Dana Davis is the VP of Sustainability, Product and Business Strategy at Mara Hoffman. After being with the brand for nine years, Davis wears many hats –from sourcing sustainable materials and overseeing margins with the production teams to vetting the brand’s supply chain and starting a sustainability task team.
As a mentor to this year’s CFDA + Lexus Fashion *Initiative cohort, Davis brings her expertise in all things sustainability to the designers.
We sat down with Davis to ask her thoughts on challenges designers face today and words of advice.
What challenges do you see designers facing today, and what is your advice to overcome these challenges?
Many designers don’t know where to start. Identify the low hanging fruit. Once a small obstacle is overcome, momentum builds quickly.
Many also struggle with getting buy-in from their company. Advise them to start building out an internal task team to help. At Mara Hoffman, we started with a monthly action plan meeting that was open to all employees.
On a technical side, I often hear challenges around sourcing sustainable materials. Reach out to current suppliers and ask if they have a sustainable alternative. It’s also necessary to reach out to other designers in this space for vendor recommendations. And of course, now they have the CFDA’s Sustainability Tool Guide [Resource Hub] to help with this research.
How do you encourage designers to find their voice in the conversation of sustainability?
I tell designers to stay true to who they are and to lead with honesty. There is no such thing as being 100 percent sustainable. Customers must be told about the journey with sincerity and authenticity.
What is one piece of advice that you would give designers starting off on their sustainability journey?
Learn from the successes and challenges of others. This requires designers to network like crazy and reach out to the brands they admire. Most brands in this space are happy to share information. The days of competition and proprietary information are over, and collaboration is key to move the needle.
What advice would you give an established brand that wants to pivot their business model to focus on sustainable initiatives?
You can start today! First, do a little bit of research and begin networking. Create a strategy that you split into short, medium and long-term initiatives that are realistic. This will be an ever-evolving document. For example, start by mapping your supply chain to the best of your ability. Focus on Tier 1 and as you start to get to know your suppliers better, inform them of your intentions and help guide them.
