Last Friday, the CFDA hosted two Sustainability Resources Hub Masterclasses, providing CFDA members, industry, press, and companies within the sustainability sphere a high-level walkthrough of our recently-launched sustainability initiatives, including Sustainable Strategies Guide & Toolkit, the online resource hub, and the Materials Index. CFDA’s Education and Professional Development Director Sara Kozlowski led the Masterclass and was joined by Domenica Leibowitz and Lauren Croke, the authors of the Guide and Toolkit, respectively.

The turnout signaled the importance of sustainability in our industry. It is no longer a trend or good measure; it is an imperative. Kozlowski acknowledged that, coincidentally, the workshops fell on the same day as The Global Climate Strike – when students across the country walked out of class to demand action on climate change.

Kozlowski stressed the idea of a call to action in action, and the importance of underscoring everything we do with people, planet, and profit in mind.

Leibowitz dove into the material found in the CFDA Guide to Sustainable Strategies with the goal of providing a “how to” for sustainable fashion at any entry point. “Sustainability is really personal. Only you can figure out the right path that your brand will take,” she said.

Leibowitz said that sustainability can be daunting, but, when broken into three following approaches, it can be much less intimidating:

• Systems thinking – What is the meaning of clothing and why do we use it?
• Life Cycle Analysis –looking at the entire life cycle of one garment
• Specific Focus – narrow in on one particular issue you care about, for example reducing water usage.

Lauren Croke, who worked at Eileen Fisher for 20 years, presented case studies from CFDA Member brands. Her goal is to demystify sustainability. Her biggest takeaways: start with focused, easy-to-measure goals, and it’s imperative that the entire team is involved .“Sustainability is not a project,” she said. It’s a long path.

“Now is the time to start the journey to sustainability – with so many innovations in materials and technology, the cross industry collaboration, people are realizing that with sustainability, we are all in this together,”added  Leibowitz.

Alan Eckstein of Everyone Wins echoed this. In just two years, his sustainability journey has become easier and more accessible due the industry collaboration and resources.

The session ended with a live-demo of the tools via CFDA.com and an engaging Q&A.

Sustainability is a core pillar of the CFDA, integrating this throughout every aspect of the organization. Recently the CFDA became a member of the UN Global Compact as well as The Sustainable Apparel Coalition, and this conversation was the beginning of engaging a larger around global impact, with many more workshops to come.