My very first guest here at CFS+ is no one
less than Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess Mary of Denmark who is the Patron of Global
Fashion Agenda and actually the only speaker that has been speaking as a keynote speaker
at every single Copenhagen Fashion Summit since 2009. She is a strong advocate for
sustainability and a big humanitarian and with a strong focus especially also on women
across the world. Your Royal Highness, welcome and thank you so much for joining me here in now
the almost empty Concert House where we usually have all of our international friends and voices
from all over the world. It is quite a contrast. And you know, it reflects the times we
are living in right now, I mean, the worrying times. And it's sad because it's so nice to
to meet people from all corners of the globe to be able to hear everyone's different
reflections and great ideas and innovations. But we'll continue to do that.
You've planned a great two days. Some of them are going to be brought to
life in pre-produced pieces where we come even closer I would say because we're at their
homes or closer to them for longer times. And then we are also going to deliver live
Zoom setup panels where some of those important discussions and debates are going to happen. So it's going to be two exciting days still. Well I think credit to you and your team because
what you've been able to put together at this dynamic forum a lot of great content, amazing
speakers from all over the world that people are going to be able to tune into. Of course we'll
miss the the social side. Definitely and even the distance between us. But we have to have respect for the time we're in, we have to think creatively and innovatively
to find ways to keep moving towards the goal of creating a sustainable fashion industry. It's definitely been a difficult year, I mean, COVID obviously has impacted everybody but not least
the fashion industry with lockdowns and stores were closed and, you know, big impacts on the
supply chain. But how has it been for you and your life? Like everyone, our life has been turned
on its head, I mean, we're living and experiencing a global pandemic. The worst health crisis in a
hundred years. We've seen how societies all around the world have been closed down from one day
to the next where our freedom of movement, which we cherish so deeply, has been so incredibly
restricted and also of course the the tragedy of losing loved ones.
And you know, we're still in the middle of it. But I think we have to
remain optimistic and as you said even though our priorities understandably
have shifted to deal with COVID and manage the crisis. We have to
continue to work collectively on achieving the goals we set before COVID. The year of COVID-19 has of course also impacted the supply chain and some of the sort of weakest
links of fashion namely for the workers. And I know that you've been traveling and you've
seen, you know, not this year but previous years also met people in the supply chain and
seen the conditions they're working on. So has that affected your view on things this year
thinking of them? Well COVID has had broad-reaching impact and consequences in all corners of
the globe and in all areas of our societies. And when crisis strikes the most poor and
vulnerable are disproportionately affected and we know the fashion industry is a huge employer.
And the majority of those employed are women and you're right, I traveled to Bangladesh
and I had the opportunity to visit a factory and some workers. I talked to some of the workers
there and if we take Bangladesh as an example, I mean, that's a country that is very dependent on
on the textile industry. 80 percent of their export is through textile and fashion and they
put four million people employed and 85 percent of them are women. And we already know today that
one million garment workers have been laid off. Now the factory that I visited maybe
it's not completely representative of all the factories in Bangladesh. But we
know that a job and financial independence gives enormous security and hope for the
future. I spoke with a number of women there and heard about what it means
from them to being unemployed. The contrast of having a job to not having a job is stark indeed. These women have become finally independent. They are able to support their family
and also their local communities. They have a voice in their families and in their communities
because they have financial independence. They also are able to invest in their children,
their health, their education. So I can imagine for these women that have lost their job because
of reduced production and factory closures that they're in a in a very dire situation. The topical headline for Copenhagen Fashion Summit was Redesigning Growth originally. But then COVID hit and then obviously companies were already de-growing so when we launched the new
digital CFS+ we decided to have a topical headline called Redesigning Value to also sort
of encompass a little bit more other notions and maybe even a philosophical approach to what value
means to us. But what does it make you think of? Well when I think of value I
think originally value is always looked at as
a monetary value. Today there's so many other more important
things that add value. I don't think you can argue that if you're going to achieve
continued commercial success that you can have that without understanding the link to
sustainability. So if you look at value from a consumer perspective I would say that today and
we see changes in consumer behavior and and a need to understand or an awareness of the product.
What is it made of? What are the materials? Are they sourced responsibly and environmental or who
made this product? What was the the environment in which the product was made? For some people
those are very very important values and they add another non-monetary, you have to use the
word value again, to a product or a service but and then if you look at the way we are consuming
fashion today we're seeing a much greater market for second hand, for recycled, upcycled and
I'm thinking that this is another value because it it tells a history of the product. Who's worn
it before? Where's it been? What's its journey? What impact has it had in its production, in its
life, on the environment? How much waste has been used in making this product and how
the people that made it were treated fairly? So I think consumers beginning to see
more and more that value is much more than the price on the ticket.
I think also if you look at investors they're understanding also that
if they're going to have a good long-term investment they need to look at
companies and brands that also have a sustainable business model and policies that it's also
the human and environmental aspects that give value to a company and return on
their investment. And then I think also if you look at companies and brands that they need to also, I
think they already do, and they know that they need to change the way they're doing business because
of consumer demand but also of that collective commitment of the industry to create a sustainable
future and a sustainable industry. That they need to through innovation, technology, transparency,
responsibility to create products and services that have sustainability built in them. So that
it is simply a gift with purchase. Yes that's a really nice way of putting
it. And I think yeah, and totally that prosperity and what creates value
is much more broader as a term than just the hardcore cash economic value that we used to value.
Absolutely and I think it's clear for everyone that our
economic stability is dependent on our natural resources. And we have
to enhance them, preserve them, protect them, because they underpin our economic stability.
I think this conversation also about value is really essential for consumers as well
and i'm sure that that's one of the reasons that this trend or whatever we may call a trend sounds
like it's passing but that it's picking up with the public to look at what is valuable
to me? How do I want to spend my time and my money and what matters and looking more deeply
also into the products we buy and having that type of consciousness. I think COVID has forced
that forward as well in a good way. We have to remind ourselves that changing
behavior, behavioral change, is a long-term event. It doesn't happen overnight and
though we saw with COVID that we could create behavioral change from one day to the next.
We also see as soon as there becomes a bit fatigue in it and things look brighter we
begin to slip back to our old ways. And this I think is where we really have to
be collectively strong and resolute and say we're not going to allow
this behavior this new found, wouldn't call it desire, but need to know
what the product is made of, where it's from, how it's impacted the environment, who's
made it, were they treated fairly? That this becomes a new norm, a new way of
thinking a new way of valuing. And that's where the industry has to take this
moment and run with it and create that sustainable future, that I know you've said
it before, is the only future. Thank you.
