Hitting the runway next
Greenwashing in fashion weeks and trade shows, plus which fashion week system #rewiringfashion proposes
Welcome to The Crisps–your weekly newsletter on anti-greenwashing and honest fashion communication. In this issue, we dive into greenwashing at fashion shows and trade fairs – and look at a proposal of #rewiringfashion.
From Milan to Paris, New York and London, the fashion week season has kicked off again. With it comes a series of extravagant events, buyers, media and influencer hopping from one show to the next, from one city to the other, and from continent to continent. Next to the “big four” London, Milan, Paris and New York, there are many other cities with busy fashion week/fair schedules including Copenhagen, Tokyo and Seoul.
By simply taking place, fashion weeks and trade fairs have a significant environmental impact – even though it’s still just a fraction of the overall impact of the fashion industry. Just to give you a glimpse and better understanding: According to the platform Statista1, “Carbon Trust & ORDRE collected data on the emissions generated from the business travel of designers and buyers attending fashion weeks and collections in a year. The researchers found that in the 12 months starting from the Spring/Summer 2018 season, a total of 241,000 tonnes of carbon emissions were created from air travel, accommodation, intercity travel, and the transportation of collections by roughly 11,000 individual retail buyers and 5,000 designers. That would be enough to light up Times Square, New York City for 58 years.”
And their collected data doesn’t even include journalists and influencers.
Now, we could open up a discussion of whether fashion shows should exist or not. But we’re not focusing on this angle today. Also not on emissions. Because as we all should know by now, sustainability is not JUST about emissions. And it is without question that fashion weeks (and the hype they create) are a key factor in driving overproduction and overconsumption.
So instead, we want to talk about greenwashing traps for fashion weeks and a new way of approaching them with #rewiringfashion.
Greenwashing at fashion weeks and trade shows
Originating in the late 1800s, fashion shows have transitioned from private salon events to mass entertainment spectacles. In recent years, sustainability initiatives have popped up. But a closer look oftentimes reveals that a robust framework for holding brands accountable for their sustainability claims is missing.
This opens the doors to greenwashing and misleading information and may result in:
🔹 the impression that the majority of the shown brands adhere to higher environmental and social standards than the mainstream
🔹 brands making grand promises without facing consequences for failing to meet them
🔹 the discussion of sustainability solely focusing on the product level, but very rarely on policy and/or systems level
🔹 brands distracting consumers from the urgent need for a radical transformation of the entire fashion ecosystem
To make sure sustainability initiatives at fashion shows are not a breeding ground for greenwashing, a robust framework is key.
Copenhagen Fashion Week introduced a Sustainability Action Plan in 2020. It sets a minimum of requirements that all brands showing at Copenhagen Fashion Week have to conform to. But what does it cover and do their criteria go far enough?
We will get into the nitty-gritty in our pro issue next week! We will have a look at the sustainability criteria of the “sustainable” fashion weeks and trade shows like Copenhagen Fashion Week, Innatex Germany and Neonyt Germany, check how far their criteria are publicly available, criteria dimensions, and accountability of auditors.
#rewiringfashion – a new way of approaching fashion weeks?
As we mentioned above, part of the environmental impact caused by fashion weeks comes from all the business travel associated with it. Initiated in May 2020 the #rewiringfashion proposal facilitated by The Business of Fashion aims to “rewire” the fashion calendar and industry model – also to cut back on necessary travel.
The proposal for the global fashion industry is based on ongoing conversations among independent designers, CEOs, and retail executives worldwide.2 They proposed:
To reset the fashion calendar
Issues: Fashion shows are staged too far ahead, making copycat designs possible, are out-of-sync with delivery dates, and drive excessive travel.
Proposal: Rethink the timing of shows, buying periods, and product deliveries. Combine men’s and women’s fashion weeks in January/February and June. Align shows, deliveries, and real-world seasons. Synchronize buying periods with current season presentations.
Reimagine fashion shows
Issues: The format hasn’t changed for more than 50 years, includes celebrities and influencers to create buzz but fashion shows “are not optimised for this new instant, digital world where fashion imagery travels at lightning speed, limiting the return on the customer desire created by our investments in fashion shows.”
Proposal: Reposition fashion shows to engage customers just before deliveries. Remove rules regarding show formats and season requirements. Allow designers to reimagine presentations for customer and media engagement.
Next week, we will take a look at the sustainability criteria of fashion weeks and trade shows, plus we will give you a checklist of what to keep in mind to plan greenwashing-free fashion shows.
Best,
Tanita & Lavinia
🔹 Learned something in this issue? Share The Crisps with your friends and colleagues.
🔹 Like our content? Support our work with a paid subscription.
🔹 Got feedback or topics we should cover? Send us an email to thecrisps@substack.com
Disclaimer: The content and opinions presented in The Crisps newsletter are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal, ethical, or professional advice. The Crisps does not endorse any specific brands or products mentioned in its content.
Statista. (2022). Carbon Emissions from Business Travel to Fashion Shows. Statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/chart/30169/carbon-emissions-from-business-travel-to-fashion-shows/
Rewiring Fashion. (2022). Homepage. Rewiring Fashion. Retrieved from https://www.rewiringfashion.org/