The CFDA, in partnership with UGG®, will release the CFDA.com Materials Hub in October to assist the fashion industry in discovering and connecting with key innovators, vendors and resources across fashion’s material sourcing community.
The new open-access Materials Hub extends the CFDA’s decade-plus commitment to design-centered sustainability initiatives including the CFDA.com Sustainability Resource Hub, home of the Guide to Sustainable Strategies and Toolkit and Materials Index, as well as the Sustainability By Design: Rethinking NYFW Impact Report, created in partnership with Boston Consulting Group and in collaboration with the United Nations Office of Partnerships and Conscious Fashion.
Many brands including UGG, who introduced its FEEL GOOD sustainability platform in 2020 and Plant Power Collection using carbon-neutral, plant-based materials to address the issue of carbon emissions earlier this year, are integrating innovative materials across its supply chains. This demand, combined with a growing investment in technology from raw material providers, has created a vast network of businesses looking to scale these innovations and help advance sustainability across the fashion industry.
The CFDA and the UGG brand’s mission with the Materials Hub is to focus the resource on one critical step of the supply chain, material sourcing, and aggregate resources that can highlight leaders across the sector, promote collaboration between designer and innovator, help designers blueprint ways to strengthen their impact within materials and continue to provide educational and professional development opportunities for all. The CFDA.com Materials Hub will include:
Innovation Index
Featuring top-tier technologies in fiber and fabric, the Materials Hub Innovation Index will provide topline information on the leaders in this space in an easily digestible and searchable format. The Index will provide further insights into the sustainable considerations/properties that differentiate each innovation from traditional raw materials, while also including intel on market availability and material origin. Visual assets as well as contact information to foster relationship building opportunities.
Fiber/material innovators interested in being featured on the Innovation Index can learn more by reviewing the Guide to Registering here.
Vendor Directory
Focusing outside of raw material sourcing, the Materials Hub Vendor Directory provides a curated list of businesses who designers can directly connect to across areas such as: online marketplaces, certifications and standards, end of life/recycling, packaging, shipping and logistics, trade shows, material processing, associated nonprofit organizations and trade groups, and more. Vendors will be included that represent all product categories including ready-to-wear, accessories and jewelry.
Vendors interested in being featured in the Vendor Directory can learn more by reviewing the Guide to Registering here.
Resource Center
The Materials Hub Resource Center will feature related key documents, white papers, case studies, tool kits, guides, checklists to provide up-to-date information that can help designers navigate their overarching sourcing strategies for traditional and innovative materials. Produced content will supplement the aforementioned documents to provide stories of success and roadblocks across the industry and provide practical information on ways to best navigate sourcing within their supply chains.
Related News
Aggregated news from past CFDA programming, initiatives, and editorial stories, as well as newly produced content will supplement the resources to provide stories covering the success and challenges of designer and innovator leaders through navigating material innovation and sourcing within their supply chains.
Throughout the month of October, the CFDA and UGG will also host a series of public webinars dedicated to material innovation including an introductory walkthrough of the Materials Hub site, a fireside chat outlining how UGG is progressing sustainability with Andrea O’Donnell, President of UGG & Koolaburra by UGG at Deckers Brands, as well as moderated discussions surrounding both packaging and fiber/fabric innovation. Registration for the webinar series will open in late September across CFDA’s digital channels.
Stay tuned for more updates as we near the launch of the CFDA.com Materials Hub in October.
