Conscious Fashion Campaign launches virtual event to promote UN Sustainable Development Goals

In support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Conscious Fashion Campaign has organised a virtual event and exhibit together with the United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP), which will take place from 1st December to 30th December 2020. The aim is to bring the 17 SDGs closer to the fashion industry so that it can drive change through advocacy, education and the engagement of industry stakeholders, ultimately creating a more sustainable future for all.

The virtual event titled “Discover the Sustainable Development Goals - To Power the Decade of Action” is supported by Interwoven, the ITL Group and Orta and powered by Arch and Hook, Artistic Milliners and Lenzing. Other industry supporters include Messe Frankfurt, Drapers, Fashinnovation, Kingpins, Allbirds, PVH, Kering, CFDA, British Fashion Council, the Transformers Foundation, the Swarovski Foundation and Raw Assembly.

Allbirds, Kingpins, Kering, Lenzing and many more support the event

Speakers include fashion designers Anyango Mpinga, Gabriela Hearst, Maria Cornejo and Tracy Reese as well as senior VP Impact at Vice Media Group Marsha Cooke, sustainability editor at Vogue Global Network Emily Chan, Business Insider reporter Dominic-Madori Davis, Reporter, deputy editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia and head of Vogue Talents Sara Maino, BBC business reporter Jill Martin Wrenn and CNN Style global editor Fiona Sinclair Scott.

“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. The fashion industry is an important ally for the United Nations in this Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs by 2030,” said Annemarie Hou, UNOP’s acting executive director, in a press release.

After a yearlong pilot, the Conscious Fashion Campaign was founded almost a year ago by social impact entrepreneur Kerry Bannigan as an initiative in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP) to help fashion companies understand the SDGs better and to integrate them into their business models. The virtual event will help serve as a catalyst for a new era of fashion;,exploring the intersection of the SDGs and the fashion business including climate action, gender equality, industry innovation, digitisation, life of land and responsible production and consumption.

“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,” added Tricia Carey, director of global business development at Lenzing.

More details about the programme, including panel discussions and topics, can be found on the event’s website, discoverthesdgs.com.

Image: Conscious Fashion Campaign