SS25 CPHFW Talk Series – Unpacking the Sustainability Requirements

The SS25 talk series with Vogue Business as media partner make up a vital element of the official schedule each season, representing an opportunity to dig deeper into wider issues facing fashion.

The talk will activate the global network of Copenhagen Fashion Week, inviting industry leaders from a variety of organizations and practices to speak across the topics at hand.

Furthermore, Copenhagen Fashion Week is excited to announce Vogue Business as official media partner, who will use their global audience to amplify the reach of the talks that will be launched as podcasts post release.

Topic:

A discussion about fashion week’s role in accelerating change in the industry and how the Sustainability Requirements framework enables a shared vision and language.

Launching the Sustainability Requirements framework in 2020, Copenhagen Fashion Week was the first fashion week to review sustainability efforts and implement minimum standards for the brands showcasing at CPHFW. Since Copenhagen Fashion Week have joint forces with Norwegian Fashion Hub, Oslo Runway and Berlin Fashion Week, to align their efforts in accelerate the industry’s sustainability actions across their respective fashion markets.

In March 2024 Copenhagen Fashion Week launched revisions of the Sustainability Requirements based on industry developments and learnings from the past years as well as close observations and mapping of the EU policy landscape. While the industry and legislative efforts have seen progress, hear from panelists how the Sustainability Requirements continue to support industry change and how the framework creates a shared vision and language for industry peers and brands alike!

Moderator:

Emily Chan, Senior Sustainability & Features Editor, British Vogue

Emily Chan is the Senior Sustainability & Features Editor at British Vogue and covers all things related to sustainability in fashion and beyond, from the designers pushing for change to the climate activists we should be paying attention to.

Panelists:

Cecilie Thorsmark, CEO, Copenhagen Fashion Week

Following Thorsmark’s appointment as CEO of Copenhagen Fashion Week in 2018 came her announcement to transition the event into a pioneering industry platform and organisation with the capacity to further the industry’s sustainability potential. In January 2020, Thorsmark launched the ambitious three-year action plan “Reinventing Copenhagen Fashion Week” presenting an innovative system of minimum sustainability requirements for all brands on the official show schedule. The system successfully came into effect in 2023, making Copenhagen Fashion Week the first and only fashion week worldwide to introduce a mandatory set of sustainability requirements. In 2022, Thorsmark was inaugurated into The BoF 500, the definitive professional index of the people shaping the $2.4 trillion fashion industry. Marked in the Catalyst category, the accolade recognised Thorsmark’s role in evolving Copenhagen Fashion Week from a regional event into a global leader of sustainability within fashion. Copenhagen Fashion Week has furthermore been highlighted as a frontrunner in its field by international publications such as the New York Times, Forbes, the Guardian and Vogue Business. Parallel to her role at Copenhagen FashionWeek, Thorsmark is the Deputy Chair of the European FashionAlliance, a membership-based alliance founded in 2022 with the aim to drive change within the global fashion industry. Prior to joining Copenhagen Fashion Week, Thorsmark held the position of Global Fashion Agenda’s Communication Director for two years, following a six-year tenure at the Danish Fashion Institute.

Frederik Larsen, Co-founder, In futurum

Frederik Larsen (PhD) is the co-founder of In futurum, a change agency. Frederik acts as an adviser to companies, organisations and institutions on ecology and climate justice. He works to create paths to thriving futures by engaging with actors across the political, economic, and cultural sector through queer and anti-racist practices. He publishes research on fashion, circular economy, and thrift, and has developed the CFW sustainability framework together with the Copenhagen Fashion Week.

Scott Lipinski, CEO, Fashion Council Germany / Chairman, European Fashion Alliance

Scott Lipinski, CEO at Fashion Council Germany (FCG), engages himself as a representative of fashion "Made & Designed in Germany". He aims to establish German fashion as a cultural and economic asset and to generate more recognition and attention for the industry, both politically and culturally. As one of the founders of the European Fashion Alliance (EFA), he is committed to establishing an international network within the fashion industry. The 29 member organisations of the association represent more than 10,000 companies in the fashion sector from all over Europe.

Marie Busck, Chief Sustainability Officer, Dansk Fashion & Textile

Marie Busck is a sustainability leader with 20 years of experience from leading roles in human rights institutions and international consumer-facing businesses. She has extensive experience across the sustainability agenda and in driving organisational change. In her current role she is responsible for driving the sustainability and public affairs work at Dansk Fashion & Textile (DM&T) with the ambition to mobilise the Danish fashion and textile industry to become leading in a sustainability and circularity.

Sanna-Kaisa Niikko, CMO, Marimekko

Chief Marketing Officer Sanna-Kaisa Niikko has a long career at Marimekko. Before her current position, she served as Global Creative Brand Marketing Director leading Marimekko’s visual communications, social media and community engagement, public relations and brand collaborations. She originally joined Marimekko in 2005 and has held numerous positions in Marimekko’s marketing and sales organisations both in Finland and internationally. Sanna-Kaisa Niikko is also a Member of the Board of Finnish Textile and Fashion.