20th May 2021
The British Fashion Council (BFC) is delighted to announce the schedule for its inaugural Institute of Positive Fashion Forum (IPF Forum), a thought leadership event designed to galvanise the British fashion industry alongside international businesses into global collaboration and local action, ahead of COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, hosted in Glasgow in November.
The day-long event which will take place digitally on Thursday 10th June 2021, will see over 40 speakers coming together from all around the world to focus on catalysts for Positive Change. The IPF Forum will host inspirational talks and practical action-led discussions to address the day’s agenda featuring Alok Sharma (COP26), Virgil Abloh (Off-White & Louis Vuitton Mens), June Sarpong (BBC), Stella McCartney, Priyanka Chopra Jonas (BFC Ambassador), Emmanuel Gintzburger (Alexander McQueen), Marco Gobbetti (Burberry), Marie-Claire Daveu (Kering), Cyrill Gutsch (Parley for the Oceans), Law Roach, Nicolaj Reffstrup (GANNI), Bandana Tewari, Ayesha Barenblat (REMAKE), Baroness Lola Young, Kalpona Aktar (Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity) and many more. The IPF forum will encourage participants to take action by signing up and adopting the recommendation of the Race to Zero, Terra Carta, Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, Fashion Pact, Sustainable Development Goals.
The IPF Forum will act as an opportunity to debate the important issues facing the fashion industry through the lens of the IPF Pillars, Environment, People, Community & Craftsmanship and the COP26 themes Adaptation & Resilience, Energy, Finance, Nature and Transport. Tickets for the day are now available to purchase here and the day’s schedule includes (running order not final & subject to change)
Welcome and Introduction
Stephanie Phair, Chair, British Fashion Council
COP26: Setting the scene and outlining the climate goals
Alok Sharma, COP President Designate
Positioning around COP26: The Role of UK Fashion to Help Fight Climate Change
Caroline Rush, Chief Executive, British Fashion Council in conversation with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The Just Transition: Exploring the Business Case for Change
Amy Clarke, Co-Founder & Chief Impact Officer, Tribe Impact Capital; Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Sustainability & Institutional Affairs Officer, Kering
Future of Fashion: Innovation for Climate Action
Ben Alun-Jones, Chief Product Officer & Co-Founder, Unmade; Dian-Jen Lin, Co-Founder, Post Carbon Lab; Karinna Nobbs, Founder, The Dematerialised; Motie Bring, Chief Commercial Officer, Nuvei; moderated by Shailja Dubé, IPF Lead, British Fashion Council
Fashion and nature: How biodiversity is moving up the corporate agenda
Dilys Williams, Founder & Director Centre for Sustainable Fashion; Dr Helen Crowley, Head of Sustainable Sourcing & Nature Initiatives, Kering; Michael Wessely, Co-Founder, Sheep Inc.; moderated by Bandana Tewari, Lifestyle Journalist & Sustainability Activist
Social Justice: Eliminating exploitation in the supply chain
Baroness Lola Young; Ayesha Barenblat, Founder & CEO, Remake; Kalpona Akter, Founder & Executive Director, Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity; moderated by Whitney Bauck, Journalist
Visibility and Representation: Using your platform for positive change
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, BFC Ambassador for Positive Change in conversation with Law Roach, Image Architect
Keynote: Creating the next generation of sustainable luxury
Marco Gobbetti, Chief Executive Officer, Burberry
Driving scale: Placing circularity at the heart of the business model
Cyrill Gutsch, Founder, Parley for the Oceans; Eshita Kabra, Founder & CEO, By Rotation; Laura Balmond, Make Fashion Circular Lead, Ellen MacArthur Foundation; Nicolaj Reffstrup, Founder, Ganni
Evolving Retail: Shifting to Responsible Consumer Behaviours
Caroline Rush, Chief Executive, British Fashion Council; Clearpay
Keynote: Alexander McQueen
Emmanuel Gintzburger, Chief Executive Alexander McQueen in conversation with Imran Amed, Founder & CEO Business of Fashion
Transformational leadership and collective action
John Elkington, Founder & Chief Pollinator, Volans
Female leadership and entrepreneurship – How to push the agenda forward
Daisy Knatchbull, Founder, The Deck; Fenn O’Meally, Director; Rene Macdonald, Founder & Creative Director, Lisou
Social Mobility: challenge the fashion industry & ensuring representation
Virgil Abloh, Founder & Creative Director, Off-White and Artistic Director Louis Vuitton Mens in conversation with June Sarpong, Director of Creative Diversity, BBC
Keynote: Stella McCartney
Stella McCartney
The IPF Forum will also launch the IPF Future of Fashion Innovation Showcase. Focused on UK innovation across each step of the fashion value chain, the Showcase will present disruptive and transdisciplinary innovators who are changing the business paradigm to support climate action and the goals of COP26. The confirmed innovators include Alchemie, Away to Mars, Biophilica, Bundle Packaging, Colorifix, Compare Ethics, Fibershed Southwest England, Materra, MonoChain, NotPLA, Post Carbon Lab, Reflaunt, ReGAIN, Reskinned, Sheep Inc, Sozie, The Dematerialised, Unmade. The project is curated by the British Fashion Council, and Fashion For Good.
The BFC is dedicated to drive positive change across the industry. As part of the IPF and the COP26 action plan, the IPF Forum will host a series of closed-door roundtables on key topics in support of the COP26 agenda.
The IPF Forum will be accessible to ticketholders through the IPF website where tickets for the day are now available to purchase. All tickets are priced at £150 with corporate packages available on request (see contacts below). BFC Patrons and Designer Members will be offered one complimentary ticket each as well as the opportunity to buy additional tickets at a special rate.
Ticket holders will gain access to the live day of seminars and talks via a private log in, have the opportunity to network online with other attendees, build a personalised schedule and access resources in the IPF Future of Fashion Innovation Showcase.
The BFC continues its collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP) to further engage the fashion industry in the Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The IPF Forum aligns with SDGs 5 (Gender Equality), 8 (Decent Work & Economic Growth), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 13 (Climate Action) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
The generosity and commitment of our partners is more vital than ever. Please help us by acknowledging their support for the IPF Forum. Official Partners: Clearpay, Nuvei. With thanks to the IPF Founding Partners: DHL and Vanish.