Although not in physical form as planned, Frankfurt Fashion Week (FFW) will debut as a mostly digital event from 5-9 July hosted by Messe Frankfurt and Premium Group as well as the City of Frankfurt and the German state of Hesse.
FFW will put the topics of sustainability and digitization (and its close connection) at the center of attention during the one-week event.
Within the setting of the July edition the so-called FFW Studio on www.frankfurt.fashion is the digital hub of Frankfurt Fashion Week featuring several talks, conferences and brand presentations to discuss future-relevant topics.
Photo: Lottermann & Fuentes
Premium Group's Anita Tillmann and Jörg Arntz (r.) with Messe Frankfurt's Olaf Schmidt (l.) and Detlef Braun
THE NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS
The New European Bauhaus – Werkstatt der Zukunft, a conference organized by the Fashion Council Germany, will be taking place 6 July for the first time during Frankfurt Fashion Week. Together with experts from fashion, design, art, culture, education, digitization and technology, the aim is to revolutionize the fashion industry – especially in terms of sustainability and inclusion.
After an opening speech by president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Tuesday, 6 July at 10:20 am, aspects from the field of digitization and technology will be covered in several talks with speakers such as Adebayo Oke-Lawal (Orange Culture), Carlo Capasa (Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana), Caroline Rush (British Fashion Council), Fabian Vogelsteller (Lukso), Javier Goyeneche (Ecoalf), Jeanne De Kroon (Zazi Vintage), John Cloppenburg (Peek & Cloppenburg), Jonas Eder-Hansen (Global Fashion Agenda), Massimiliano Giornetti (Polimoda), Michael Kliger (Mytheresa), Nadja Swarovski (Swarovski Foundation), Omoyime Akerele (Lagos Fashion Week), Thomas Gries (RWTH Aachen University), Thorsten Mindermann (H&M) and Antje Hundhausen (Deutsche Telekom).
Photo: European Comission
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission
FASHIONSUSTAIN
The line-up of Fashionsustain, the conference format of Neonyt (Messe Frankfurt’s hub for sustainability and innovation in fashion), spans three whole days – 6-8 July – and will address technology, sustainability and innovation. The focus will be on sustainability in the context of the circular economy, digitalization, diversity and innovation.
On Tuesday, 6 July, a panel made up of guests from PWC will be discussing the correlation between finances, sustainability and fashion. Speakers on stage include Ullrich Hartmann (PwC), Viktoria Kalb (UBS), Frank Wächter (PUMA SE) and Dr Andreas Wagner (HVB/Unicredit).
On Wednesday, 7 July, The Transformers Foundation will bring together experts to examine the challenges facing the denim sector: Alberto Candiani (Candiani S.p.a,), Alberto DeConti (Rudolf AG), Michael Kininmonth (Lenzing AG) and Alice Tonello (Tonello) will be talking about sustainable innovations and how they are transforming the denim business.
Also, on 7 July three panels will be addressing the topics of future technologies: One of them is “Digital transformation – transformation is what you make of it”, initiated by PwC.
The “Virtual Fashion. Me, Myself and avatar.” panel will provide insights into avatars, NFTs, virtual fashion shows and answers to questions about the future of fashion.
In the “Transparency. The tech solutions for new supply and value chains.” panel, speakers will be demonstrating how the need for traceable fashion and transparent supply chains can be met with the help of technological solutions.
On Thursday, 8 July, everything will revolve around retail at the digital Fashionsustain conference. Speakers including Bernd Hausmann (Glore), Helene Oudman (Ikigai Labels) and Christina Wille (Loveco) will be presenting business-to-consumer platforms for smaller and medium-sized sustainable fashion brands.
FRANKFURT FASHION SDG SUMMIT
At 11:30 am on 7 July, Frankfurt Fashion Week is launching the first annual Frankfurt Fashion SDG Summit, presented by Conscious Fashion Campaign in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Partnerships. The conference will bring together stakeholders and representatives from the industry, the United Nations, research and public life. This is the first SDG Summit in the world to take place during a Fashion Week.
The topics of the Frankfurt Fashion SDG Summit are based on the priorities set out by UN Secretary-General António Guterres for 2021 in order to achieve the SDGs by 2030. Keynotes, interviews, panel discussions and performances will examine topics such as Sustainability by Design, Policy for the People, Climate, Oceans, Creatives for the Future and the Global Status of Fashion & Design.
Following welcome speeches by Hesse’s Minister of Economics Tarek Al-Wazir and the Parliamentary State Secretary from Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Florian Pronold, Steven Kolb (Council Fashion Designers America) will kick off the discussion “Sustainability by Design: Rethinking Fashion” with an opening message.
Photo: Oliver Rüther
Tarek Al-Wazir, Hesse’s Minister of Economics
How the younger generation is doing their bit to protect the climate will be discussed by the climate activist from Fridays for Future, Clara Mayer, and the screenwriter of documentary film “NOW”, Claudia Rinke.
Another highlight of the Summit is the discussion by Abrima Erwiah (President Studio One Eighty Nine) with, among others, Nadja Swarovski (Swarovski Executive Board/Swarovski Foundation) on the topic “Creative Economy for Sustainable Development”.
Photo: FFW
Campaign image
Apart from these panels and keynotes, the FFW STUDIO line-up will further feature showcases and presentations, shopping experiences, new retail concepts and brand stories circling around fashion, beauty and lifestyle products and concepts.
The metropolis of Frankfurt am Main will also be incorporated digitally. A curated selection of fashion events, design projects and fashion installations that were being planned to take place during Frankfurt Fashion Week in the city center of Frankfurt, will now be happening digitally via the platform’s Experience and Arts & Entertainment sections.
Everything shown live in the FFW Studio over the five days will be made available after the event in the form of a series of on-demand videos on the website www.frankfurt.fashion.
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