VIRTUAL / VIRTUOUS

AS THE INDUSTRY ADAPTS TO DIGITAL AND BLENDED EVENT FORMATS, WeAr REFLECTS ON THEIR SUSTAINABLE ASPECTS

SPOT ON: FASHION WEEKS

Fashion weeks are an environmental hazard in countless ways – from significant energy consumption to excessive use of plastic coat hangers – but the worst thing, unsurprisingly, is the air travel they bring about. According to a report by Ordre, business travel related to the ready-to-wear fashion buying cycle produces 241,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually. The current crisis has forced the industry to explore what buying without boarding a plane might look like.

The three major fashion weeks of the season, London Fashion Week Digital, Paris Fashion Week Online and Milan Digital Fashion Week, took place for the most part online, with some brands including Dolce & Gabbana and Etro presenting complementary physical shows. Copenhagen Fashion Week, a hybrid physical and digital event, managed to achieve many of the sustainability goals outlined in its Sustainability Action Plan, published in January 2020. Aiming to reduce emissions by 50% and become a zero-waste event by 2022, it will oblige all participating brands to meet minimum sustainability requirements from January 2023.

WeAr DigiShows, our very own latest venture, captures showroom space in 3D. Buyers can then use the video-calling platform of their choice and interact in real time with the brand: see the collection as it is presented on rails, get input and help from the sales rep, measure items, take snapshots and even zoom into the garments to get an impression of the quality that compares to real touch. This reduces the need to travel while still remaining as close to the real sales process as possible.

We don't yet know the true carbon footprint of a digital-only event: internet consumption still produces carbon emissions from data centers. To measure the overall sustainability impact of digital fashion weeks, Helsinki Fashion Week, in partnership with technology company Normative, will audit its carbon footprint, leading the effort to provide data-based sustainability targets for the entire fashion industry. However, reduced travel is a significant environmental benefit and should be celebrated as such.