Fashion stepped it up at New York Climate Week this year - it was heartening to see the fashion industry hosting various events and talks dedicated to tackling climate impacts dedicated to tackling climate impacts. A few takeaways and highlights:
• The climate crisis and its extreme weather events will be massively impacting earnings and profits of fashion brands, but this seems not enough understood let alone taken into account in long term business strategies.
• Wide agreement amongst speakers and attendees that while taking action means complex decisions requiring changes that come with costs attached, inaction will be far more expensive! Many such decisions bring efficiencies that are good for business
• We know what is wrong, we know the solutions, but political will is missing and urgent changes need to happen urgently such as stopping the trillions of dollars in subsidies given yearly to the fossil fuel industry. Systemic change is necessary if we are really serious about meeting the Paris agreement targets
• Textile Exchange's upcoming report Reimagining Growth promises to deliver true insights addressing oversupply, overproduction and overconsumption: sure to reinforce the messages heard throughout this week.
It seems the timing is perfect for our NYC edition of the Future Fabrics Expo, held between November 19th - 20th where we are bringing thousands of sustainable and innovative material solutions for fashion and design industries that offer true innovative alternatives to the polluting materials still predominantly used by fashion today!
A shoutout to the many talks & events we attended, and fellow advocates we were able to connect and re-connect with throughout the course of the week:
• Solutions House by Futerra, with Lucy Shea, Ali Weinstein
• Oceans.Climate.Life hosted by Parley for the Oceans with Cyrill Gutsch, Hannes Schoenegger
• Action Speaks at The Nest Climate Campus with Simon Henzell-Thomas (he/his), Ludvig Liljekvist
• Breakthrough Materials for a Low Carbon Future by Closed Loop Partners with Kate Daly, Stephanie Grotta
• Textile Exchange x Tapestry with Claire Bergkamp, Logan T Duran, Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Sarah Kent, Rachel Arthur, Sophia Li, Helen Crowley
• Vogue Business Fashion Futures with Dennis Nobelius, Eva von Alvensleben, Annabelle Georgina Hutter
• The Explorers Club with Dana Davis (she/her), Elizabeth (Liz) Ricketts
• Stella McCartney with Indré Rockefeller, Luke Haverhals, Roni GamZon, and book signing in support of Nemonte Nenquimo's We Will Be Jaguars
• Renewing Fashion: Clean Energy and Circular Economy hosted by Columbia University with Tricia Carey, Nicolaj Reffstrup, Maxine Bédat
And Eva Kruse, Inka Apter, Nicole Rycroft, Christine Goulay, Yuly Fuentes-Medel Ph.D.
Co-Founder at SHE Changes Climate
1yI was thrilled to participate in this (in addition to advising the Expo strategically) with a panel moderation on climate justice, and am admiring how this show goes from strength to strength, with a high quality offering. Definitely a place for fashion brands to shine and for buyers and designers to come and find new ideas and inspiration. Bravo Nina Marenzi, Amanda Johnston and the whole team at The Sustainable Angle