C+ : a Business Space for Sustainable Innovation

Copenhagen Fashion Summit and Copenhagen International Fashion Fair announce C+, a business space for sustainable innovation

Copenhagen, 28 January 2019 — Today Copenhagen Fashion Summit and Copenhagen International Fashion Fair (CIFF) announce the business space for sustainable innovation C+, set to launch in August 2020 during Copenhagen Fashion Week.

With an extensive, growing environmental and social footprint across the globe, there is an urgent need to accelerate the fashion industry’s sustainable transformation. That is why Copenhagen Fashion Summit and CIFF are joining forces to launch C+, a business space for sustainable innovation designed to help small and large fashion businesses implement innovative solutions to create more sustainable products.

Connecting fashion brands with sustainable solutions

At a curated trade and exhibition area at CIFF, C+ will present some of the world’s most promising sustainable solutions covering the entire value chain. The business space will have approximately 100 solutions on exhibition and also a stage programme with panels focusing on sustainable solutions. C+ will also offer a matchmaking programme with facilitated and pre-scheduled business meetings between fashion brands and solution providers to help companies take the first important steps towards (further) implementing sustainability.

“We must accelerate the pace of progress, and we believe that connecting brands with solution providers is what will help them advance most quickly. Copenhagen Fashion Summit is restricted in terms of how many companies we can engage, which is why we’re beyond excited about our collaboration with CIFF and having the opportunity to access its huge network in the Nordics. Creating direct connections between fashion brands and innovative solutions aligns well with our mission to mobilise and guide the fashion industry to take bold and urgent action on sustainability,” says Eva Kruse, CEO, Global Fashion Agenda, organiser of Copenhagen Fashion Summit.

From words to action

Global Fashion Agenda, as the foremost leadership forum for industry collaboration on fashion sustainability and organiser of Copenhagen Fashion Summit, has comprehensive experience and knowledge with helping fashion brands work with sustainability. In fact, the C+ space is inspired by the organisation’s sustainable solutions platform, Innovation Forum, which has been a permanent fixture at the Summit the past few years. By teaming up with CIFF, one of the largest and longest-running fashion fairs in Europe, C+ taps into the Scandinavian audience and will reach the fair’s nearly 2,000 exhibiting brands.

“Despite improvement the fashion industry has yet to reach its sustainability potential and the pace of positive change doesn’t match the projected growth of the fashion industry, which will put an unprecedented strain on planetary resources. CIFF has sustainability as a core value, and as a major player in the fashion field we play an integral part in helping the industry along. This collaboration is a great opportunity to inspire more fashion brands to embark on or further their sustainability journey,” Kristian W. Andersen, Chief Innovation Officer, CIFF.

The business space for sustainable innovation C+, which will launch during Copenhagen Fashion Week SS21, will be open to visitors from 4-5 August 2020.