MFI@Youth Fashion Summit 2014 in Copenhagen!

Le conferme sono arrivate: gli studenti del Milano Fashion Institute parteciperanno all'iniziativa Youth Fashion Summit, parte del Copenaghen Fashion Summit 2014 che si svolgerà a Copenaghen dal 22 al 24 aprile. L'esperienza permetterà di acquisire delle conoscenze approfondite sulle diverse tematiche creative e di business relative alla moda responsabile, a fare networking e a proporre idee innovative di come le aziende moda possano essere più responsabili.
Per chi è interessato maggiori informazioni sono disponibili su http://youthfashionsummit.com
Stay tuner per i racconti dell'evento!

The confirmations just arrived: the students of Milano Fashion Institute will participate to the Youth Fashion Summit initiative, part of the 2014 Copenhagen Fashion Summit that will take place in Copanhagen from April 22 till 24. The experience will allow the students to gather knowledge about the different creative and business topics around responsible fashion, to do networking and suggest innovative ideas on how the companies can be more responsible.
For further information visit http://youthfashionsummit.com
Stay tuned for the storytelling of the event!

Fashion Camp & other stories in Milan

Yesterday has been a very busy day!

Morning 
Exams and meetings at work

2pm 
I participated at the event "Idee per un mondo come piace a te: Come rendere sostenibili i nostri consumi?" about responsible fashion during the event promoted by Connie Hedegaard, Responsible for the Climate Action European Commission.
I was glad to meet:
Mike Barry, Marks&Spencer
Rossella Ravagli, Gucci
Giusy Bettoni, Creativity, Lifestyle and Sustainabe Synergy (C.L.A.S.S)
Reiner Hengstmann, Puma 
Mohamed Samir, Procter&Gamble / A.I.S.E
Jonas Eder-Hansen, Nordic Fashion Association - NICE was also there!
It has been actually a very interesting table with a lot of questions from the public regarding the responsibility of the brands and the need for more information for the consumers.

4pm 
I participated at the Fashion Camp for my book presentation. 
If you are interested here is the interview on the Fashion Camp blog, and below the video interview we did after the speech at the barcamp (in Italian).

DIY with IOU: global independent design competition

Here is an article published by NICE at http://nicefashion.org/en/news/competition.html.
Hope you will find it interesting!

The IOU Project and Source4Style launch global independent design competition, where the goal is to find the next designer for a cutting edge label's capsule collection.
Source4Style, an online B2B marketplace connecting designers directly to sustainable material suppliers around the globe and The IOU Project, an innovative fashion label connecting consumers directly to artisan-producers announce DIY with IOU - a sustainable design competition to find the next designer for The IOU Project “Made in NYC” Capsule Collection.
The winning design will also be featured on an exclusive sale on Fab.com and through a trunk show at ABC Carpet & Home.
“We are excited to be joining forces with The IOU Project to raise the profile of sustainable sourcing and design in the fashion industry,” says Summer Rayne Oakes, co-founder of Source4Style. “IOWEYOU and Source4Style have a shared vision of opening up the transparency of fashion supply chains,” adds Kavita Parmar, co-founder of The IOU Project. “The question of where are your clothes made and under what conditions are increasingly relevant. This contest is a fashion-forward way to bring attention to the growing sustainable fashion movement.”

The competition is open to designers around the world. Designers of all levels can enter on Source4Style’s site from February 1st through February 24th, 2012. The entry fee is $100 and includes an annual Premium Level Membership - normally priced at $350 - on Source4Style. Designers can sign up via http://marketplace.source4style.com/signup and use discount code IOU at checkout. Premium Level Members for Source4Style can enter for free. Once a member, designers can submit their portfolio for consideration via Source4Style’s Twitter account or via email.

“The whole process will be documented and shared to the community,” says Benita Singh, co-founder of Source4Style. “And we’ll feature IOU’s traceable materials for sale to all of our members after the competition.” Five finalists will be chosen on February 28th, 2012 by a panel of judges including, Benita Singh and Summer Rayne Oakes (co-founders, Source4Style), Kavita Parmar (Designer, The IOU Project), Vivian Weng (Director of Fashion, Fab.com), Alysia Reiner (Actress), Izabella Miko (Actress), VV Brown (Singer/Songwriter), Erica Domesek (Founder, PS I Made This), Kate Dillon (Model) and Erica Wolf (Save the Garment Center). The finalists will then receive 8 meters of unique and traceable madras cotton from IOU to produce a single garment or accessory for women, men or unisex for Spring/Summer 2013.

The winning product from DIY with IOU, announced on March 29, 2012, will be produced as part of the IOU Project’s “Made in NYC” Capsule Collection, showcased at a trunk show hosted by ABC Carpet & Home, and sold on Fab.com. Profits from the sale of the design will be shared with the winning designer. As part of an ongoing project to raise awareness about transparency, sustainable sourcing and local production, final designs will be produced in New York City’s garment district through the Save the Garment Center and Made in NYC.

For more information about the competition, visit source4style.com.
Contact: Source4Style, info@source4style.com,

About Source4Style
Source4Style is the premiere B2B online marketplace that connects designers directly to sustainable material suppliers around the globe. Co-founded by Summer Rayne Oakes and Benita Singh, the platform services designers in over 70 countries and sources in 24 countries around the world. www.source4style.com.

About The IOU Project
The IOU Project is an e-commerce initiative that offers fashion conscious consumers a very distinct platform for online shopping; one which not only enhances the online experience by linking end buyers with artisan-producers, but also draws upon the most compelling aspects of social media to construct a community around its core brand values: authenticity, transparency, uniqueness and both social and environmental responsibility. www.theiouproject.com

NICE project in Copenhagen!

Few days ago I interviewed Jonas Eder-Hansen, Development Director of the Danish Fashion Institute about responsible fashion and the activity of NICE - Nordic Initiative Clean & Ethical.
NICE is a project under the Nordic Fashion Association. The Nordic Fashion Association was initiated in 2008, after Danish Fashion Institute, Oslo Fashion Week, The Swedish Fashion Council, Helsinki Design Week and Iceland's Fashion Council had met to cooperate with The Nordic Council of Ministers to launch Nordic Look during Riga Fashion Week.
Which brings us to nicefashion.org, a web tool for consumers, designers and people involved in the textile business, as well as a forum where professionals can find resources and exchange information. Based on the cradle-to-cradle principle, the site aims to inspire towards more environmentally safe and ethical design and sourcing; while involving the customer in the process through wash, care and prolonged-use issues.

How can fashion companies be "responsible"?
NICE clearly defines a Code of Conduct identifying the most important actions that companies need to put in practice to be "sustainable" in Working conditions, Health and Safety, Environment, Ethical behaviour, Auditing(see Nice Code of Conduct Manual).

The sustainable fashion is today only a small segment of the total, what are the barriers to the development and what are the conditions for growth?
Consumers need to be more active and need to ask themselves more critical questions. In food and in personal care this has been happening: consumers asked themselves “What am I putting in my mouth? What am I digesting? What am I putting on my face?”. Now consumers should start to ask themselves questions related to the safety and sustainability of the products that they wear. Consumers play a big role: they should care more about ethics and fair trade.
The other need is related to the political framework for the consumer engagement: educating the consumer on washing temperatures and on how to dry clothes…etc… is fundamental.
Consumers should be driven to a higher sensibility using a more fun and engaging language, for example using the “gamification”, actual online games or videogames could be used. Of course you need knowledge and promotional elements (i.e. coupons) in order to make it work and this is just for a certain (more mass) positioning.
Public/private partnerships are fundamental to close the loop: i.e. engaging companies that sell washing machines to reduce the water waste or control better the temperature during the washing of the clothes.
Together with the consumers, political framework and public/private partnerships also the supply should make a further change by improving its aesthetic statement: the “eco” should not be a limitation but an additional value of beautiful and “good” fashion, not wrinkled or itchy.
Companies need to integrate their first attempts in sustainability into a real long term strategy.
The next step will be the having the new “sustainable black dress”.
Consumers are changing as more options arise, selecting products that inspire their dreams. Fashion companies should talk to the consumers relating to issues that speak directly to the consciousness. Trend forecasters put a lot of emphasis on the issue.
Think about the luxury brands: spending so much money on a bag will not be possible anymore for the only objective of giving a certain status symbol to the consumer. Social and environmental awareness will help to create and reinforce the new status symbol.

The eco-sustainable fashion industry: what has changed comparing the new “eco-sustainable” supply chain with the “traditional” supply chain?
The prerequisite is to create a stronger relationship with suppliers, increase the auditing (code of conduct) and trusting relationships (exchange of knowledge and resources). Thanks to the partnership between company and supplier the exchange will be on both sides: quality products on one side and a more educated work force thanks to knowledge development programs to the suppliers. It is fundamental to train the supply chain and engage on an individual base. H&M for example is trimming the number of its suppliers and is on the right track of building the right relationships.

For more info visit: http://www.nicefashion.org/en