Join the sustainability conversation when FIT kicks off The Hand of Fashion, a new series of lectures developed to encourage sustainable thinking within the fashion industry and fashion education. The series, which will take place throughout the 2015-16 academic year, begins Monday, October 26 with “Sustainability and Fashion: Two Complementary Perspectives.
The lecture series brings together industry leaders in sustainable fashion practices, as well as friends and collaborators of the Ethical Fashion Initiative, a UN program that connects and enables artisans in developing countries to work directly with top fashion brands on an ongoing basis. EFI founder Simone Cipriani will present the various aspects of sustainability in fashion through conversations with key industry experts, managers and designers. All the presenters have collaborated with EFI, and incorporate an element of innovation in sustainable fashion through their work.
Cipriani founded EFI in 2009, as a flagship program of the International Trade Center, a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. EFI connects artisans from the developing world to the international value chain of fashion as a vehicle for development. By manufacturing luxury, value-added, ethical fashion products for top fashion designers, artisans’ lives can change for the better. Working with the top fashion houses and the growing number of African fashion brands, EFI is actively involved in and encourages the building of a more ethical and responsible fashion industry.
The Hand of Fashion is presented by FIT’s School of Arts and Design and the School of Graduate Studies. The series kicks off with the following two conversations, which are free and open to the public. View the full schedule for The Hand of Fashion and speakers bio here.