Evie Evangelou on fashion as diplomacy, first ladies and F4D's UN General Assembly luncheon

Fashion 4 Development (F4D) holds its 14th Official First Ladies Luncheon at the Pierre Hotel in New York on Tuesday, staged during the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. Evie Evangelou, founder and president of F4D, co-hosts with Dame Amanda Schumacher, founder of The Tree of Life Foundation, in a programme that includes a runway presentation and tribute to Oscar de la Renta and honours for Ted Turner and other figures in the organization's agents of change strand.

"When you bring together fashion with business, government, philanthropy, and local communities, it becomes more than a symbolic language; it can be a vehicle for cultural exchange, economic empowerment, and sustainable development," Evangelou told FashionUnited ahead of the event.

Evangelou believes first ladies are important role models within their countries and have the ability to reach and influence large segments of the population. She created the First Ladies Luncheon "to bring together women who hold significant influence within their countries and communities, with the belief that their voices and networks can help advance important causes," she said.

The luncheon spotlights initiatives that support local communities. Evangelou cited work with women in Africa as a highlight of the event, as it has generated more than four million dollars in wages over the years, according to her. “These initiatives have helped provide women with stable income while supporting local communities and creating lasting economic opportunities through the fashion industry,” she said.

It was through one of the luncheons organized by Evangelou that former actress Suzy Amis Cameron and Dutch businessman Paul Polman met and started working together on food security and environmental issues across the world. “It is a meaningful example of how bringing influential people from different sectors together can lead to collaboration that extends well beyond the event itself,” she said.

On consumption, Evangelou was blunt about the lack of progress across 15 years of campaigning for smaller collections and lower volumes. "I have to say that I have not yet witnessed significant change in this area. A major challenge remains a lack of consumer education around the environmental and social impact of overconsumption," she said, adding that "if we can shift consumer demand toward more thoughtful and responsible consumption, we can begin to influence the supply side of the industry as well."

F4D launched in 2011 as a private-sector platform aligned with the UN's development goals. "Fashion is a trillion-dollar global industry with an extraordinary ability to reach and engage people, and we saw an opportunity to use that influence not only to raise awareness, but also to empower communities and create economic opportunities," she said.

That framing runs through the choice of Oscar de la Renta for this year's tribute. The designer attended the first luncheon in 2011, and Evangelou connects the house to the same argument about fashion and diplomacy. "Over the years, the Oscar de la Renta brand has dressed First Ladies across numerous administrations, reflecting a longstanding understanding of fashion's unique ability to foster connection and serve as a bridge to diplomacy," she said. The runway segment will draw on the autumn/winter 2026 and pre-spring 2027 collections.

The tribute lands at a point of change for the label, which is owned by the de la Renta family and run by chief executive officer Alex Bolen. Co-creative directors Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia left after their final collection, autumn/winter 2026, shown in February, and the house has not publicly named a successor.

The Turner honour recognises a philanthropic record. Turner pledged one billion dollars in 1997 to create the UN Foundation, then the largest individual philanthropic gift on record, and died in May 2026. "His decades-long dedication to philanthropy, environmental conservation, and improving lives around the world reflects the kind of purposeful leadership we are proud to celebrate," Evangelou said.