Fashion faces reality at Global Summit 2025 in Copenhagen
From June 3 to 5, more than 1,000 people gathered at the Copenhagen Concert Hall for the Global Fashion Summit 2025. Organised by Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), the event focused on the practical challenges the industry must confront to move toward sustainability, accountability, and long-term resilience.
Focus on What’s Already Working
Much of what the industry needs already exists materials that regenerate, circular business models, and better ways to sort and trace textiles. The question is no longer what’s possible, but how to apply these solutions in real-world settings.
This year’s Innovation Forum connected over 400 attendees with 30 solution providers. The new Ignite Stage hosted short, focused talks on integrating existing tools into supply chains. Strategic roundtables tackled logistical and policy hurdles, like how to improve scaling processes or build systems that support circular models.
Refiberd, winner of the 2025 Trailblazer Programme, is one example of this applied thinking. Their textile identification system uses hyperspectral imaging to sort materials for recycling and traceability two major roadblocks for circularity. The programme itself received over 200 entries from 44 countries, showing both the interest and diversity in solutions already underway.
Many Voices, One Conversation
The Summit gave space to speakers from 26 countries. With backing from the H&M Foundation, GFA supported travel for participants from Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ghana, India, Brazil, and South Africa regions often central to fashion’s supply chain but underrepresented in decision-making spaces.
Kalpona Akter, from the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity, reminded the audience that the industry’s workforce is often left out of global sustainability talks.
In all the discussions happening in this part of the world, I always see a missing puzzle piece, and that is the workers. The discussion is not worker centric, and that needs to happen.
Kalpona Akter, Founder and Executive Director of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity
Other sessions addressed labor issues in Europe. A message from Luca Sburlati, President of Confindustria Moda, discussed new efforts to deal with illegal labor practices in Italian fashion manufacturing. He stressed the need to support the 99% of companies operating responsibly.
Bringing Nature Into the Room
Speakers pushed for a shift in mindset treating nature not just as a resource, but as a part of the system. In a session with the Next Gen Assembly, Sanya Singh said, “If we really want fashion to protect nature, then we must let nature shape fashion.”
Brett Walker, a wool and mohair producer, explained that meaningful change starts with trust between brands and farmers. “A top-down approach is not the right approach,” he said.
Discussions around water made this even clearer. WWF’s Payal Luthra pointed out that freshwater biodiversity has dropped by 85% since 1970, and wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests. Water, she said, has been undervalued for too long. Kering’s new Water-Positive Strategy was presented as one way to rethink water use in sourcing.
Writer and filmmaker Andri Snær Magnason captured the communication gap: “People do not understand data, but people understand stories.” That’s why storytelling emerged as a recurring theme—how to turn scientific facts into something people can relate to and act on.
Policy Is No Longer Optional
Policy is catching up with practice. The Summit included sessions on new regulations, especially in the EU. Talks focused on extended producer responsibility (EPR), the need for consistency across countries, and how to prepare for tighter compliance expectations.
In her keynote, EU Commissioner Jessika Roswall made the case that sustainability and competitiveness can go hand in hand. “Sustainability is not a barrier to growth,” she said. “It is a bridge to competitiveness, to innovation, to inspiration.”
GFA has been active in supporting policy development that reflects industry realities, and this work continues between summits in partnership with local and global stakeholders.
Leadership in Hard Times
Opening the event, GFA CEO Federica Marchionni addressed the uncertainty of the moment head-on: “The only certainty in this uncertain world is climate change. Leadership is needed most in times of adversity.”
The Summit provided space for leaders to share ideas, form new partnerships, and speak openly about what’s not working. But the real work continues long after the stage lights dim. GFA’s team stays active throughout the year, running programmes and holding events in key manufacturing regions including Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Cambodia.
Fashion is a global industry with local impact. The people at this Summit reflected that reality from brand executives to grassroots organisers. And while the challenges are far from solved, the energy in Copenhagen was focused, grounded, and ready to move forward.
