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On October 3, 2025, during Paris Fashion Week, the City Diplomacy Lab, in collaboration with the Columbia Global Paris Center, the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, Institut Français de la Mode (IFM), and Paris Good Fashion (PGF), convened an international conference exploring how fashion capitals can catalyze systemic change in one of the world’s most influential yet environmentally challenging industries. Over 120 participants—policymakers, industry leaders, academics, journalists, and designers—gathered to examine the intersection of urban leadership and sustainable fashion.

The Challenge and Opportunity

Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi, Founding Director of the City Diplomacy Lab and moderator of the event, framed the central question: why speak of “capitals of sustainable fashion”? Fashion represents approximately 2% of global GDP but generates up to 10% of greenhouse gas emissions, contributes to 20% of water pollution, and accounts for 35% of ocean microplastics. Only 1% of textiles are currently recycled. Yet cities hold the keys to change. “Sustainable fashion capitals are places of innovation, knowledge exchange, and international advocacy,” Kihlgren Grandi stated. “They are showing how to reconcile style with environmental limits and human rights, while unlocking what some estimate as five trillion dollars of circular economy value.”

Institutional Leadership: Setting the Framework

Nicolas Bonnet Oulaldj: Paris Takes a Stand

Nicolas Bonnet Oulaldj, Deputy Mayor of Paris, articulated a vision of fashion as a political lever that shapes culture and can drive responsible consumption. He highlighted Paris’s “Fabriqué à Paris” label, which has certified over 2,200 products since 2017, and directly confronted ultra-fast fashion’s rampant overproduction, undignified working conditions, and plagiarism of independent designers.

Bonnet Oulaldj showcased Paris’s multifaceted support system, from École Duperré (which produced Jeanne Friot, designer of the iconic Olympic ceremony equestrian costume) to the Ateliers de Paris incubator. His conclusion was clear: “Paris wants to be the capital of sustainable fashion—a fashion that innovates without renouncing its values.”

Bettina Heller: The UN’s Global Perspective

Bettina Heller, Programme Manager at the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), brought a global framework to the discussion, representing the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion. She traced growing international momentum, from the March 2025 International Day of Zero Waste focused on fashion to the upcoming ministerial dialogue at the UN Environment Assembly in December 2025. “What really comes out very strongly is the need for a systems change,” she observed, emphasizing business models, production volumes, and marketing practices. Crucially, she highlighted the rising role of cities: “A lot of the changes will have to happen on the ground,” calling for cities to bring their voices to international forums.

Sylvie Ebel: Paris’s Evolution

Sylvie Ebel, Vice-Dean of IFM and President of Paris Good Fashion, acknowledged that “Paris has not been a pioneer in terms of sustainability,” but emphasized rapid change. The ecosystem now embraces sustainability with support from the City of Paris, the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, and Paris Good Fashion. At IFM, sustainability is embedded across all disciplines. “No single city can solve the challenge alone,” Ebel concluded. “But together, these global hubs can demonstrate that fashion and sustainability are no more incompatible.”

Three Cities, Three Approaches

Isabelle Lefort (Paris): The Power of Co-Creation

Isabelle Lefort, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Paris Good Fashion, explained the organization’s inclusive philosophy: “We decided to work all together—not only the people who are convinced, but all the actors: big groups, small names, independent designers, event companies, schools, federations, and institutions.” This co-creation approach has yielded over 60 concrete projects in seven years, from carbon footprint calculations for 85+ fashion shows to innovative waste reduction initiatives.

Lefort emphasized the inseparability of creativity and sustainability: “Life is creation, sustainability is also creation. We can’t separate them.” She highlighted citizen engagement through consultations that received over 107,000 responses with more than 3,000 ideas. A new consultation is planned for February 2026.

Shailja Dubé (London): Innovation and Inclusivity

Shailja Dubé, Deputy Director of the British Fashion Council’s Institute of Positive Fashion, described London’s approach centered on research, actionable insights, and leveraging convening power. “We act as a bridge between industry and government,” Dubé explained. The Circular Fashion Ecosystem Programme now represents about 60% of UK market volume—”incredibly persuasive when it comes to UK government.”

London Fashion Week serves as a platform for innovation, featuring designers who showcase upcycled materials and embedded digital product passports ahead of EU requirements. Dubé emphasized territorial equity: “We’re working with the wider UK to overcome socioeconomic disparities.” The Institute’s low-carbon transition program currently supports 75 London-based designers in developing five-year decarbonization plans.

María Luisa Martínez Díez (Copenhagen): From Local to Global

María Luisa Martínez Díez, Vice President of Public Affairs at Global Fashion Agenda, focused on policy and scaling local solutions. “In Copenhagen, sustainability is really much more than a value—it’s a way of life,” she noted, describing the city’s commitment to fossil fuel independence by 2050. Global Fashion Agenda’s work centers on convening stakeholders, aligning voices for collective impact, and educating through resources like their policy matrices.

Martínez Díez highlighted the gap between consumer intentions and behavior, stressing the need for systemic change beyond individual choice. She cited innovations from startups working on textile alternatives from natural materials as examples of how “some of the best solutions start locally but can be scaled.”

The Path Forward

The conference’s Q&A session addressed critical questions about industry inclusivity, consumer engagement, and zero-waste initiatives. On the persistent challenge of changing consumer behavior, Lefort acknowledged: “Less than 2% of consumers go to see sustainability information online. It’s really with creativity and emotion that you can change the way to consume.”

Dr. Andrée-Anne Lemieux, Director of Sustainability at IFM, delivered closing remarks emphasizing education as the foundation for transformation. She outlined a framework of shared responsibility among governments (creating laws and frameworks), the private sector (transforming from within), and citizens (exercising purchasing power).

“The sustainable transformation relies on a change in terms of values,” Lemieux stated. “It’s a value transformation.” She called for shifting from disposable to durable fashion with emotional attachment, warning that physical durability alone is insufficient: “If we’re not attached to products, we’ll throw them away and end up with beaches and landfills full of super durable products.”

Her conclusion captured the evening’s spirit: “Fashion is bringing a lot of value—human value, society value. So we can inspire and lead this change with our action, our emotion, and our passion. Let’s go change the world.”

Conclusion

The Sustainable Fashion Capitals conference demonstrated that fashion industry transformation is an ongoing process requiring sustained collaboration across borders, sectors, and scales. Paris, London, and Copenhagen each offer distinct models—creative heritage and artisanal ecosystems, innovation culture and policy bridge-building, holistic sustainability and global convening—that can inspire action far beyond their boundaries. The path forward requires continuing to build bridges between cities, share best practices, educate new generations, and reimagine the relationship between fashion, people, and planet.

The event concluded with a reception and the presentation of the 2025 Grand Prix Photography & Sustainability exhibition by Paris Good Fashion in partnership with Eyes on Talents. The exhibition featured works by four laureate artists—Jeff Rich, Justin Willis, Clara Chichin, and Flamme—whose images captured both the beauty worth preserving and the urgency of the challenges facing fashion and the environment. Through their diverse perspectives, ranging from urban transformation to natural landscape preservation, the artists reminded participants that art remains a powerful medium for inspiring emotional connection and catalyzing change.

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The City Diplomacy Lab thanks all partners and participants for their contributions to this inspiring conversation.