Warm Wishes For 2022
As we ease into 2022, I wanted to reconnect with you all and send you my best wishes for a wonderful New Year and share some reflections from Global Fashion Agenda.
2021 was quite a year for our organisation; among many things, we launched new impact programmes, delivered unmissable online experiences, forged new alliances, welcomed more partners, and published even more insightful publications.
When we reflect on the past year, we must acknowledge the incidents that exemplified the need for industry transformation.
With the global pandemic still impacting us around the world, industry players have had to shift their focus on social protections schemes, job re-creation and the fair distribution of risks and profits along the value chain. Meanwhile, environmental changes were clearly evident and emphasised the urgency to reduce global warming and protect biodiversity. Though some of the commitments made at the highly anticipated forum of COP26 were promising, others were lacklustre and there was a clear consensus that bolder action is needed.
Despite the challenges we are all facing, we must stay optimistic. Indeed, it is normally after crises that the greatest opportunities emerge. As I shared in my remarks at CFS+, we have the greatest opportunity in recent history, as we can design future pathways for us and for generations to come. A “code green for humanity”, a “bright place for social justice” – these are the pathways I believe everyone can follow.
As we look to 2022, we will call on our community to push for bolder actions, accelerate the pace of change, implement solutions, and explore previously unimaginable alliances. Building on our significant achievements from last year, Global Fashion Agenda will continue its efforts to transform and mobilise the fashion industry in 2022 and beyond.
Once again, thank you for your support which has helped to advance our mission so far. We very much look forward to shaping Global Fashion Agenda into an even greater force for change.
Best wishes,
Federica Marchionni, CEO
CFS+ – the digital edition of industry renowned Copenhagen Fashion Summit, took place in October and brought together leading fashion stakeholders, policymakers, NGOs and investors to drive urgent action on sustainability.
The event attracted guests from across the globe and over 60 high-level speakers participated in panel discussions, keynotes, case studies and one-to-one conversations. Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess of Denmark, Tommy Hilfiger, Miguel, Yara Shahidi and leading speakers from the European Commission, Hermès International, Patagonia Inc., Ralph Lauren Corporation, NIKE, Inc., and many more shared their views at CFS+, focusing on the core theme of ‘Prosperity vs. Growth’.
Participants also had exclusive access to our Digital Innovation Forum – connecting them with over 40 of the industry’s leading solution providers.
Launched in October 2020 with Reverse Resources, BGMEA and P4G, The Circular Fashion Partnership is a cross-sectoral project to support the development of the textile recycling industry in Bangladesh by capturing and directing post-production fashion waste back into the production of new fashion products.
In November 2021, alongside our Strategic Knowledge Partner, McKinsey & Company, we launched the Scaling Circularity Report – revealing the opportunities and investment required to scale circular fashion systems based on independent analysis and learnings from the Circular Fashion Partnership in Bangladesh.
Global Fashion Agenda also made remarkable progress in policy through stakeholder engagement, member meetings, open events, and roundtables.
We disseminated industry learnings (such as the 2020 commitment results) towards policymakers and established partnerships with key organisations such as the European Environment Agency. We were involved in key external policy events (i.e. G20 Circular Fashion event; New European Bauhaus) and created dialogue with high level policymakers.
For example, we set up a high-level working group between fashion industry´s CEOs and the EU Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius. Plus, we endorsed key industry initiatives such as the EU Pact for Skills, contributed to the Circular Fashion Partnership´s policy actions and hosted two dynamic policy roundtables as part of CFS+: one around the upcoming EU Sustainable Products Initiative and another on the international dimension of the forthcoming EU Textiles Strategy.
We also contributed to Policy Hub-Circularity for Apparel and Footwear activities throughout the year, supporting the formulation and publication of six position papers covering:
•Transparency
•Waste as a Resource
•Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for the Textile Value Chain
•The Textile Strategy
•The Sustainable Product Initiative
•Digital Product Passports in the EU
This year marked the unveiling of the new edition of the Fashion CEO Agenda. Co-authored by our Strategic Partners, the publication presents the five priorities that businesses should focus on in order to secure prosperity for people and communities while operating within planetary boundaries. The five priorities outlined in the report are: Respectful and Secure Work Environments, Better Wage Systems, Circular Systems, Efficient Use of Resources and Smart Material Choices.
To mark the launch of the publication, we hosted two engaging online events, and two media masterclasses, that reflected on the core priorities and also the policy opportunities associated with each of them.
November saw thousands of people including world leaders, negotiators, government representatives, businesses and citizens convene in Glasgow for COP26. This year’s COP was deemed to be the most pivotal to date – crucial in dictating climate outcomes in the not-so-distant future and at the same time signalling how industries might operate in the coming years.
Ahead of COP26, Global Fashion Agenda hosted a ‘Fashion on Climate for COP26 Masterclass’, during which we called on policymakers to enter negotiations at COP26 with certain policy recommendations in mind.
The fashion industry came into focus during a number of discussions and commitments over the two-week period, including an event marking the launch of the renewed Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action for which Global Fashion Agenda is a supporting organisation.
This year Global Fashion Agenda welcomed two new Strategic Partners – Global Fashion Group (GFG) and Ralph Lauren Corporation.
Both organisations joined Global Fashion Agenda’s Strategic Partner Group to help support our ambition in spearheading the fashion industry’s journey towards a more prosperous future through bold action on sustainability.
Read more about the partnership with Global Fashion Group here and Ralph Lauren Corporation here.
Throughout the year, Global Fashion Agenda has paid close attention to industry developments, noteworthy days and core themes.
To learn more about these explore our Newsroom.
The global multinational Sanko Group, celebrating it’s 120 year anniversary this year, marks a new beginning with the establishment of Re&Up, a circulartech company under the holding's umbrella.
This article is a contribution from Next Gen Assembly 2023 Members, Ikeoluwa Adebisi and Indira Varma.
Mango, one of Europe’s leading fashion groups, sees sustainability as a journey the fashion industry has to make to achieve a more just society and to reduce its environmental and social impact.
