The Future of Fashion: Merging Style + Sustainable Social Impact

I just came back from a great "conference":

The Future of Fashion: Merging Style + Sustainable Social Impact at The Green Spaces organized by Be Social Change New York.

There was an incredible panel of very inspired and inspiring individuals:

- Carmen Artigas: A sustainable design consultant and professor  of Ethical Fashion at FIT and Parsons The New School for Design
- Eileen Moran: from NOW Showcase which has fostered incredible support and collaborations between buyers, press and designers.

- Summer Rayne Oakes: from Source4Style

- Deidre McGuigan: INDEGO AFRICA a social enterprise that partners with women artisans in Rwanda on a fair trade basis to drive forward a sustainable, long-term solution to systemic poverty in Africa.

- David Radparvar: from HOLSTEE which produces designer products and sustainability standards.

- Erica Wolf: from Save the Garment Center

This great evening full of motivated, commited, like-minded people working towards a common goal made me realize that being in New York is not that bad after all. Maybe I should think about that saying... "When life gives you lemons (this is a pretty GREAT lemon BTW), make BANGING lemonade"

I have tons of work to do regarding the collection for The Green Fashion Competition, but I'm too inspired and wound up...so I'm sharing with you some of my notes from tonight.

INNOVATION & SOCIAL IMPACT

- be INNOVATIVE with your SOCIAL IMPACT by COLLABORATING and sharing, busines to business, and SPACES.

- share the stories behind your product and TALK | TALK | TALK about what you are doing. This creates AWARENESS

- when you go shopping, ASK the salespeople about where the product was made and the working conditions there... this shows you care, and that message will get through to the people running your favorite brands, and change will happen

- look at the existing business model, re-examine it and think about the life of your product. Create a closed-loop with your customer.

- as designers we can reduce consumption and still keep our customers... its all about that closed-loop. We can create things that SOLVE our world's problems

- let's align our business practices to the Millennium Goals

- make a BOLD statement

WHAT INSPIRES YOU to be a part of the sustainability efforts?

- the opportunity for CHANGE

- women artisans... giving them the TOOLS so that they can later access clients themselves and we can act just as "consultants" and advisors.

How can we INFLUENCE our customers?

- when you have a product speaks for itself and competes with market mostly because of its quality  and design.

- through EDUCATION... reaching the people who DO care, and teaching the people who don't (YET)

- through relationship building and long-term story telling

- by establishing a dialog with your buyers/customers... ask them their opinion (even throughout the designing process) so that you are making things that are needed/wanted.

- help customers UNDERSTAND your CHALLENGES, and show them they can be FLEXIBLE in their choices.

What can we do to REDUCE our IMPACT?

- PRODUCE LOCALLY, try to MINIMIZE your carbon footprint, create jobs, and sustain YOUR resources

- Make sure your LABOR workers are working in conditions that meet certain standards.

- ACCOUNTABILITY is important | Humans MATTER | look and force other people to examine the supply chain and to see the connection between everyone and everything. Its NOT just about the materials OR the end product.

- ASK Questions

- establish POSITIVE peer pressure; question your friends, start the dialogue!

- THINK about every purchase you make, don't create excuses or justify yourself.

- WRITE to your politicians.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!