In collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) has released ‘Sustainability by Design: Rethink New Yorking Fashion Week,’ a study which discusses guidance and suggestions on how to minimize the waste and carbon footprint of mode events, events and activities in the industry.
About 75 % of the respondents surveyed in the study suggested that the businesses that operate are committed to sustainability goals for their products, pollution prevention, sustainable collaborations and energy use. However, almost 40% of those with those goals only regard them as a driving concept of their development policies. Companies who have partnered together to improve their sustainable policies have greatly decreased their environmental effects. In their sets, for instance, Burberry, Dior, Gucci and Ralph Lauren, among others, submit digital invites, ride on power vehicles and use alliances to cover their residual emissions of carbon, according to the study. At the exhibition, Missoni and Saint Laurent are using energy-efficient LED lighting powered by biofuel generators.
On the questions about the key obstacles the company faces in transitioning to sustainable growth for NYFW, some 45% said it is more costly to be sustainable, 27% didn’t know what the goals/targets to accomplish and said they are difficult to quantify and 27% did not have required alliances. The study found that customers and stakeholders from NYFW prioritize identical, but differing, sustainable practices. For stakeholders in NYFW they appreciate the use of recycled / waste/scrap material, the fair/ethical workplace activity and the use of biodegradable products / packaging, their involvement in the recycling / catching programmes, their contribution to health / safety practices for employees and their contribution to organic / natural resources.
In this report, the survey looked at four dimensions of sustainability – energy , materials, waste and collaboration – and six fields – information, sample, produce, location, public relations and transport / logistics – to find ways of minimizing NYFW’s environmental footprint.
