At the mid-point of the CFDA Lexus Fashion* Initiative, the finalists had the opportunity to share ideas and insights with advisory board members, mentors, and industry change-makers like Scott Hahn, Julie Gilhart, and Dr. Linda Greer at the Open Idea Exchange. Each shared their visions and wishes for a better future, while also activating the power of community to problem solve through barriers and roadblocks.

While the designers’ areas of focus differed, central pressing challenges such as controlling consistency when forecasting low-impact materials, dealing with cost-prohibitive fabric minimums, and the need for policy changes to better support value chain partners remain.

Using the Fashion* Initiative’s pillars of inspiration, innovation, and imagination, the finalists are rising to the challenges,. Prabal Gurung spoke of incorporating Himalayan wild fiber nettle, derived from a plant found in excess in Nepal, into his latest collection, while Nicholas K team discussed its use of undyed alpaca wool to mitigate the challenges associated with natural dye inconsistencies. The SVILU designers proposed pulling efforts with other design teams to meet prohibitive fabric minimums of core fabrics that are often difficult for smaller-scale designers to undertake alone. Brother Vellies’ Aurora James described her effort to provide skilled training to her global artisan partners.

Additionally, the designers have had the opportunity to hear and learn from other industry veterans. Tiffany & Co.’s Francesca Amfitheatrof and Anisa Kamadoli Costa, Chief Sustainability Officer, recently shared their company’s sustainable design ethos and experience in stewarding a culture of corporate social responsibility with the teams behind Wwake, K/LLER Collection, Tome, Prabal Gurung, Zero + Maria Cornejo, and Brother Vellies.

Amfitheatrof and Kamadoli Costa explained how the company’s culture of corporate social responsibility and sustainability was directly influenced from using nature as an inspiration for jewelry design and from having a clear understanding that metals and gemstones come directly from the earth. The pair also provided insights on materials and processes including best practices, efforts to measure impact, and lessons in traceability, touching on their Snapchat story that raised the curtain on its manufacturing practices.

With these two events behind them, the designers are now well poised to move towards the next phase of the Fashion* Initiative: creating strategies and measuring what matters.

Read more about the Open Idea Exchange on Vogue.com, The New York Observer, Fashionista, Fashion Unfiltered, and Footwear News. Read more about the Tiffany & Co. Workshop on WWD.com.