Fashion Conversations : September 2023
Hi all,
We hope everyone had a great summer and the Fashion Conversations team took some well deserved time off. Now that everyone is ‘back to school’, we’re also back in business and back to our newsletter (we missed you!)
We have been doing some thinking over the past few weeks and want to share more of what our community does but also interesting insights we’ve gathered along the way. As ever, if you want to make any suggestions or share any interesting reads, please connect with us.
🗓️ Event
Last June we hosted an amazing in person event in our partner’s space : Curve Club. If you don’t know it yet, Curve Club is an exclusive ecosystem where entrepreneurs, early founding teams and C-suites can connect, share resources, learn and inspire one another on their entrepreneurial journey.
We want to thank again our amazing sponsors for making this a reality. You can discover them again on this dedicated page.
These events IRL are the only ones open outside of our community and we are very close to announcing the next gathering that will take place in October. Save the date coming very soon.
📻 Community updates & other news
BRANDS & RETAIL
Gilles Grosjean who was our first Belgian member recently joined Lunetier Ludovic as General Manager and they have an event in London coming up : Trunk show of Lunetier Ludovic with Timothy Everest MBE at Grey Flannel on 7 Chiltern Street - 12-14 Oct. He’s reserved a few spots for readers of this newsletter so please confirm to him your attendance on info@lunetierludovic.be mentioning Fashion Conversations.
Caroline Priebe is starting a new incredible brand so if you want to know about it and buy wool fleece products NOT made of plastic like all others we are fed, look out for her launch coming soon : Driftless Goods. They’re making bio-based and regenerative fleece, footwear and more!
Selvane Mohandas du Mesnil, Managing Director of the International Association of Department Stores, shared some interesting insights on the retail performance across fashion capitals. Read it here : Selvane Mohandas du Ménil on LinkedIn
SUSTAINABILITY
Debbie Luffman will be participating in this conference that promises to be incredibly insightful on Sept 14th. An afternoon of expert panel sessions, led by Safia Minney MBE, sharing best practice and new approaches with 20 leading sustainability professionals and pioneers. Press Release & link to get ticket below : Online Regenerative Fashion Conference - All 3 sessions
Thanks to the UK's new agreement with Horizon Europe, Notpla is now eligible to participate in major EU research and innovation funding programs. 🙌 If your organisation is interested in partnering with Notpla on future Horizon Europe funding proposals, please contact them. They are open to explore potential collaborations as they drive this critical shift towards regenerative packaging. 🌊 🌿 You can also reach out to our members Mashal and Conor who are both at Notpla !
The first Loom event from our member Daisy is happening on Sep 15th at Curve Club. She will be interviewing Eshita Kabra, Scott Staniland, Patrick McDowell and Esther Knight. Here is the link to signup : 'Embracing Circular Fashion' Panel Talk at Curve Club
Lou Stokes on LinkedIn reminded us of Second Hand September, a campaign started by Oxfam in 2019, encouraging people to rethink the way they consume clothes and to shop second hand rather than buying fast fashion & the latest trends, to reduce waste, take a stance against climate change and create a fairer world.
Celebrate Secondhand September with Cara & The Sky by shopping resale items. Their newly launched partnership with RESALE FUTURE allows easy and quick circulation of garments straight from their website. By choosing to give your item a second life, you’re preventing waste of earth’s resources and bringing joy to your item’s future lover.
Yael and the team at Balena unveiled the first ever biobased, fully compostable and 3d printed slide, in collaboration with renowned designer Kitty Shukman. Read more here : Balena on LinkedIn
One of our founding members, Hasna Kourda has been shortlisted as part of The Future Laboratory's Futures 100 Innovators Awards, highlighting the brands, businesses and people innovating for change – and a better, more resilient future! Read about it here: https://lnkd.in/etQ8C_Yh.
Prepare for Lineapelle and plan a visit to ForEver’s booth where they will be introducing a plastic-free, and plant-based rubber at Lineapelle. Not just eco-friendly, but also fashion-forward. Be part of the eco-revolution! Hall 24 | Stand C17 📍
INNOVATION & TECH
Ralph Lauren recently launched their RL 888 bag collection accompanied by a virtual presentation of the products, and it captures an experience their core audience would appreciate and explore. ‘The 888 House’ (the RL digital concept store) is a great example of making a digital realm feel more intuitive for a client that is not a Metaverse-native. Enter here : Ralph Lauren 888 House
Julia Vendramin will be joining Rome Future Week on the 13th of September to speak about how web3 and blockchain can be a catalyst for the circular economy in the fashion industry. Reach out if you are interested to hear more about what we are building at LABELL-D.
Franki Tabor is organising her next GEN AI FASHION conference. Join her on Wednesday, 13th September to explore the Evolution of Fashion Through Generative AI. 🎟️ Tickets Available Now : https://lnkd.in/eqSfefzF
Join Fiona Designi, Partnerships Director at Emperia at Paris Retail Week for a workshop on 𝙄𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙊𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚: 𝘾𝙧𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙅𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮𝙨 💡
Footwearology Lab is offering back to school discounts (today is the last day!)
25% off all online courses with code LOVELEARNING
10% of all course bundles with code LEARNMORE
Go to their website below to see all their courses in Artificial Intelligence, Digital Design, Advanced Manufacturing and Sustainability and meet other footwear professionals on your learning journey!
PUBLICATIONS
Listen to the latest podcast episode from our beloved Zara Korutz, where she interviews David Curtis-Ring about his upcycled Wedgwood sculpted pieces of armour for Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY SS24 runway collection. Pure Genius ⚡️🖤
David Curtis-Ring: Artist Maker of Wedgwood Armour for Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY SS24 Collection
Laura Warnod interviewed our Fashion Conversations co-founder, Viviane Paraschiv on her podcast ‘WONDERWORKERS’. During 45 minutes, they dissect Viviane’s unusual journey through entrepreneurship, crazy stories of her time at Louis Vuitton and how she embraced every challenge on her way with positivity and a growth mindset. Listen to the podcast on all your favourite platforms : https://tr.ee/zfneiUI3B4
Carlota Rodben is introducing her second book, "Beyond Luxury: The Promise of Emotion," that will be available for pre-Order on September 14th, 2023. It is not just a date; it's an invitation to see, feel, and rethink luxury. Get ready for the launch here
👋 New members
We welcomed 9 new members over the summer based in Brighton, London, Romania and Paris. We’re now 170+ members from 14 different countries.
If you are interested in joining us to share knowledge and help shape the future of the fashion industry, please fill out our application form
And if you want to see what our members and community are up to, follow us on Linkedin and Instagram.
Until next time,
Viviane and Marianna
Fashion Conversations co-founders