Stockholm Fashion Week has shifted its focus towards sustainability in
recent years and actively sought ways to reduce its carbon footprint. In
2019, due to facing major challenges to meet the demands for
sustainability and innovation. Maybe as a result of global fashion weeks
forced to digitize due to the impact of Covid-19, this week, Stockholm
Fashion Week relaunched from August 25 to 27 as a digital event. Along with
the campaign efforts of Peta, Swedish Fashion Association-the event’s new
organiser-also announced that this year’s virtual fashion week is entirely
fur and exotic skins-free.
Virtual fashion week
Swedish fashion brands and designers united for three days on a digital
platform to showcase their brands and interact with media, influencers,
buyers, followers, and consumers. The new fashion week embraced a
360-degree format, setting the stage for SS21 presentations and shows,
live-streamed Q&A sessions with designers, interviews and panel
discussions, wholesale showrooms, consumer activities focusing on the
current season’s collections.
Fur and exotic skins-free runways
Fashion weeks in Europe and Australia have been spearheading fur-free
and eco-friendly runways. Amsterdam, Helsinki, and Oslo fashion weeks as
well as Melbourne Fashion Festival have official policies against fur. As
well as being fur and exotic skins-free, Helsinki Fashion Week removed
leather all together from its catwalks. London Fashion Week hasn’t
showcased any fur since 2018.
Covid-19 concerns and closure of fur farms
The impact of fur production causes immense environmental issues – such
as the climate crisis, ozone pollution, and water and land use according to
Peta and a recent study of mink European farms conducted by scientists and
WHO (World Health Organization). Producing 1 kilogram of fur has a carbon
dioxide equivalent (CO2e) factor of about 130 to 140 kilograms, compared to
around 6 to 7 kilograms of CO2e for 1 kilogram of faux fur. Fur farms are
breeding grounds for disease, and facilities in the Netherlands, Spain, and
Denmark have seen immense outbreaks of Covid-19 amongst animals and
workers. The situation became so dire that the Dutch Parliament voted to
close the nation’s last remaining fur farms this year.
Rob Schoenbaum / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP