Sustainability is the future
T01 - October 18

Braz Costa

CITEVE’s General Director
T

he Kingdom of Denmark is promoting Copenhagen city as the centre of the world for sustainability in the fashion industry with the organization of the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, among other initiatives.

Present in the two days of the summit and making a brilliant speech, the Princess showed the participants that her presence was not only a nobility inherent obligation, but an affirmation of the kingdom in one of the great designs of the European Union, the circular economy, in an approach so subtle and enticing as only fashion can grant.

“Everybody” was there “. From Stella McCartney and Ellen McArthur to brands that dominate fashion distribution globally, from the luxury to the poor quality ones.

Now, let’s analyse the content. I learned that there is no brand worth mentioning that does not boast about their CSO. CSO? Yes, of course – their Chief sustainability officer, bearer of wonderful messages about a perfect world that they themselves have taken on the responsibility of building: cute, animal friendly, environmentally sustainable and socially just.

And another CSO determined to fight for the appropriate paycheck in every corner of the world, and another CSO to clean the planet, and another determined to ensure that all workers in the fashion industry have air conditioning on their job sites, and yet another willing to give his blood so that there is no animal trace in garments, followed by another who says he already has the solution to prevent that clothing articles end up on a dumpster at the end of its life.

Sitting in the fantastic Copenhagen Concert Hall, with my eyes on the monumental pipe organ pinned to the stage and choir and imagining myself wrapped in music, I almost got drunk on the idea of ​​a harmonious, rhythmic and refined world pulled forward by fashion ranks.

I woke up, however, to the idea that this summit should have been organized in a “pros and cons” system, with CSOs on one side and the respective buyers on the other, to see if we could understand each other.

That’s life, fashion is image!!!!

Conclusion: at the end of a two-day summit, I was already fed up with the organization’s option for “healthy, sustainable and recycled” food. Tough luck!

However, what drove me there was the opportunity to gather important information about what will be the reality of the fashion business in a near future.

It was enough for me to understand that no Portuguese company can fail to include in its portfolio products (even just one) with a commercial discourse that positions the company as a fervent builder of a sustainable future.

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