Husband and wife duo, Jordana and Marcelo Guimarães, founded FASHINNOVATION to foster a collaboration around fashion and technology with the theme “Fashion is to Love”. They have held 3 conferences and are planning the 4th in Feb 2020. I attended the most recent conference in Fall 2019, which included 80 speakers and 600 attendees! It was amazing to see everyone talking about sustainability, the theme Fashion is to Love drives that home. Love = Sustainability.
It was clear from the beginning with opening speakers Susan Rockefeller talking about the need for Fashion Innovation in an era of urgency followed by a heartfelt speech by Fern Mallis about the need for inclusivity in fashion. Fern went further than just inclusivity and representation on the runways and advertising campaigns to say we need inclusivity in top level management and on boards!
After the opening remarks, the panel discussions started. There was a lot of lively discussion tackling much needed topics that we have to put a spotlight on in the fashion industry! FASHINNOVATION did an amazing job putting together the topics ranging from Fashion is Social Good, Fashion is Recycled / Upcycled, Blockchain and Sustainable Brands, 3D printing and minimizing waste, Fashion is Transparency, Fashion is Sustainable Supply Chains just to name a few.
There was also a separate marketplace as part of the conference where brands could showcase their wares and connect with the attendees. On par with the theme Fashion is to Love, most of the brands featured had a message around sustainability.
The FASHINNOVATION team is putting together the next conference for Feb 2020 showcasing innovations and diverse themes. They are continuing to build out content on everything INNOVATION and are looking to expand Fashion is to Love globally!