that sustainability and style can walk hand in hand. Stella McCartney, a long-time partner in Canopy’s CanopyStyle and Pack4Good initiatives, has embraced alternatives like NuCycl, made from post-consumer textile waste, and mycelium-based leather into her lines. Danish pacesetter Ganni recently signed a deal with Ambercycle to integrate Cycora®, a circular polyester made from post-consumer textile waste, into its collections, replacing 20 percent of its virgin polyester. Other more mainstream brands and retailers are doing so as well.

To move from intention to industry norm, fashion must scale these Next Generation solutions—verified low-impact materials that protect forests by using textile and agricultural wastes as inputs, slash emissions, and provide brands with quality materials to satisfy today’s conscious consumers. We have already seen the industry change business-as-usual on expedited timelines. Thanks to leading brands engagement over the past eight years, more than half of global viscose production is now verified at low risk of originating from Ancient and Endangered Forests, and dozens of Next Gen products are already on the market. We are now seeing the early signs of a systemic shift away from conventional ‘take, make, waste’ production. Major production hubs like China are shifting towards circularity—with a growing number of Chinese conventional viscose producers launching Next Gen production lines in the past few weeks alone. Momentum is building.

But that does not mean that there are not still structural challenges for brands and designers to navigate. Existing supplier contracts, and early-to-market premiums can slow progress for innovative materials. And as policy pressures mount—from the EU’s Green Claims Directive to evolving disclosure regulations — fashion must have the substance to back its sustainability storytelling. At this stage of the transition, as brands double down on pulling through early-to-market Next Gen materials, incentives are all the more important. Aggregation platforms and creative approaches to transition funding are in development.

In light of the pushback against CPFHW it would be easy to step back from pushing for change. But now is not the time to step back—and if this week’s ban on wildlife-derived materials by Australian Fashion Week is any indicator, the fashion ecosystem knows it as well.

Perhaps, it’s another couple of years until Next Gen solutions are produced at scales that enable fashion weeks to host entire programs only with designers that meet 50 percent sustainable materials standards. In the interim, Fashion Weeks, be it CPFHW, New York or Paris, have a vital role to play in making that a reality sooner than later. They need to be clear about the gap between their goals and current status—and showcase those designers and brands that are truly leading the way. I look forward to a front row seat for that first show!

Fashion has always been about what’s next. Let’s make that future one where our clothes no longer cost the Earth.

Nicole Rycroft is the founder and executive director of environmental not-for-profit, Canopy.