The Copenhagen Global Fashion Summit has just closed its 2026 edition, held from 5-7 May 2026 at the Copenhagen Concert Hall.
Organized by Global Fashion Agenda, the nonprofit company focused on accelerating the transition to a net positive fashion industry, the event recalled over 1,000 stakeholders from brands, retailers, NGOs, policymakers, manufacturers, innovators, and adjacent industries to accelerate collective action on fashion’s sustainability challenges and opportunities.
This year’s theme and title were “Building Resilient Futures,” a topic that well describes the present situation and challenges the industry has been facing in recent times.
“The year behind us has been a year of reckoning. We have seen continual economic uncertainty ripple across global markets, testing businesses and consumer confidence alike. Supply chains have faced disruption from geopolitical tension to climate-related events, exposing vulnerability that can no longer be ignored. At the same time, regulatory pressure has intensified to hold our industry accountable for its environmental and social impacts, and perhaps most importantly, expectations have shifted,” explained Federica Marchionni, CEO, Global Fashion Agenda.
“Consumers, investors, and communities are asking for transparency, for responsibility, and for tangible progress. Creating a more sustainable industry requires not only raising the bar but also supporting and incentivizing those who are actively working to meet it. Accountability is essential, and transparency has to be upheld, but we must also ensure genuine efforts to improve and fairly recognize and encourage the players of this system,” she added.
The event hosted various companies and holdings that try to make steps towards sustainability despite often being put under intense scrutiny. “Companies are facing unprecedented challenges. They are real, and they are complex, but they also present powerful opportunities because moments of disruption can also be moments of transformation,” underscored the manager, explaining how everyone’s present collective aim has to be building systems that can withstand shocks, adapt to change, and continue to create value in a rapidly evolving world.
Within the three days of intense work, the conversation revolved around interconnected pillars like circularity, climate action, and social equality.
Among participants’ experiences, they presented case histories of companies committed to scaled circular business models. For instance, they hosted a discussion with Hélène Valade, group environment development director, LVMH, on creative circularity and environmental intelligence. Along with her, they also hosted Kévin Germanier, founder of Maison Germanier, a pioneer in upcycled couture. He unveiled his s/s 2026 collection, transforming unsold LVMH products and materials into bold, sculptural silhouettes that merge craftsmanship, sustainability, and desirability.
Among key examples of responsibility and resilience, the stage hosted Pamela Anderson, actress, activist and Pandora’s global brand ambassador, and Jennie Farmer, chief marketing officer, Pandora, and revealed that Pandora is introducing a new level of transparency to its Pandora Lab‑Grown Diamonds collection by sharing the carbon footprint of every lab‑grown diamond, alongside the traditional measures of cut, color, clarity, and carat.
GFA also announced a new associate partnership with Chalhoub Group, a partner and creator of luxury experiences in the Middle East with a portfolio of eight owned brands and over 300 international brands. Through this partnership, they will work alongside GFA’s other partners to mobilize impact, contributing to publications, programs, forums, and resources.
Among other speakers, Fatih Konukoğlu, chairman of Re&Up and vice chairman of Sanko Holding, shared the company’s approach to textile-to-textile recycling and the development of an integrated circular ecosystem spanning collection, sorting, recycling, and resale to help scale circularity across the value chain.
He also took part in the panel discussion alongside leaders from H&M Group and Looper Textile Co.
During the sessions, he addressed the urgent need for the fashion industry to move from ambition to implementation, highlighting the importance of collaboration, scalable infrastructure, and post-consumer textile recycling solutions.
“The problem is too big for anyone to solve alone. We need to work together across the industry. At Re&Up, we are not only talking about solutions—our facilities are operational, our technologies are running, and we are building the infrastructure needed for circular fashion at scale,” he added.
Hyosung TNC also shared information about its innovative Bio Elastane manufactured in the company’s new fully integrated bio-based production system in Vietnam. “At a moment when the industry is moving from commitments to action, Hyosung TNC offers something beyond a material—a scalable system designed to make bio-based the new baseline, not the exception,” said Simon Whitmarsh-Knight, Hyosung TNC marketing and sustainability director. “Our Bio Elastane can be the solution to brands’ bio transition, powered by sugarcane at the 2026 Global Fashion Summit,” he added.
Taking the stage was also Luca Sburlati, president Confindustria Moda, the Italian national association of the Italian apparel and accessories manufacturers.
Among other topics he pointed out the critical situation the Italian fashion industry is facing on more fronts, including the increasingly widespread ultra-fast fashion attacks.
He also pointed out that, according to recently released
study on its associates, Italian companies that invested in sustainability, improved quite dramatically their productivity, their competitiveness, and also exports. “Just to give you an example, the companies who have a high ESG profile over the period 2017-2024 increased their value added by 65%, while those with low ESG profile only 55%,” he said.
Within the summit, they also awarded young talents and experimenters. For instance, the 2026 Trailblazer Program presented examples of innovation with the potential to transform the fashion and textile industry.
The winning company was Synflux, a proprietary system that integrates machine learning and 3D simulation to significantly reduce waste. By optimizing patterns digitally, the technology is reported to reduce fabric waste and material usage from the outset. It delivers factory-ready data that preserves design integrity and is intended to help lower carbon impact without increasing production complexity. Synflux has already collaborated with brands such as The North Face, Issey Miyake, and Doublet.
GFA and Visa also revealed the grand prize winner of the “Visa Young Creators: Recycle the Runway,” a program that celebrates and empowers emerging designers to reimagine fashion through innovative circular design.
The winner was Martan, an Amsterdam-based fashion brand recognized for reimagining fashion through more circular business models. Founded in 2023, the brand has quickly gained recognition for its approach to transforming discarded luxury hotel linen into high-end ready-to-wear garments.
GFA also launched the 2030 Circularity Blueprint, an ambitious initiative designed to support the transformation of the EU textile ecosystem to advance textile-to-textile recycling and drive the transition to a circular economy.
Together with BCG, they presented “Fashion CFO Agenda,” a report and research that has involved more than 30 CFOs and senior executives from leading fashion brands, including Kering, H&M Group, and Bestseller Group. The study points out how the role of a CFO is strategic in guaranteeing and increasing financial resilience and sustainable value creation.
The research shows that fashion CFOs actually think sustainability is important or critical to a company’s strategy, but few said it is yet fully embedded in the financial processes. Operations, ROI, risk, and hurdle rates are what unlock engagement and ultimately decision-making across the entire organization internally and all external stakeholders. Becoming aware of this is already the first step towards a transition leading to lower impact and higher profitability.