main takeaways from the Copenhagen Fashion Summit 2016

Well, Copenhagen Fashion Summit is the world’s largest conference on sustainability & fashion. But while big brands are debating sustainability over there, are they also taking action?
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Here are some takeaways from the Copenhagen Fashion Summit 2016 from Livia Firth (you can find out more about her here). 

• On mega brands: "They would like us to believe that all is well in the supply chain. Well, that sadly is not the case". – It’s more expensive to have a healthy, clean and transparent supply chain, but I believe it gives you a good night sleep; so, worth it! 
• "We cannot and we must not draw a veil over the death of the 1334 garment workers in Bangladesh. Especially when major brands move on across the world to Cambodia, to Myanmar, to Ethiopia, exporting exactly the same model of production without any change. That was not the agreement, and that cannot be the sum total of our ambition".
• "Nothing, nothing will ever change if the business model of "fast fashion" stays as it is. That is, by continuing to addict us to an even crazier cycle of consumption which is totally unsustainable in itself."
• "You are going to hear the word "sustainable" so many times during this conference that it's endangered of becoming meaningless. But it does mean something very important." You can use the word as much as you like but what’s hard and rewarding is to use the concept in your own business.
• Growth of business does not mean development – are you familiar with the saying “potato, potato”? 
• We have to acknowledge that the current model with a few bandages, cannot really deliver the change that we need. We must cut through this noise.
• This current business model will not get us to the point we want to get: where producers are in partnership with the brands, not in servitude to them. - this is really a goldie!

As a step forward they will begin to establish legal accountability in this sector. They will address the living wage as a fundamental living right and thus trying to establish a global standard for a living wage.
So be an active consumer! You decide where the direction of the fashion industry is going. Be responsible. Buy less, choose well and make it last! Form follows feeling. 
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*Image via Copenhagen Fashion Summit.