Fashion Tech and Sustainability News & Events in NYC | 7.2.18–7.28.18 | #SlowFashionSummer + Sustainable Fashion & Representation Event

FAUBOURG

Dear Friend,

At Balanced Fashion, we have committed to #SlowFashionSummer, a campaign that runs between 21 June and 21 September organized by Collaction.org. It entails not buying any new clothes for three months and I would love you, my newsletter readers, to join us! By now, you have an idea of a tremendous impact Fashion Industry leaves on the environment and today is the best time to take a step to a more sustainable future — it all starts with you! You will see how easy and truly enjoyable it is to not to shop for quite a long time and take part in the movement of conscious and slow fashion consumption. During this campaign, you can still trade clothes and buy second-hand if you’d like. You can also repurpose and upgrade your existing clothing items. Sapping with your friends will be more fun if they are also participating in this campaign! Sign up here to show your commitment, share your posts with #slowfashionsummer hashtag, follow Collaction on Instagram and Facebook. Also, please follow Balanced Fashion on social media for the updates, here are the social media links: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.

The sustainable fashion movement is at work to reshape the industry around more ethics, transparency and responsibility. Yet, the general perception is still that sustainability is a privileged white person’s thing. Is sustainable fashion suffering from a race problem? Can real change happen if we’re failing to make sustainability accessible to all and include people of color in the conversation? Are brands missing out on an opportunity to reach a wider audience? For our next Balanced Fashion event, we’re collaborating with Priscilla Debar, the founder of sustainable fashion e-commerce FAUBOURG, who will moderate a panel conversation with industry insiders around the opportunity for ethical brands to disrupt the status quo and how sustainable fashion can be progressive and culturally relevant to effect durable change on a larger scale. Get tickets soon, early bird RSVP ends on July 4th!

News Digest:

Sustainability

• Asos Launches Sustainable Fashion Training Programme — Vogue UK
• The New Luxury Rental Company That Started As A Closet Full Of Vintage Oscar De La Renta Gowns — Fashionista
• Browns Explores Rental Model With Armarium — WWD
• Stella McCartney brings meditation to Galeries Lafayette — WWD
• Circularity: Sustainable fashion’s holy grail or greenwashing? — Business of Fashion
• MPs to examine environmental footprint of UK fashion industry — Guardian
• GUESS Scheme to Reuse & Recycle Used Clothing — Waste Management World
• Stella McCartney on the importance of being sustainable in fashion — Dazed
• This Innovative Circular T-Shirt Company Could Change Fast Fashion’s Waste Problem — MBG Planet

Business/Technology

• A majority of our traffic comes from Instagram’: Highlights from the Glossy+ member event with designer Rebecca Minkoff — Glossy
• It’s not retail that’s dying. It’s our imagination — Business of Fashion
• Stitch Fix Chief Executive Talks About Leading a Public Company — Refinery29
• These high-tech clothes make you money by selling your data — Wired
• How Frank And Oak is building a data-driven subscription service — Glossy

Events

Monday, July 2nd

6:30pm — 9:30pm Artistically Fashionable

Artistically Fashionable is an event created to showcase fashion designs in a realistic art form. This show will provide a diverse fashion experience that showcases emerging independent designers. Price: $20 Location: Caelum Gallery, 526 West 26th Street, Suite #315

Wednesday, July 11th

7:00–11:00pm Reclaiming Authentic Beauty

There’s no denying that we are currently undergoing an evolving transformation on the planet. Everything is being brought to the surface to determine what is truly serving us and what is not as a collective. We have the opportunity to make a difference by reclaiming our authentic beauty and becoming the role models society desperately needs. Where do we begin? The first step is always awareness, learning to be more mindful in every moment. From understanding our own minds and bodies we can then begin to explore how we interact with our environment and the people around us. It’s time for us to come together to celebrate our humankind in all its diversity of age, size, gender, race and nationality. Price: $13 Location: 137 W 19th St 137 West 19th Street

Thursday, July 12th

5:00pm — 7:00pm Achieving Liftoff — Leveraging The Power Of Diversity & Inclusion To Boost Your Brand

With Ara Tucker (Head of Employee Experience, Audible), Agnes Chapski (President, NewBeauty & Beauty Engine), Cathy Guttierez (Head of People, Glossier). Price: Free Location: Ace Hotel New York 20 West 29th Street

6:30pm — 8:00pm How To Build Diverse & Inclusive Cultures

This month’s panel will discuss how companies can take concrete steps building diverse & inclusive work cultures regardless of their size .Our speakers will elaborate on their own experience, their D&I efforts at their company & other strategies to improve culture. Topics to include: transparency, accountability, company culture, & leadership.With Ryan Lathrum (Community & Inclusion Mgr, Jet.com), Rachel Renock (CEO, Wethos), Tony Gaston (Dir., Per Scholas), Meghan Catucci (Content Strategist, NewsCred), Anita Hossain (Head of Knowledge, First Round). Price: $45 Location: Civic Hall, 118 W 22nd St, 12th Fl

6:30–8:30pm The Future of Blockchain — Panel

Join us for a conversation around Blockchain, its future in tech, and steps to securing a job in the field. Flatiron School Co-founder and Dean Avi Flombaum will deliver the keynote, and Sarah Rombom, Managing Director & Head of Product Management at BlackRock will moderate. Panelists include: Mike Dudas, Founder & CEO, The Block, Katherine Wu, Director of Business Development and Community Management for Messari Inc. Price: Free Location: The Flatiron School 11 Broadway, Suite 260

Sunday, July 15th

12:00pm — 5:00pm FOTH — Fashion on The Hudson

Fashion on the Hudson is the Independent Designers Fashion Week Showcase. We feature International Designers and local. We will feature 20 designers from across the Globe. Price: Free Location: Riverbank/State Park, 679 Riverside Drive Cultural Center

Monday, July 16th

6:30–8:30pm Marketing To The Millennial Mom

With founder/CEOs Rachel Blumenthal (Rockets of Awesome), Michelle Kennedy (Peanut), Marissa Alden (Sawyer), Anu Duggal (Female Founders Fund). Price: $20 Location: Neuehouse, 110 E 25th St

6:30–8:30pm 6 Ways Instagram Has Redefined Influencer Marketing

It’s been eight years since the launch of Instagram. A lot has changed since then — from new interactive features to latest and greatest influencer campaigns, Instagram has a lot to offer to content creators, shoppers, and marketers. Join us for a conversation around the six ways Instagram has redefined Influencer Marketing to understand just how game-changing IG really is. Price: Free Location: General Assembly HQ, 902 Broadway, 4th Floor

Tuesday, July 17th

6:30–8:30pm Jerry Media Presents: Creating Engaging Content For Instagram

The Instagram algorithm rewards engaging content with additional reach, and penalizes posts that get little interaction. Creating great content starts with understanding your audience, then providing value in exchange for their attention. One of the best ways to do so is through memes. During this interactive session, you’ll hear from industry leaders at Jerry Media (aka F*ck Jerry) who will share how they’ve consistently been able to crank out engaging content. Price: Free Location: General Assembly HQ, 902 Broadway, 4th Floor

Wednesday, July 18th

6:00pm — 8:30pm Balanced Fashion x FAUBOURG: Diversity in Sustainable Fashion

The sustainable fashion movement is reshaping the industry around more ethics, transparency and responsibility. But are brands missing this opportunity to address inclusion and diversity? For our next Balanced Fashion event we’re collaborating with Priscilla Debar, the founder of sustainable fashion e-commerce FAUBOURG to address the lack of representation of minorities in sustainable fashion and come up with ways ethical brands can be more inclusive. Panelists: Celine Semaan, CEO & Founder of Slow Factory, Dominique Drakeford, Sustainable Fashion Consultant, Jessica Couch, Founder of Luxor and Fitch Consultancy. Price: Early RSVP $10 Location: eBay HQ 625 6th Ave

Thursday, July 19th

Digital DUMBO — Sphere Of Influence(r)

With Danny Palestine (Head of Customer Success, Julius), Edgar Hernandez (CRO, Complex Networks), Melanie Watts (Brand Mktg Dir., PepsiCo), Brandon Jenkins (Editorial Producer & Broadcast Anchor, Complex), Tara Brannigan (Head of Mktg & Member Services, Book by Cadillac), Isata Yansaneh (Strategy Dir., 23 Stories x Cond Nast), Rana Batyske (Creative + Strategy Dir., MICK & Mothergood). Price: $25 Location: Prolific Interactive, 77 Sands Street, 10th Floor

6:30pm — 8:00pm After Hours w/ ClassPass & The Newsette

You’re invited to an unforgettable dinner with ClassPass’ General Manager of Digital Product Jenny Wu and The Newsette’s Founder and CEO Daniella Pierson. Enjoy an intimate conversation with Jenny and Daniella…and curated connections over a seasonal meal. Price: $55 Location: Convene 101 Greenwich Street 2nd Floor

Tuesday, July 24th

6:00–8:00pm Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: NYC Environmental Movement

Focusing on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, both broadly in the environmental movement and for the Climate Reality NYC Metro Chapter, Climate Reality Leader & Mentor Donna Hope will guide conversations with attendees and a panel of invited guests. Join us, add your voice, learn, listen and be heard. Price: Free Location: 2 W 64th St, Ethical Culture Society

Thursday, July 26th

6:30pm Brunchwork w/ Facebook & Rent The Runway

With Angie Gentile Hellman (SVP Brand, Customer Strategy & Product Mktg @ Rent the Runway) & Soumith Chintala (AI Leader @ Facebook). Price: $40 Location: WeWork Grand Central 450 Lexington Ave

6:30pm — 8:30pm Using Influencer Marketing To Grow Your Business

Join us for an evening of engaging and informative conversations around how to effectively implement influencer marketing and viral marketing campaigns. PANEL 1: The Impact of Influencer Marketing on Media Relationships — moderated by Thomas Ma. PANEL 2: Tips for Personal Branding and Positioning — moderated by Sandra Garcia Lowery Price: Free Location: General Assembly HQ, 902 Broadway, 4th Floor

Saturday, July 28th

6:00–10:00pm Fashion for Freedom Event

Fashion for Freedom brings together the worlds of fashion and human rights, aiming to create a space where fashion lovers and activists can celebrate the efforts of ethical brands and bring awareness to atrocities such a slavery in the fashion industry. The 2018 Fashion for Freedom Campaign will run online from June through August, but we invite you to join us for its exclusive event on July 28th in New York City! The event will feature complimentary cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, some amazing ethical giveaways, and a chance to be part of the Fashion for Freedom movement. Price: $58.80 Free Location: The Mezzanine 55 Broadway

Cool Finds:

• 6 Steps to a Sustainable, Ethical, and Affordable Closet — EcoCult
• Sign up for #SlowFashionSummer movement on Coallition.org

Stay Inspired,

Nataliya