Conscious Fashion Campaign launching 'Discover SDGs' event

The experience, being launched in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships, aims to advance knowledge and strengthen engagement from the global fashion industry to further support the Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs—the 17 goals to transform our world.

Discover the SDGs online exhibit will feature a wide range of SDG informational tools along with fashion sector focused on-demand discussions with industry leaders, United Nations officials and advocates; including Kering, Lenzing, Allbirds, PVH, Vogue Business, CFDA, the British Fashion Council, Messe Frankfurt, Collina Strada and the Swarovski Foundation.

“This is a critical time to accelerate partnerships to address the world's biggest challenges – from eliminating poverty, hunger and inequalities to reversing climate change and unsustainable consumption and production practices,” said Annemarie Hou, acting executive director of the United Nations Office for Partnerships. “The fashion industry is an important ally for the United Nations in this Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs by 2030.”

Discover the SDGs virtual event, powered by Arch and Hook, Artistic Milliners and Lenzing; and supported by Interwoven, ITL Group and Orta, serves as a catalyst for a new era of fashion; exploring the intersection of the SDGs and fashion business including climate action, gender equality, industry innovation, digitisation, life of land and responsible production and consumption. Speakers include fashion designers Anyango Mpinga, Gabriela Hearst, Maria Cornejo and Tracy Reese; Marsha Cooke, senior vice president impact, Vice Media Group; Emily Chan, sustainability editor, Vogue Global Network; Dominic-Madori Davis, reporter, Business Insider; Sara Maino, deputy editor-in-chief, Vogue Italia & Head of Vogue Talents; Jill Martin Wrenn, business reporter, BBC and Fiona Sinclair Scott, global editor, CNN Style. Industry supporters also include Messe Frankfurt, Drapers, Fashinnovation, Kingpins, Transformers Foundation and Raw Assembly.

The event will feature United Nations representatives from the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, United Nations Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory on Climate Change, United Nations Capital Development Fund, UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe/Food and Agriculture Organisation and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

In her role as the director of Global Business Development at Lenzing, Tricia Carey explains the importance of sustainability within the fashion industry; “As we close out a tumultuous 2020, we have optimism for a new year with a path to recover better together. Discover the SDGs by the Conscious Fashion Campaign provides the fashion industry with the tools to make educated choices with regards to both the environment and society. Lenzing uses the SDGs as a framework for our initiatives to be a responsible wood-based cellulosic fibre producer making Tencel Lyocell and Modal.”

Given its global reach, the fashion industry is uniquely positioned to increase collaboration and engagement around the SDGs. With the pervasiveness of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry has seen unparalleled disruption to its operations and supply chains. As the fashion sector revises and adapts priorities, now is the time to ensure that this disruption can serve as the catalyst for a new sustainable era for all stakeholders involved.

The role of partnerships is more crucial than ever in order to recover from the pandemic and to advance the SDGs. Murtaza Ahmed, owner and managing director of Artistic Milliners emphasizes this; “At Artistic Milliners, we believe any one entity alone cannot rely on fragmented work to achieve global impact. Therefore, we are leveraging the power of SDGs as the most comprehensive framework of collective action to bring about real impact. Our efforts have led to our recognition by the United Nations Global Compact as the Global Pioneer of SDG 5: Gender Equality. We want to share our best practices with our peers and partners and the Conscious Fashion Campaign provides the perfect platform to inspire the global fashion industry to action.” 

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RKS)