• During Fashion Month — the combination of the four most important Fashion Weeks in the world — 241,000 tonnes of CO2 are emitted.
• It is essential to reflect seriously on the future of events such as Fashion Weeks at a historic moment when the very protagonists of the system are the ones who want to change it.
• Pioneering in this respect have been the Helsinki and Copenhagen Fashion Weeks, but the Camera nazionale della moda italiana has also been working towards a greener future for quite some time.

Keeping the Eiffel Tower lit for three thousand years, or the whole of Times Square for 58, has roughly the same environmental impact as Fashion Month — the combination of the Fashion Weeks held in the cities most relevant to the fashion world: Paris, Milan, New York and London. According to Zero to market, a 2020 study produced by fashion tech company Ordre, 241,000 tonnes of CO2 are emitted during Fashion Month.

Drawn up in collaboration with Carbon trust, the research arrived at this figure by adding up the annual emissions from all the transport that forms an integral part of the wholesale buying process, and by measuring the carbon footprint of more than 7,000 buyers and designers who regularly attend the four Fashion Weeks examined.

The carbon footprint of Fashion Weeks

"The emissions calculated by Carbon trust in the report are only a marginal part of the fashion industry's carbon footprint. Nevertheless, the research provides a significant picture of the sector's impact on carbon emissions which, backed by hard data, could positively influence stakeholders in the fashion system and lead them to make more conscious choices, both professionally and personally," argues Leonardo Boeri, business development executive for southern Europe at Carbon trust.

"To reduce the environmental impact of this type of event, the focus should be on cutting travel emissions by choosing the train over the plane wherever possible and opting for electric vehicles. Dedicated hubs could be set up within cities to avoid the need to travel around, with events scheduled there, while in terms of set design it would be good practice to minimise the production of single-use materials, avoiding non-recyclable equipment in the first place and encouraging the shared use of venues and spaces for shows throughout the week."

Many aspects to take into consideration

Ordre's estimate is only the tip of the iceberg: in addition to buyers and designers, journalists, models, photographers, make-up artists, hair stylists, set builders, international guests and many others also travel between the various locations. What is more, events such as Fashion Weeks entail a massive movement of people within individual cities too, as attendees travel to shows held at different venues which, by their very nature, have an extremely high energy demand — one need only think of the lighting used for every single runway and the set designs, which are often created specifically for the occasion.

"The Ordre study focused above all on the travel of industry professionals: measuring the carbon footprint of one or more Fashion Weeks with any precision is very complex because a great deal of data needs to be taken into account — for example: how many people actually attended, the transport they used to reach events, energy consumption, catering, waste generated, as well as all the activities involved, from preparation to dismantling. Furthermore, we are talking about a sector — fashion — in which measuring emissions is already particularly complex in itself, given the breadth and variety of the production supply chains involved in the processes," adds Andrea Maggiani, founder and CEO of Carbonsink, a company specialising in climate strategies that recently joined the international group South pole.

Fashion Weeks as we know them are events we can no longer afford from an environmental standpoint. Ordre's research, however partial, made this abundantly clear back in February 2020, just a few weeks before the outbreak of the public health emergency linked to the Covid-19 pandemic — right before the global lockdown forced every kind of event to a halt. During the two years in which in-person shows were very few and strictly limited in numbers, and alternative formats such as digital shows were being trialled, it seemed as though a way might somehow be found to drastically cut the energy expenditure linked at least to this aspect of the fashion system; but two years on, with restrictions lifted, little has changed in practice.

The Helsinki and Copenhagen model

The climate crisis, however, is still with us and compels us to reflect seriously on the future of events such as Fashion Weeks at a historic moment when the very protagonists of the system are the ones who want to change it. At a time when brands and designers are rethinking their operations in order to become more sustainable, it seems inconsistent not to do the same with fashion shows. Things must evolve — but is there a better, more ecological alternative that actually works? Pioneering in this respect have been the Fashion Weeks of Helsinki and Copenhagen, but the Camera nazionale della moda italiana (Cnmi) has also been working towards a greener future for quite some time.

The Helsinki event was the first to propose itself as — and be recognised as — sustainable, thanks to three fundamental core principles: attention to production from the embryonic design phase, involvement of designers who meet certain sustainability criteria, and, not least, environmental assessment of the location chosen for shows, which involves examining how much water and energy are used and whether recourse is made to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. As regards food served during the event, the guidance is to favour vegan menus and seasonal ingredients.

As for Copenhagen Fashion Week, from 2023 onwards brands wishing to take part will be required to meet certain sustainability criteria. Designers will be able to earn points based on their design practices, working conditions and show or presentation production, and if they fail to reach a minimum threshold they will be deemed ineligible to participate.

Milan Fashion Week's green initiatives

For Italy, the matter is slightly more complicated, both because of the importance of the brands featured in the calendar and because of the city's own configuration, yet Cnmi began putting initiatives for a more sustainable shift in the sector on its agenda as far back as 2012, when the Manifesto per la sostenibilità della moda italiana was drawn up, involving more than two hundred brands from the outset. "Since then, periodic initiatives have followed, such as technical working groups, the publication of documents and guidelines for the entire sector, and training events aimed at designers," explains president Carlo Capasa. "With regard to Milan Fashion Week, for several editions now we have been giving space to brands focused on the theme of sustainability, planning dedicated sections within our week of shows and our Fashion hub. For five years we have been hosting Designer for the Planet, an event in which five brands, whose work is based on rigorous environmental sustainability criteria, present their collections."

Furthermore, with regard to social sustainability, during this edition a new space will be inaugurated within the Fashion hub: Designer for ethical fashion, dedicated to the theme of ethical and social fashion with particular attention to disadvantaged women, victims of violence, immigrants and refugees. Finally, all Cnmi spaces, such as the Fashion hub and the presentation room, have been fitted out using recycled and reused materials and, in recent years, the organisation has moved to digital accreditation only, eliminating paper-based accreditation to reduce paper waste. "Aware of the pollution caused by travel, we have maintained and developed our digital platform, which allows people to follow Fashion Week from anywhere in the world remotely. The push towards digital was driven by the pandemic, but we believe it has become an indispensable tool also from the perspective of sustainability and inclusion," Capasa concludes.

A glimmer of hope in Italy's fashion and luxury sector

In April 2021, Carbonsink produced a report entitled Climate changed. Time to act devoted entirely to the fashion and luxury sector in Italy. The study focuses on a sample of ninety companies whose publicly available information (such as sustainability reports and non-financial statements) was gathered and assessed, with the aim of improving understanding of how the sector is tackling the challenges posed by the climate transition.

It emerged that more than 90 per cent of the companies examined consider climate change relevant to their business and have begun taking their first steps towards greener production. The road ahead is undoubtedly long and steep, but with the efforts of all players in the sector, a future made up of brands and events that are more environmentally conscious is certainly possible as well as desirable.