December 15 2009
Industry giants flock to sustainability summit
COPENHAGEN – [11.12.09] Fashion Summit 2009, one of the largest ever sustainability summits for the apparel industry, took place this week at the Opera House in Copenhagen.
The aim of this ambitious initiative, held during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15), was to develop a signed Code of Conduct; to develop the 10-year plan of action containing the Nordic fashion industry’s position on environmental preservation, sustainable energy, and a sustainable and ethical production; and to find new and creative solutions to some of the major social and ethical challenges in the fashion industry.
The event also acted as an ideal shop window for NICE (Nordic Initiative Clean and Ethical project) and the Nordic Fashion industry and included lectures, presentations, a gallery of sustainable materials, and a spectacular runway competition by Nordic designers.
Welcoming the high turnout at the event, Eva Kruse, CEO Danish Fashion Institute said that the important thing for companies to do was to participate. “To become a sustainable company is not always easy,” she said, adding that the key thing was to be motivated and to start the process. “To have a sustainable strategy as part of your business has to do with having a triple bottom line – that is people, profit and plant. Obviously this is an industry. This is not philanthropy, we believe this can become a business and we can do what we do at the right cost and the right quality but still preserve the earth and take care of people while we do it.”
The line-up of speakers from some of the world’s leading brands included Laurant Claquin, senior vice president, corporate and social responsibility at the luxury retail giant, PPR Group; Manuel Baigorri, director of Social & Environmental Sustainability at Levi Strauss & Co; and Christian Kemp-Griffin, chief mission officer at Edun. From further afield, Majorie Yang, chairman of Hong Kong’s Esquel Group and Julie Gilhart, senior VP, Fashion Director at Barneys New York were also in attendance.
Other participants included representatives from relevant academia, celebrities and politicians - The Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, Ritt Bjerregaard and HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.
Source: Ecotextile News
