Danish Queen Mary, who was born in Australia, has advocated for the fashion industry to develop into one "that gives more than it takes."
The 52-year-old, who was named Queen in January, spoke at the Global Fashion Summit's opening ceremony on Wednesday in Copenhagen, reported Hunter Valley News.
The style star has always supported climate change action and sustainable fashion, and in 2023 she visited cyclone-prone Vanuatu and Fiji to meet Pacific islanders who are directly affected by global warming.
The fashion industry's impact on the environment, ethics, human rights, and working conditions in the supply chain are all topics of discussion during the yearly two-day summit in Copenhagen.
Queen Mary said at the summit, "We have a responsibility to protect and preserve our planet for our children and coming generations. It is a beautiful and fragile planet."
"Let us envision a fashion industry that contributes more to society and the environment than it depletes."at the midst of the 2000 Olympics, Queen Mary met her husband Frederik at a Sydney pub.
On May 14, the pair marked their twentieth wedding anniversary. They were photographed wearing similar vests on the royal yacht that was sailing to Norway for an important visit.
The Danish Queen recycles her clothes and ball gowns on a regular basis.
She donned the same burgundy gown to this year's Danish royal New Year's Gala that she had worn to six other formal occasions.
The mother-of-four claimed that her two girls were able to wear her shoes and outfits.
However, she added, "the age difference means they wouldn't be caught dead in them."
But it always makes me smile when they're seen wearing something that belongs to me.
She praised the practice of borrowing, exchanging clothing, and going to flea markets and vintage shops.
"There is no longer a perception that new clothes are inferior to used clothing," she stated.
At the summit, Queen Mary expressed her excitement at discovering projects that promote the environment, such as "the wonders of seaweed as an alternative to existing fabrics."
In order to understand more about the predicament faced by female garment workers, a Danish royal visited a textile plant in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2017.
Bangladesh's first offshore wind project will be developed in collaboration with fashion labels BESTSELLER, H&M Group, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, according to a plan revealed in December by the conference organizer, Global Fashion Agenda.
The project is in its early stages of planning, with construction scheduled to begin in late 2026. Its goal is to boost the availability of renewable energy in one of the major manufacturing countries for the fashion industry.
The event will also call on influential figures in fashion to address animal exploitation.
Melbourne-based Collective Fashion Justice will call for a reconsideration of leather use on Thursday.
"So often when we're talking about animal-derived materials we are too uncomfortable to acknowledge exactly what we are talking about ... animals being transformed through the supply chain into objects," founding director Emma Hakansson.
The 24-year-old former model Ms. Hakansson will be included in a picture exhibit where she will be seen wearing clothing made of eco-friendly substitutes next to animals that are usually used for labor.
Following lobbying, London Fashion Week forbade fur, Copenhagen Fashion Week forbade feathers and skins from catwalks, and Melbourne Fashion Week banned feathers from its runways in 2024—a world first.
"It wasn't so long ago that Hermes made bags from whales and that London Fashion Week and London auction houses were full of hummingbirds that had been taken from the Amazon and turned into all kinds of jewellery," said Ms Hakansson./BGNES