PARIS — The world’s leading fashion cities are joining forces in an effort to move sustainability beyond local initiatives and toward coordinated global action.
Launched on Thursday by Paris Good Fashion during its second annual Midsummer Camp conference, the new “Fashion Cities Coalition” brings together Copenhagen; Cotonou, Benin; Dubai; London; Milan; New York, and Singapore alongside Paris to share research, develop common priorities and accelerate the industry’s transition through evidence-based collaboration.
These will be the “first wave” of cities, with rolling meetings in each location through February 2028. Other cities are expected to join in the second wave.
Rather than another industry pledge, organizers positioned the coalition as a working platform where fashion capitals can test ideas, share data and develop practical solutions together.
“It’s a strong and important advancement,” said Paris Good Fashion cofounder and director Isabelle Lefort, noting that it has been in the works for nearly a year.
“We need to accelerate the transformation of the fashion industry to become sustainable,” said Federica Marchionni, chief executive officer of Global Fashion Agenda, which is supporting the initiative. She described the coalition as an opportunity to bring together organizations, brands and cities around specific goals.
“We need to bring concrete results,” she added, stressing the importance of measurable progress and scientific credibility. “Without the scientific base, then we’re not credible.”
That emphasis on measurable action was echoed throughout the morning.
“We need science, we need research, but we need also this to be very much applied,” said Pascal Morand, executive president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, noting that the collaboration between cities must be paired with research and practical solutions.
“We have this so important environmental and sustainable challenge to address and to work on with each other, and I’m very glad that we are part of this whole story,” he said.
The initiative is built on the belief that cities function as centers of creativity, education, innovation, retail, manufacturing expertise and cultural influence, and can provide a platform for diverse voices in the industry. It also aims to connect different parts of the fashion ecosystem, including industry bodies in the established fashion capitals to emerging economies and manufacturing regions.
For Ting Ting Tong, CEO of the Singapore Fashion Council, Singapore’s participation reflects the city’s role as a bridge between markets, innovation and the wider Asian fashion ecosystem.
“Singapore, being a retail gateway — we no longer do any manufacturing — but we sit in the heart of manufacturing,” she said.
She highlighted the importance of bringing a broader Asian perspective into global sustainability discussions, adding that roughly 80 percent of the world’s apparel is made in Asia. Tong believes that Singapore can help create connections between fashion cities and Southeast Asian stakeholders.
“We represent an opportunity to work with the big fashion cities to see how we can push for change,” she said.
Sarah Kozlowski, senior vice president of program strategies at the Council of Fashion Designers of America, said the coalition recognizes that no single market can solve fashion’s sustainability challenges alone.
“We cannot do anything without each other,” she said, describing the opportunity to bring cities together and work toward collective action.
Carlo Capasa, chairman of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, also pledged Milan’s support, describing the coalition as “the natural evolution” of existing international cooperation between fashion organizations.
He revealed that Milan will host the coalition’s next workshop later this year, inviting brands, technology companies, academic institutions and creative leaders to develop practical industry solutions.
“This coalition is more than a seat at the table, it is a commitment to transform dialogue into action, ideas into measurable results, and shared ambition into lasting impact,” he said.
One of the coalition’s first collaborative projects will build on Paris Good Fashion’s recent international citizen consultation on sustainable fashion.
Rather than stopping at collecting public opinion, the organization plans to launch a behavioral research program designed to understand why consumers’ intentions often fail to translate into purchasing decisions.
Working with behavioral scientists, the initiative aims to identify, test and validate “nudges” that encourage more sustainable purchasing habits, with both published academic research and practical tools that brands, retailers, and digital platforms can act on.
The coalition was launched during the second edition of Paris Good Fashion’s Midsummer Camp, a two-day gathering that brought together researchers, brands, institutions and designers.
The first day was focused on scientific research, with over 70 scientists presenting findings on everything from new materials to garment longevity, while the second day was filled with workshops involving organizations including LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Comité Colbert, ANDAM and EY.
The next phase of the Fashion Cities Coalition will move quickly from discussion to implementation. Milan plans to bring together brands, technology providers, academic institutions, and creative leaders when it hosts the coalition’s next workshop.
