​Next generation of fashion leaders to deliver UN resolution

London - The fashion industry is said to thrive on change, but it's the industry's future leaders who aim to bring around the biggest change by making sustainable fashion the new norm. Next week is set to see the next generation of fashion leaders come together at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit to draft and negotiate the first-ever United Nations resolution on fashion.

In the days leading up to the industry's leading event on sustainable fashion, fashion students from around the world are set to gather in the Danish capital for the fourth edition of the Youth Fashion Summit. From May 9 to 10, the future leaders of the fashion industry will engage in discussion on how best to tackle the challenges they are set to inherit, such as the main issues within the industry supply chain, manufacturing and consumption.

Future fashion generation to create UN proposal for sustainable fashion at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit

During last year's Youth Fashion Summit, participating students studied the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and created their own set of seven guidelines and goals for the industry. These ranged from gender equality, to poverty reduction and responsible consumption and climate action. Now, the same students have been invited back to Copenhagen to transform their seven demands for corporate action on the SDGs into a proposed UN draft resolution - the first ever to concern fashion.

The UN resolution will be negotiated with industry leaders such as H&M and Swarovski, as well as NGOs like Greenpeace on May 10, before being presented on stage during the Copenhagen Fashion Summit on May 11. The UN resolution will then be presented to the United Nations in New York later this year. The move is in line with the Copenhagen Fashion Summit expected outcomes for this year's event and falls under its theme "Commitment to Change."

Another key step towards a more sustainable fashion future set to emerge from this year's event is the signing of a concrete call to action which has been put forward by the newly formed Global Fashion Agenda to create a more unified effort among fashion brands and retailers and accelerate the industry's transition to a circular system.

Copenhagen Fashion Summit 2017 is also set to see the launch of the first edition of Pulse of the Fashion Industry report, developed by Global Fashion Agenda in collaboration with The Boston Consulting Group. The first of its kind, the annual report will offer a common fact base on the current sustainability performance of the industry in order to quantify the potential of sustainability in fashion as well as offer recommendations for companies across the supply chain.

"Since last year's Summit, we've been busy reshaping and evolving the format of the event. One of the major changes that I'm especially pleased with is the intensified focus on commitments and outcomes," said Eva Kruse, CEO and president of Global Fashion Agenda and the organiser of the Summit in a statement. "By putting forward a call to action, which is already receiving substantial backing by key industry players, and by launching the Pulse of the Fashion Industry report, the Summit is proving that it is able to take leadership and help unite the industry towards a better future."

Photos: Courtesy of the Copenhagen Fashion Summit