Frankfurt Fashion Week positioned with sustainable agenda

04
Dec '20

Pic: Frankfurt Fashion Week

To propel the transformation of a modern, resource-efficient fashion industry, The Frankfurt Fashion Week, an international trade fair, has announced that their aim for all exhibitors, participants and partners is to align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2023. The SDGs will be incorporated into all formats of Frankfurt Fashion Week.

The Conscious Fashion Campaign (CFC), working in collaboration with United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP), will be the presenting partner and sustainable development goals (SDGs) will be a prerequisite for all exhibitors by 2023. Frankfurt Fashion SDG Summit by CFC is set to become the leading international conference for sustainability in the fashion world. The future of fashion has begun and its key players will be coming together in Frankfurt am Main from July 5-9, 2021.

Joining forces to improve the fashion industry: Frankfurt Fashion Week is positioning itself as the host of the future of fashion and actively driving forward the transformation towards a future-oriented, more sustainable fashion and textile industry. All decision-makers looking to instigate this change will be coming together in Frankfurt am Main from July 5-9, 2021. The initiators of Frankfurt Fashion Week – Messe Frankfurt and the Premium Group – have achieved a real coup: Conscious Fashion Campaign, working in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships, will be the presenting partner. Messe Frankfurt will build on its collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships and establish Frankfurt Fashion week as the platform on which to advance the sustainable development goals and help guide the fashion industry into the 'Decade of Action'.

“Frankfurt will play host to the whole world. We are seeing a very positive response indeed,” Peter Feldmann, senior mayor of the City of Frankfurt am Main, said in a press release. “The fact that the initiators are able to rethink the concept of a Fashion Week in such a way is extremely impressive and proves that the fashion industry is correctly interpreting the signs of the present and future. The time has come for value creation and values to be reconciled. Consistent alignment with the sustainable development goals is an important step in this direction.”

“Frankfurt Fashion Week aims to play a crucial role in finding solutions for macrosocial challenges and supporting the goals of international politics such as the European Green Deal. The fashion and textile industries are also expected to be climate-neutral by 2050. If we want to achieve this, we all need to pull together. Frankfurt Fashion Week is inviting all initiators and supporters of sustainable concepts and congresses or shows dedicated to sustainability to meet in Frankfurt, partake in discussions and make tangible decisions for the greater good. We will connect the most relevant players and pave the way for a future-proof fashion and textile industry,” Detlef Braun, CEO of Messe Frankfurt, said.

“Given its global reach, the fashion industry is uniquely positioned to collaborate and engage on the sustainable development goals, in particular on climate action and responsible production and consumption,” Annemarie Hou, acting executive director of the United Nations Office for Partnerships, said in the release. “Frankfurt Fashion Week and the Summit will serve as an important platform for education and engagement of the fashion and textile industry in the Decade of Action.”

"We are committed to setting the wheels of transformation in motion. Not only does the overall mindset have to fundamentally change; the entire industry also needs to have the courage to be transparent and honest. It’s important to see values and value creation as opportunities rather than contentious. We are doing what we do best: connecting the relevant players at all levels. With its ecosystem, Frankfurt Fashion Week will become the enabler. We are creating a platform that will orchestrate industry-wide change. With this as our inspiration, we are also developing our tradeshow formats from a ‘marketplace of products’ to a ‘marketplace of purpose and ideas’,” Anita Tillmann, managing partner of the Premium Group, said.

A key feature of Frankfurt Fashion Week will be the consistent involvement of the entire city. Frankfurt will therefore become a stage for contemporary fashion presentations and a discourse space for dialogue between fashion professionals and a fashion-savvy public. As the organiser of Frankfurt Fashion Week, Messe Frankfurt has held intensive talks with various agencies, resulting in the establishment of a Creative Board with 11 nationally renowned Frankfurt agencies, which have come up with innovative, game-changing concept ideas for the city.

SKTWK (Skate Week), which is being held in Frankfurt for the first time, will complement Frankfurt’s wide-ranging event line-up. Organised by the agency Fine Lines Marketing, SKTWK, celebrates skateboard culture as a city-wide festival with events ranging from open sessions and contests to art and photo exhibitions, video screenings, music and parties.

“Revitalising our urban economy and achieving a new post-coronavirus normality will be the key challenges and success factors for a future-oriented urban policy from 2021. In this regard, we are in the fortunate position of being able to create global and local synergies with Frankfurt Fashion Week: globally, Frankfurt Fashion Week is working towards a more sustainable, fairer and environmentally friendly fashion system. Locally, an investment of 10 million euros, jointly supported by the city of Frankfurt am Main, the state of Hesse and Messe Frankfurt, will generate an anticipated indirect return of over 200 million euros per year over three years. This makes Frankfurt Fashion Week a real win-win situation for everyone involved,” Uwe Becker, mayor and city treasurer, said in the release.

Frankfurt Fashion Week is also delighted to have the Fashion Council Germany (FCG) on board. The FCG is the institution when it comes to German fashion design. It promotes designers, is committed to gaining more political relevance and strengthens the international visibility and awareness of German fashion. At Frankfurt Fashion Week, the FCG will contribute selected formats, such as its already established Fireside Chat, and a future-oriented accelerator format to support German designers.

“What really impresses me about Fashion Week is the whole networking aspect: the creative industries will meet the financial world and sustainability is the common denominator. The Green Finance Cluster is another project that we could link with Frankfurt Fashion Week in the future. This will provide new inspiration in the fashion industry, which will certainly extend way beyond its own horizon of Frankfurt and Hesse. After a very difficult year for the trade fair industry, the concept is an encouraging breath of fresh air,” Tarek Al-Wazir, Hesse’s minister of economics, energy, transport and regional development and deputy minister-president of the state of Hesse.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (JL)

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