Redesigning The Fashion Landscape at COP28
Reflecting about the state of Fashion...
It’s only right for us to pause and discuss about the state of Fashion in light of the COP28 UAE meeting taking place. It is the 28th meeting, not much has evolved sadly, but what is clear, some people are leading the conversation and movement in our industry and I had the chance to speak to two amazing activists yesterday!
Eva Kruse has dedicated her time, voice and energy educating people and uniting organizations to do better; from the pollution that manufacturing fashion causes, to the water consumption, the waste of fast fashion, the unethical labor practices, the over consumption that has risen with social media, and a lot more. In her role today as the Global Chief Engagement Officer of PANGAIA she is at the forefront of innovation and technology, testing and promoting many initiatives that will lead with purpose.
Another amazing discovery for me was Nikhil Hirdaramani who is a 4th gen owner of a mega garment manufacturing company Hirdaramani Group. Since 2006, Nikhil, his family and employees have been working together and with their communities to transform their operations and to raise awareness about the role of manufacturing in the cycle or fashion. Sustainability in the fashion industry is a full supply chain responsibility and collaborating with other manufacturers was crucial for Nikhil to achieve his mission, and passion towards a more sustainable operation. He opened my eyes about the importance of the social space of our ecosystem that often gets forgotten, that being the well-being of the employees that are making the products; we must consume less indeed but be mindful to make sure we are not erasing whole job families and opportunities for societies that depend on it.
Moreover, we discussed the impact of the current economic downturn on funding for startups and institutions innovating in our industry to create better business models and solutions to help accelerate the sustainable goals and missions ; a circular economy across all, recycled garments that can be reused as textile, making the most out of waste, and ressources and testing new fabrics, and more and more only possible with a lot of funding, and a lot of R&D, but not a lot of time!
