milanofashionweekss26

The (Un)Sustainable Fashion Awards 2025: Greenwash event at Milano Fashion Week

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A green carpet during Milano Fashion Week to celebrate fashion’s greatest paradox


On September 27, 2025, the Teatro Alla Scala hosted the CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards, the official green carpet event for Milano Fashion Week SS26. Its mission: to celebrate the innovators and Italian fashion houses, ostensibly driving the industry toward a sustainable future.

The event, organised by the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana in collaboration with the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, promised to honour those distinguished by their “vision, innovation, commitment to craftsmanship, circular economy, human rights, environmental justice, and biodiversity.”

A symbolic green carpet welcomed guests like Anna Wintour and Naomi Campbell, who wore outfits made from sustainable materials, presenting a unified front for a greener fashion industry.

The celebration: Nine green awards 


The ceremony proceeded to distribute nine awards, each targeting a key pillar of sustainability:

  • The SFA Craft and Artisanship Award: Tod’s Group
  • The SFA Circular Economy Award: Regenesi
  • The SFA Biodiversity and Water Award: Ermenegildo Zegna Group
  • The SFA Climate Action Award: Schneider Group
  • The SFA Diversity and Inclusion Award: Willy Chavarria
  • The SFA Groundbreaker Award: Aura Blockchain Consortium
  • The SFA Education of Excellence Award: Kiton
  • The SFA Human Capital and Social Impact Award: Saheli Woman
  • The Bicester Collection Award for Emerging Designers: The Sake Project

The pinnacle of the evening saw Anna Wintour present the New Legacy Award to Giorgio Armani. 

However, by all official accounts, it was a night of triumph—a consolidation of brands’ sustainable missions, widely covered in the press as a positive step forward. 

Yet, according to Ansa, “Prosecutors request judicial administration for Tod’s. The Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested that high-end shoemaker Tod’s spa be put into judicial administration over alleged worker exploitation at factories run by Chinese people in its production chain, sources told ANSA on Wednesday, confirming a Reuters report.”

After all, it’s even ironic with all the brands put under investigation for labour exploitation. Tod’s is simply the last one added to the list. How does CNMI evaluate this particular aspect of “sustainability?”

Sustainable Fashion Awards: What do they even mean?


And so, for one night, all these people wore sustainable materials. The headlines celebrated a green vision. The brands were applauded.

But this is where we must pause and ask: What does any of this actually mean? Does anyone there have an idea of what “sustainable” means? 

Does a single award cancel out a brand’s vast linear production model? Does it justify the immense water and land use of a global supply chain? And does wearing one sustainable outfit on the red carpet make the entire attending house sustainable? Really, what are we talking about?

Sustainability: The uncomfortable truth


The uncomfortable truth is this: true sustainability in the fashion industry, as it currently operates, is a myth.

Celebrating “Sustainable Fashion” at a glitzy awards gala is the industry’s greatest paradox. These awards create the illusion of progress while the core system—built on overproduction, overconsumption, and globalised, opaque supply chains—remains fundamentally unchanged.

A few sustainable collections or material experiments are not enough to offset the environmental and social footprint of a multi-trillion dollar industry. 

In order to be truly sustainable, the fashion industry wouldn’t need awards; it would need to be redone from scratch. The very nature of these ceremonies exposes their inherent contradiction, a point perfectly illustrated by an excerpt including a telling anecdote from our book This is Greenwashing:

“While the name suggests recognition of progress towards circularity or sustainability, these awards rarely go to small, independent brands. Instead, they spotlight the same top fashion houses – the ones with the largest environmental footprints and marketing budgets.
At one edition of the Green Carpet Fashion Awards, designer Antonio Marras presented a dress crafted entirely from recycled fabric. Yet, because the fabrics weren’t sourced from certified sustainable labels, the jury asked him to remake the garment from scratch. The irony of this anecdote is striking—is it about promoting recycling, or ticking certification boxes? And really, is there anything more unsustainable than that?” 

Yet here we are, celebrating something that doesn’t even exist. This story encapsulates the entire paradox. It’s not about substance; it’s about spectacle. With the Sustainable Fashion Awards 25, we are not celebrating sustainability. We are celebrating its carefully branded illusion.

Want to learn how to spot the illusion?
Discover more in This is Greenwashing.

🌍 Buy the eBook (English Edition) on your favorite digital store: https://books2read.com/u/bpgxOX

The Italian Edition will be released in a few days!

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Fashion weeks are mirrors: Notes on Milano Fashion Week SS26

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Creativity and new directions in a time of uncertainty


Fashion weeks are mirrors. They don’t just display clothes—they reflect the tensions, aspirations, and anxieties of our times. This Spring/Summer 26 season in Milan, themes of escape, utility, and transformation emerged, reflecting an industry grappling with its role.

And so, following our examination of these overarching tensions at Milano Fashion Week SS26, we now share some notes on the collections that defined the season. 

The collections: A spectrum of responses


Diesel: Glenn Martens moved beyond the traditional catwalk, staging a scavenger hunt across the city with looks hidden in giant plastic eggs. This playful, decentralised show challenged the conventional fashion week format.

Jil Sander: Simone Bellotti’s debut focused on 90s minimalism. A remarkably clean choice that showcased the body through cuts inspired by Lucio Fontana. Indeed, the house described it as “a balance between classicism and modernity.”

Marras: The show was a poetic journey interweaving literature, art, and fashion. Inspired by a Sardinian sojourn imagined for the Bloomsbury Group, models paraded among salt flats with books tucked inside. The collection, in soft, whispered colours, featured lines that were either flowing and fluid, or androgynous and structured, shaping a universe that blended cultures.

Fendi: The collection emphasised leggerezza (lightness), colour, and an essentiality that embraced both the feminine and the masculine. It stood out as a conceptual and material dialogue, particularly in pieces woven from multiple colours, showcasing exceptional craftsmanship and technical skill.

Prada: Offered a proposition for dressing in uncertain times with an accent on colours. Can vintage be modern? The answer was a masterclass in layering volumes and colours into contemporary uniforms. The collection was described as a “response to uncertainty—clothes that can transform, change and adapt,” granting the wearer “autonomy” and designed with “meaning and utility” for surviving the modern world.

Moschino: Creative director Adrian Appiolaza asked, “What if value doesn’t come from cost but from really going deep into creative ideas?” Inspired by Arte Povera and the brand’s native irony, the collection found preciousness in humble materials like jute, championing reuse, recycling, and upcycling.

Dolce & Gabbana: As the cast of The Devil Wears Prada entered the show, the line between reality and cinema blurred. The knowing giggles shared between Anna Wintour and Miranda Priestley (Meryl Streep) were a noteworthy moment. But we wondered why an entire collection focused on pyjamas, which isn’t even a new concept. 

Bottega Veneta: Under the new creative direction of Louise Trotter, the brand saw a strong debut. She worked masterfully with volumes and three-dimensional textures intrinsic to the brand, developing a rich and sophisticated minimalism.

Versace: Now part of the Prada Group, Dario Vitale debuted with a Miu Miu-ish touch. Colours and a mix of prints, bold and flirty tailoring for a modern 80s-inspired Versace.

Final thoughts: Fashion weeks are mirrors


In conclusion, we take these notes on the Milano Fashion Week SS26 partly for ourselves — to trace the currents shaping the industry and what we might expect next. And yes, we intentionally skipped Demna’s Gucci, because we simply don’t get the point.

Italy’s heritage of craftsmanship, design, and quality remains a source of immense pride. Yet, fashion cannot be considered in isolation. In fact, the central issue is not any single brand or show; it is systemic. It is capitalism — a pattern repeating across industries worldwide. But why does everyone ignore it?

Fashion weeks are mirrors. The SS26 season proves that creativity is not dead — it’s restless, searching, sometimes playful, sometimes profound. Yet behind the spectacle, fashion continues to wrestle with questions of value, responsibility, and purpose. Until those deeper contradictions are addressed, each season will remain both a dazzling act of imagination and a stark reminder of the system that contains it.

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