The Pulse of the Fashion Industry 2018 report was published in the leadup to the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, and thanks to Lexus’ Rachel Espersen, our CFDA + Lexus Fashion Initiative Finalists — Abrima Erwia of Studio One Eighty Nine, Nicole Heim of Cienne, Marcia Patmos of M.Patmos, Whitney Pozgay and Parker Argote of WHIT, and Sue Stemp of St. Roche – were able to join the 1,300 players at this year’s annual business event on sustainability.
“Lexus has supported the CLF*I designers throughout this program and we included the Copenhagen Fashion Summit as part of the curriculum to enhance their learnings and experiences surrounding sustainability in the fashion industry,” Espersen said. “The Copenhagen Fashion Summit provided the designers with a deeper understanding on sustainability in fashion as they had the opportunity to attend a series of educational and empowering presentations given by notable speakers. And we are excited to watch the designers continue to grow and work towards the overall goal of having a circular system by developing their brand into a more sustainable category.”
Held earlier this month and hosted by Amber Valletta and Tim Blanks, day one took a deep dive into business models for a closed-loop fashion system. Speakers included Bert Wouters of Procter & Gamble, Giulio Bonazzi of Aquafil SpA, Jeff Denb of The Renewal Workshop, Sébastien Fabre of Vestiaire Collective, and William McDonough of McDonough Innovation.
“I was thrilled that we were actually able to make direct contact with fabric vendors utilizing new technologies, circular recycling programs, closed loop production solutions, and completely new material innovators,” Pozgay noted.
Day two featured Spencer Fung of Li & Fung discussing digitization and the future of fashion with Peder Michael Pruzan-Jorgensen of BSR; Eva Kruse and Jonas Eder-Hansen of Global Fashion Agenda. They enlightened designers on committing to a circular fashion system, while NIKE Inc.’s Eric Sprunk presented the keynote address on the future of sport.
“I learned a lot about many new technologies such as the MySize app,” Erwia noted. “I learned more details about technologies that I had previously been very interested in such as block-chain technologies.”
Day two also featured a panel the new textiles economy with Paul Dillinger of Levi Strauss & Co., Julie Wainwright of The RealReal, and Cecilia Strömblad Brännsten of H&M Group.
“The need for more government regulations that require sustainable manufacturing was something that was highlighted to me as a way to make everyone do something …bring costs and minimums of organic materials down,” said Patmos. “I was struck by how much last minute changes and chase orders affect the supply chain and overtime.”
Wrapping up the two days of intense leadership roundtables, conversations, and business meetings, our CFDA + Lexus Fashion Initiative Finalists went a form of a “speed dating” tailored to making new connections around sustainability.
“In the ‘speed dating’ booths, I met with a fantastic hand loom weaving resource in Southern India, Five P, who are exactly what I have been looking for in a manufacturing partner in our goal towards being a more sustainable business,” said Stemp. “Their eco-friendly vision is to preserve heritage textile skills fundamental for social progress and prosperity.”
A favorite highlight among all of our CFDA + Lexus Fashion Initiative Finalists was connecting with their sustainable focused peers.
“Amazing,” is how Erwia described her time in Copenhapen. “It was such a great opportunity for us to bond and grow. We are in the trenches together, but when we are in New York City we don’t really get to spend this kind of quality time that we were able to have together in Copenhagen. It was really gift.”
