Opinion
Why CO Is Running Leadership Awards (And How To Win One)
A growing number of fashion businesses around the world are leading the way towards a fairer, more sustainable industry.
CO puts the spotlight on these businesses in our inaugural CO Leadership Awards – find out why and how to win.
Awareness in relation to sustainability in the fashion industry is gathering pace.
The CO Leadership Awards celebrate ambition for, and commitment to, great business practices that transform lives - and solve environmental challenges. This, for CO, is leadership. It is happening everywhere, it is already transforming our industry - and it is inspirational.
2018 saw the sustainable fashion movement gain momentum, with 720 million social media impressions related to Fashion Revolution Week; a UK government enquiry into the environmental impact of fast fashion; events at Buckingham Palace; and the launch of the UN Fashion Charter.
CO’s membership grew 300% from our launch in May 2018 and expanded across 138 countries. Over 1,000 businesses and 10,000 professionals and business leaders have registered their commitment to sustainable practices on CO.
With nine out of ten millennials, fashion’s next generation of leaders, now believing that sustainability matters in business, a vast global community dedicated to doing fashion better is taking shape.
But we have some way to go.
What is the impact of the fashion industry?
In May 2018, CO published the first comprehensive global report mapping the fashion industry, drawing from over 500 data sources and setting out what is being made and sold, and where, and its impact on people and planet.
The findings were alarming.
Less than 1% of the UK fashion retail offering is actively promoted as sustainable, and 181 million people working in fashion supply chains are in vulnerable and insecure work.
The negative impact of the fashion industry on the environment is accelerating faster than ever before.
This includes billions of plastic microfibres emitted into water systems daily through washing synthetic clothes.
Already, 83% of all water everywhere is now polluted by plastic microfibres, and this is set to increase, alongside exponential growth in synthetic fibre production.
Fashion business as usual has resulted in everyone, everywhere, eating and drinking plastic, with unknown impact on public health.
We urgently need to change the way we do business.
Leadership in sustainable business.
This is where leadership comes in.
The fashion industry brings together some of the most brilliant creative minds in the world. The goal of the CO Leadership Awards is to harness that creativity and direct it at solving the greatest challenges of our time.
The awards set out to reward and put the spotlight on the businesses and business leaders that are changing the way fashion business is done - for the better.
And in doing so to encourage and support more fashion professionals, entrepreneurs, and business owners to use their influence, their impact, and their reach as a power for good.
The CO Leadership Awards - how to take part, and what we are looking for
The awards are free and open to any business or organisation, from any part of the fashion supply chain, based anywhere in the world.
To take part, you simply need to create a business profile on CO.
Winners benefit from more profile, promotion, and a higher search ranking on the CO site - and consequently more customers and potential clients. Business profiles are reviewed against six leadership criteria.
Visit the CO Leadership Awards pages to learn more or participate. Deadline, 31st January 2019.
Tamsin Lejeune is the CEO of Common Objective.
Image credit: Christopher Raeburn
