Summit Theme 2024
UNLOCKING THE NEXT LEVEL:
15 YEARS OF ACTIVATING IMPACT
Fashion finds itself at a critical juncture. With years of impressive progress already unlocked, it is time to double down to accelerate impact. Activating this vital next level relies on new depths of collaborative action and evidence-based progress: it is the only way to move forward towards net positive.
The theme of the upcoming Global Fashion Summit is ‘Unlocking The Next Level’. Inspired by a significant milestone, 2024 marks 15 years since the inaugural Global Fashion Summit (formerly, Copenhagen Fashion Summit). This pivotal anniversary offers a special moment to acknowledge fashion’s evolution while keeping firm focus on near-term goals. The foundations we have established since 2009 will prove invaluable as we forge the pathway to net positive.
With deadlines for pledges made over the previous 15 years looming, the industry must now implement further actions that ambitiously address societal and environmental impacts and challenge the existing paradigm.
The fashion industry is operating in turbulent times. But instead of becoming an afterthought, sustainability must be framed as a strategy for industry resilience. Global Fashion Summit will offer a moment to reenergise industry efforts: taking stock of change that has happened and can happen if we unlock it collectively. We are already in a climate crisis and the age of concepts and commitments is over – it is time to see near-term goals be implemented.
Our interactions with the environment – whether as groups, businesses, governments, or corporations – may both fuel environmental challenges and harbour solutions. It is encouraging to recognise that collectively, the fashion industry is capable of forming strong alliances that change the current trajectory and activate the next level of impact for both people and planet. Fashion has a rich depth of history in conveying pioneering ideas in unique and beautiful ways: we can translate action in ways that no other industry can.
