How Fashion is Reckoning with the Environmental Impact of its Catwalk Shows

By Camilla Rydzek

As flexitarians and daredevil-foodies have ventured into the new year on a plant-based diet for Veganuary, the fashion industry too is breaking with some traditional habits for the sake of the sustainability. 

The toll that fashion’s convoluted supply chain takes on natural resources, as well as its carbon footprint (which is estimated to lie at 8%, exceeding the impact of international airline flights and maritime shipping trips combined) are well documented and widely acknowledged by industry peers and consumers alike. In 2019 and 2020 however, focus has shifted to include a new scope; the industry’s habit of hosting ostentatious catwalk shows.

There is no published average carbon footprint of fashion shows, so it is hard to establish their exact cost. There are however some aspects that can be pulled into consideration. For instance, on average it lasts about fifteen minutes— so for this considerably brief time frame, people travel twice yearly from across the world to fashion hubs such as London, Paris and New York. Once arrived they travel again, from show to show across the city. Added to this, is of course the show itself; meaning the props, the décor (which in the past for brands such as Chanel for example have included a fake rocket, and a fully stocked Chanel-themed supermarket). There is catering, the invitation cards – the list is endless. 

Over the past year however, increased consumer pressure is calling attention to these excessive habits. Last July for example, Yves Saint Laurent faced backlash after staging its Spring/Summer 2020 Menswear Show on the hidden “Paradise Cove” outside Malibu, circumventing a previously denied permit to stage an event by applying for filming. The local community was left outraged as the show neglected to consider environmental regulations, leaving the pristine landscape polluted with forlorn pieces of the set after the show was completed. 

Yves Saint Laurent worked with an outside contractor to create the event, leaving the question of how aware the brand was of local laws unanswered. However, as luxury catwalks increase in frequency, and ever more exotic and remote locations are chosen for their staging, the protection of local flora and fauna will have to take priority in production if brands don’t want to risk similar backlash. 

Then of course there was Extinction Rebellion’s repeated sabotaging of London’s SS20 and AW20 Fashion Weeks. Asking citizens to not buy any new clothes for a year in July was just the start. In September the activist group confronted LFW yet again, writing an open letter to the British Fashion Council asking to replace the bi-annual calendar event with a people’s assembly to discuss and find solutions for the climate crisis. 

So how are big fashion names reckoning with this critical gaze?

One answer is carbon offsetting. Not one, but two big fashion names – Gucci and Gabriella Hearst, hosted carbon neutral SS20 fashion runway shows, in New York and Milan respectively, using this relatively new method of battling the impact of carbon. What this means is that in order to recompense for the carbon footprint of the show, the brands are investing in projects across the world that introduce energy efficiency and renewable energy sources that will “make up” for their own use. 

Gucci for example, offset the carbon emissions generated from guest and staff travel (a total of 1,900 people). The show’s water and electricity use, as well as waste were monitored and offset by parent company Kering, while the brand also ensured that its set was created from recycled wood and its invitations were using paper from Forest Stewardship Council-certified sources.

According to Gucci’s CEO, Marco Bizzarri, while carbon offsetting may not be the best option in the long term, it is the best way the company can create an impact right now. “We are not perfect [and] it’s not a matter of saying we are the best, it’s a matter of showing it can be done, and hopefully [others] will follow this path,” he commented. Since the end of September the brand has even expanded this initiative, with its entire supply chain now being carbon neutral.

Mother Of Pearl, a small British-based fashion brand that has been shifting to a more sustainable model since 2017 with the introduction of their “No Frills” collection. Likewise for their SS19 Ready-To-Wear collection in London, the brand opted for a more circular approach. The entire set was rented in an effort to reduce waste, including 300,000 recycled pearl balls that were massed into a giant ball pit, to raise attention to the issue of micro-plastics polluting of our oceans. The presentation was also part of a larger tie-in with the TV Channel BBC Earth, with whom they created a short documentary and hosted a series of events on circularity and industry solutions. 

While in a lot of ways these are only incremental improvements, systemic change might also be on the horizon for the industry. 

A brazen move by Vogue Italia saw their January 2020 published without a single photograph, instead opting for beautifully made illustrations. This is what I would call an “industry first” on a transformative level. What this achieved is proof that clothes don’t need to be photographed, which comes with its own travel and production carbon footprint, to be beautifully displayed. However this will remain, presumably, only a one-off experiment with things returning to the status quo in future issues.

Perhaps the format of fashion week will change systematically as well in the future. While Gucci’s Marco Bizzarri is still not convinced by the feasibility of technology today, he admitted post show in September 2019 that there may come a time when its catwalk shows will move online.

In the age of Instagram and immediate sharing of the catwalk show, this digital first scenario may be a more viable alternative to the traditional system than the more radical option – cancelling Fashion Week all together. This is exactly what happened to Autumn’s 2019 Stockholm. In a statement the Swedish Fashion Council argued it was putting “the past to rest” by replacing the event with a system that better supports its emerging designers. 

Changing the fashion industry’s entire business model will of course not happen overnight. But my personal hope is that while 2019 will be remembered as a year filled with aspirational goals by industry and government leaders (I’m thinking of Macron announcing the Fashion Charter at the G7 Summit), 2020 will be the year in which the fashion industry will make real change happen. Because frankly, as both Vogue Italia’s Emmanuele Farneti and Gucci’s Marco Bizzarri declared; fashion needs to act now.