Copehagen Fashion Summit

 

Last week saw the Nordic Fashion Industry gather in force at the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen in a bid to take a lead on social and environmental issues.

Jasmin Malik Chua, of eco-fashion blog ecouterre.com gives us an insight on some of the day's events. 

 

EDUN's very own Christian Kemp-Griffin, spoke of the importance of trading in Africa, “If you could increase the trade by 1 percent to Africa, that would be $70 billion to the continent,” he said. “And they only receive $25 billion in aid today.” Trade, not aid, was clearly the answer to Africa’s woes.

Although close to 12 percent of the world’s cotton is grown in Africa, less than 2 percent of it is spun there, making it virtually impossible—before EDUN stepped in, anyway—to produce a completely African-made T-shirt; EDUN LIVE.
EDUN also wants to secure the integrity of its cotton supply chain. “We found it was very important for us to know what was happening with the source of our cotton,” Kemp-Griffin said, “not just the manufacturing, but with the farmers, because every T-shirt sold had an impact on a lot of people.”

Read more about EDUN's mission.

 

Barneys’ Senior Vice President Julie Gilhart explained how "The big change now is that we must do things differently in order to save our planet, both from an environmental perspective and a humanitarian one".

Gilhart encouraged her fellow industry players that “We need to work hard to make the business of fashion consciously cool, yet at the same time, not lose profitability"

Read more about how Barney's became the green retailer they are now after Al Gore’s game-changing documentary and a meeting with the Dalai Lama.

The Fashion Summit also featured Ingrid Schullström from H&M, Laurent Claquin, Senior VP, Corporate Social Responsibility at PPR Group and Vanessa Friedman, Fashion Editor at Financial Times to name a few.

The days event finished off with a runway show—and design contest—that featured 20 designers from five Nordic nations.

A big shout out to Jasmin Malik Chua of ecouterre.com for her amazing coverage!

British Fashion Council Celebrates 25 Years at British Fashion Awards

This year's BFA's marked the British Fashion Council's 25th anniversary and were celebrated by 500 industry leaders, celebrities, designers who boast the best of Bristish Fashion.

The event was held in the decadent London Royal Courts of Justice and was supported by Swarovski. 

Burberry's Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey was doubly awarded with the BFA's coveted Designer of the Year and for Burberry as Best Designer Brand.

A stunning (as ever!) Kate Moss accepted the award for Outstanding Achievement in Fashion Design on behalf of John Galliano, while she herself picked up the London 25 award decided by a public vote, exclaiming of her daughter aged 6, "Wow! Lila is going to love this!"

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Other awards among Britain's finest talent on the night went to Katie Hillier for Accessory Designer, Georgia May Jagger for Model of the Year, Christopher Kane for Collection of the Year, while Grace Coddington received the prestigious Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator.

 

A gorgeous Daisy Lowe congratulates Christopher Kane

 Guests on the night included Victoria Beckham wearing a gown from her own collection, Karen Elson, Pixie Geldof, Claudia Schiffer, Erin O Connor, and Vivienne Westwood. Matthew Williamson commented on the importance of the British awards stating, "there feels like a real energy tonight. The economy's down, things are bad but we have something to be proud of".

 Check out all the action at the BritishFashionAwards.com

Bob Geldof - ONE Action

We received a newsletter this week from Sir Bob Geldof on behalf of ONE.

In the newsletter Sir Geldof stresses the importance of the Copenhagen climate change summit and how it is imperative that the necessary decisions and actions are taken. Key among these is to allocate adequate additional resources to enable the developing countries, which with inevitable unfairness are worst affected, to cope with the effects of climate change.

On a recent trip to Ethipia, Sir Geldof was happy to notice some positive change, economic growth has boomed; next year Ethiopia is expected to be among the top five fastest growing economies in the world. Education enrolment has been doubled, malaria death rates halved and HIV/AIDS is on the decline. Mobile phones are spreading and rural roads are linking remote communities to markets and health and education services.

However the negative change—that of the climate. Increasingly erratic rainfall has forced farmers to radically alter their systems. Some communities they visited in Tigray have had to rename the months of the year because the names were based on the seasons. They’ve now given up as the pattern of the seasons has changed so quickly. People told  them how reduced rainfall has cut their income from farming. This in turn strains the social fabric. Thefts are becoming more common, and the children are having to go to work instead of school.

The tension between the positive and negative changes in Ethiopia is palpable. Which direction wins depends on the choices Ethiopians make, and to some extent upon us. And it’s not all about us having to make sacrifices; there are opportunities too. 

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, Africa’s lead negotiator at Copenhagen, told Sir Geldof wearily that he is sceptical about the international community’s “funny money” and double accounting.  They talked about the possible pledges of funds to help poor countries adapt to climate change that could come out of Copenhagen. He fears both may well involve money already pledged elsewhere. He has every reason to be jaundiced.

You can help prevent this by signing the petition:

http://www.one.org/international/actnow/copenhagen/o.pl?id=1344-3286389-yDx1D3x&t=5

Petition text:
As part of the Copenhagen climate agreement, please ensure:
1. That existing aid promises are kept.
2. That additional costs borne by people living in poverty caused by climate change are paid for by additional money.
3. That countries are transparent about how much development aid is being reallocated to fighting climate change.

25 years ago, the story was one of Africa starving. Now, in spite of ongoing food shortages in some regions, there is a new story. It is a story backed by hard statistics, of an Africa rising. The last continent to be developed, with a burgeoning middle class and 900 million producers and consumers, Africa is where some of the best returns on investment will be made in the next few decades. We must partner as we have promised for the sake of our global economy as well as our global environment, because in another 25 years we may just need them more than they need us.

Sign the petition today

Fashion Summit 2009 - the day of the biggest sustainable summit for the Fashion Industry

Yesterday marked the beginning of the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

At a press briefing on the second day of the conference, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer spoke of a “very positive and encouraging” start yesterday, with several clarion calls for urgent action. Copenhagen will only make a true difference, he said, if it triggers significant and concrete action as soon as the conference ends.

 And while politicians gather in the Bella Center, the Nordic fashion industry will gather tomorrow, December 9th, at The Opera House in Copenhagen to participate in this year's most important fashion event – The Fashion Summit – part of the NICE project, a collaboration committed to motivating the Nordic fashion industry to become more sustainable, the summit will discuss what a sustainable business model looks like in the fashion industry and what it takes to get there.

On the brink of potentially dangerous climate change and with attention on corporate social responsibility soaring to new heights, the world needs innovators who can lead the push toward a more sustainable economy. The fashion industry has the potential to be one such innovator, working proactively to address critical environmental,social, and ethical challenges on a global scale.

More than 350 leaders from the Nordic and global fashion industry will be in attendance along with politicians, NGO's, and celebrities.

A runway show of sustainable fashion, made by the best new generation of Nordic fashion designers, will be the finale to the day's events. Twenty designers are competing to win a coveted prize.

Keynote speakers include Julie Gilhart, senior VP and fashion director at Barneys New York; Ingrid Schullström, Head of CSR at H&M; Laurent Claquin, senior VP corporate social responsibility at PPR Group; Christian Kemp-Griffin, Chief Missionary officer at Edun; and Vanessa Friedman, fashion editor at Financial Times; to name a few.

Don't want to miss out on the event, fret not, 360Fashion will be broadcasting the official video's from the Fashion Summit Copenhagen on 360Fashion.TV on December 10th!

Sonia Rykiel for H&M: Vraiment Magnifique!

Following the success of Kate Moss's Collection for Topshop and Jimmy Choos' for H&M, Sonia Rykiel has become the latest designer to team up with fashion high street retailer H&M for her gorgeous 50's inspired lingerie collection entitled Sonia Rykiel Pour H&M.

In a move that could even have out-done a Victoria's Secret show,the launch was marked by a larger than life fashion show in Paris's Grand Palais complete with an eleven story Eiffel Tower replica, massive chandelier with stunning models, huge moving floats and tons of scantily-clad lovely ladies!  Guests on the night included Kate Bosworth, Eva Hertsigova and Mr. Paris himself- Jean Paul Gaultier.

'Sonia Rykiel Pour H&M' is available in H&M stores worldwide - just in time for Christmas, and if past designer collections are anything to go by, the line will have sold out before you can say Ho Ho Ho!