Conscious Fashion Campaign
launches ‘Discover the Sustainable Development Goals’ virtual event and exhibit
with the United Nations Office for Partnerships
Kering, Tracy Reese, Gabriela Hearst, Lenzing join United
Nations officials to advance sustainability action in the fashion industry and
to recover better together from COVID-19
The
Conscious Fashion Campaign, an initiative founded by social entrepreneur Kerry
Bannigan to accelerate fashion industry action in support of the Sustainable
Development Goals, launches a month-long virtual educational experience, in collaboration with the United
Nations Office for Partnerships, entitled “Discover the Sustainable Development Goals
- To Power the Decade of Action”
from December 1 - 30, 2020.
The experience aims to advance knowledge and
strengthen engagement from the global fashion industry to further
support the Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (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 Organization 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 SDG’s 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 Sustainable Development
Goals as a framework for our initiatives to be a responsible wood-based
cellulosic fiber 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
Sustainable Development Goals. 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.”
Discover the SDGs, convened by the Conscious Fashion
Campaign in collaboration with
the
United Nations Office for Partnerships, December 1 - 30, 2020 | www.discoverthesdgs.com
The Conscious Fashion Campaign
The Conscious Fashion Campaign, in
collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships, is an
awareness-driven initiative that engages leading global fashion industry events
to accelerate collective action in support of the Sustainable Development
Goals. The campaign facilitates high-impact partnerships that advocate
sustainable solutions and innovations for the fashion sector to address the
world’s most pressing social, economic and environmental issues.
The Conscious Fashion Campaign
actively supports the Decade of Action by bridging together United Nations
agencies and fashion industry stakeholders to enable the Sustainable
Development Goals to scale. The Conscious Fashion Campaign partners collectively
represent over $4.7 billion revenue, 800 events in 40 countries, 136,000
exhibiting businesses, 11.9 million industry attendees and 14,700
employees. www.consciousfashioncampaign.com
United Nations Office for Partnerships
The United Nations Office for
Partnerships serves as a connector for co-creating collaborations and provides
a platform for effective engagement of public and private sector stakeholders
with the United Nations development system to advance the Decade of Action to
Deliver the Sustainable Development Goals. www.un.org/partnerships