This Week: Reviving the Sustainable Fashion Movement in Copenhagen

What’s Happening: On June 3 in Copenhagen, the Global Fashion Summit kicks off three days of speeches and debate on mitigating fashion’s impact on people and the planet.

On the Defensive: This year’s theme is “Barriers and Bridges,” an acknowledgment that environmental and human rights efforts are on the back foot right now (past themes tended to take an “onward and upward” tack; last year’s was “Unlocking the Next Level”).

The second Trump administration has been a disaster for sustainability advocates, targeting environmental regulations, renewable energy and ESG investing. Aid cuts have kneecapped on-the-ground nonprofit work that both supported fashion’s climate and labour initiatives and created a degree of accountability. Tariffs also are expected to squeeze both brands and manufacturers, diminishing funds for worthy environmental and social projects.

Careful What You Say: In Copenhagen, relatively few representatives of big brands will take the stage, part of a wider pattern where the industry is choosing not to speak up for fear of becoming Trump’s next target, even for causes they continue to support financially.

One speaker to watch is Jessika Roswall, an EU commissioner whose purview includes circularity, who will address “advancing the European Green Deal while simultaneously strengthening the EU economy.” Earlier this year, that framing led the EU to push to water down regulations that would impose strict reporting and monitoring requirements on fashion supply chains. But even in their current state, the rules are among the most aggressive attempts by a major economy to address fashion’s toll on the planet.

Bangladeshi labour rights advocate Kalpona Akter will also be headlining. Akter has been pushing the industry to change for decades, but she’s speaking at a particularly precarious moment, with economic and political instability threatening the fragile gains that have been made. High-profile scandals, like the ongoing ruckus over luxury brand’s links to sweatshops in Italy, highlight just have far the industry still has to go.

Laying Low: The sustainable fashion movement is licking its wounds after a decade of big promises and underwhelming followthrough from the industry and governments.

To re-secure buy-in from big brands and politicians, advocates need to win the argument that there is a business case for sustainability. The industry must also find a message that resonates with consumers who have learned to tune out talk of emissions and waste. Perhaps the 16th Copenhagen Fashion Summit will be where this new narrative begins to emerge.

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