Fashion Tech News & Start Up Events in NYC | 11.07.17–12.05.17 | RSVP for the Next Two Events by Balanced Fashion

Dear Friend,

A little bit on events and meetups in the tech space: as you probably already know a lot of events are a bit of waste of time — sometimes they barely touch the topic advertised, sometimes they are overpriced, other times they are just providing repetitive information you could learn from any article on that particular topic in a quality publication. In this newsletter, I curate either the events similar to those I’ve already been to and trust the organizers for their quality or something that sounds very exciting, but has a chance of turning into a so-so evening — and I’m sorry about that. Please provide me with any feedback on the curation below and I will try my best to improve it for you with each edition of this newsletter! Some of my absolute favorite events organizers within the creative tech space for you to keep an eye on are TheCurrent, Mindful Tech, Mouth Media, and General Assemby.

The aim for the Balanced Fashion events is to invite the top leaders in the fashion tech space and deep dive into specific topics, learn the nitty-gritty details of running a business that is set to change the industry. I want us to find out about the challenges, opportunities and get real-world insights on what’s working and what’s not. As a community of passionate fashion tech and sustainability professionals, we aim to have fruitful conversations on how to make a meaningful difference, to influence consumers’ opinions and break the rules the industry has set years ago that are now clearly outdated.

So please, don’t miss my next two exciting events: on Tuesday, November 14th I’m hosting Amanda Curtis and Gemma Sole, CoFounders of Nineteenth Amendment, who speak about their on-demand manufacturing business and the possibility of the future of stockless retail. On Wednesday, December 5th Lona Alia, CEO & Founder of Style Lend will speak about running a peer-to-peer fashion rentals company and express her vision of the future of people’s wardrobes. Both of these topics fit very well with my Balanced Fashion agenda and I’m grateful to host these wonderful women take the centre stage at my events!

News Digest:

• Augmented reality is set to transform fashion and retail — Forbes
• How Stitch Fix’s data-driven styling could boost its IPO value — Bloomberg
• Your shirt could be the only key you need — this smart fabric can function without any power source — IBT
• Opinion: What’s wrong with fashion’s sustainability strategy — Glossy
• Greenpeace on why fashion is at a crossroads — FashionUnited
• Why visceral storytelling is the next brand-building territory — LeanLuxe
• Asos proves fast fashion isn’t cheap, sees ‘huge’ growth ahead — Retail Dive
• Why Snapchat Spectacles Failed — TechCrunch
• Moda Operandi Launches The Platform, an Incubator for Emerging Brands — Business of Fashion
• Inside the Anything-Goes World of Instagram Fast-Fashion — GQ
• Hilfiger says making clothes in America remains unrealistic — Bloomberg
• How Kering’s sustainability strategy brings its supply chain up to speed — Glossy

Events

Wednesday, November 8th

5:30pm — 7:00pm TheCurrent Innovators LIVE with Stefano Rosso, CEO of Diesel

Join us for a live taping of TheCurrent Innovators as we sit down with the CEO of Diesel, Stefano Rosso, to discuss Diesel’s “Go With the Flaw” campaign, their casting call for a new Chair Executive Officer and the company’s outlook as it reaches its 40th anniversary. Price: Free Location: Room UL104, University Center, 63 Fifth Avenue

6:30pm Women in Leadership Panel

With Michelle Alexander (Sr Engg Mgr, Spotify), Becky Case (VP Engg, BirchBox), Stephanie Killian (Engg Mgr, LinkedIn), Daljeet Krukeja (Development Mgr, Priceline), Samantha Quinones (Engg Mgr, Etsy), Megan Tong (Software Engg Mgr, Grovo). Price: Free Location: Priceline, 470 Park Ave South

Thursday, November 9th

6:00pm The Rise Of AI Powered Assistants

With Noah Goldman (Host, Enterprise Sales Podcast). Noah helps SaaS companies with sales process, lead generation, & team formation. He has held roles in several capacities in both B2B & B2C tech companies from marketing to finance & corporate development. He is also the host of the Enterprise Sales Podcast, a daily show featuring the smartest people in sales. Price: Free Location: Workbench, 110 Fifth Ave, 5th Floor

7:00pm Positive Impact Awards

In 2014, Pratt Institute set out to change fashion in NYC by establishing the Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator, a hub for responsible fashion. Each year we have honored the people who have inspired us at the BF+DA Positive Impact Awards, shining a spotlight on the people and brands that are advancing sustainability, ethical production and preserving heritage and craft and developing new technologies. The event attracts over 500 industry professionals, educators, journalists and entrepreneurs who come together in the dynamic atmosphere that is uniquely the BF+DA. Price: Free Location: Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator, 630 Flushing Ave, 7th Floor, Brooklyn

6:30pm Emotionally Intelligent Product Design

Software products today no matter how sophisticated, still lack the capability to learn & adjust its behaviours over time. Unless you have a programmer telling software in real time how to respond to users, technology will always lack what the humans bring to the table: emotions. As human beings, understanding & responding to emotion is one of the first things we learn, but what about software? With all the advances that have been made in the world of software design, designing real emotions & intelligence continues to be the missing puzzle piece that could transform all machines into entities the could demonstrate what it means to be truly intelligent. Price: Free Location: Ustwo, 26 Broadway

Saturday, November 11th

8:00am AR/VR Hackathon

This is going to be an amazing & rare experience — a chance to really strengthen the the AR/VR community & create some truly innovative projects.Who knows, you might meet a co-founder, start a year-long project with new friends, or just having an awesome time improving your skills. It’s guaranteed to be a win! Price: Free Location: NYU, 44 W 4th St

Tuesday, November 14th

6:30pm — 8:15pm The Future of Stockless Retail w/Nineteenth Amendment

Amanda Curtis, CEO CoFounder and Gemma Sole, COO/CMO and CoFounder of Nineteenth Amendment will speak about her industry-shifting marketplace + production platform to pre-sell + on-demand fashion manufacturing. We’ll learn about their vision of the future of production and the value of stockless retail. Price: $10 Location: Voyager HQ, 137 W 25th St., 11th Floor

5:45pm — 8:00pm Design Driven

For the next edition of Design Driven, we’re thrilled to welcome: Nir Eyal, Author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, Tania Philip, VP of Product at Shutterstock, Orr Shtuhl & Ryan Hines, Product Designers at The Wirecutter Price: Free Location: BuzzFeed, 111 E 18th St

Wednesday, November 15th

6:00pm [WAMVentures] Pitch To Investors w/ GV, SoGal Ventures, XRC Labs

Join #WAMVentures Forum on November 15 (Wed 6–9pm) & meet investors involved in AI, Machine Learning & Future Tech! Meet investors Erik Nordlander, Engineering Partner — GV (Google Ventures); Elizabeth Galbut, Managing Partner — SoGal Ventures and Pano Anthos, Founder & Managing Director — XRC Labs. Free: $25 Location: ThoughtWorks, 99 Madison Ave, 15th Fl

Wednesday, November 29th

7:00pm — 9:00pm 5to9 LIVE RECORDING featuring Munish Taneja (UX Lead at Google & Founder of MrMiSocki)

In our next podcast recording, we are interviewing Munish Taneja, a mobile UX lead at Google and founder of MrMiSocki. MrMiSocki is a sock collection that is released in conjunction with a comic book story and mismatch socks that represent characters from each of those volumes. After a very successful Kickstarter launch, they’ve been featured in GQ, Refinery 29, Men’s Health and many other publications. Price: $10 Location: Voyager HQ, 137 W 25th St., 11th Floor

Thursday, November 30th

6:30pm First ever #MindfulTech meetup! // NYC

For our inaugural meetup, we’re bringing you an insightful panel of three pros in the #mindfultech space. We’ll discuss what mindful technology actually is (and isn’t), how to build + use technology in a way that helps us to be more connected to each other instead of to our devices, and what the burgeoning world of mindful technology looks like now–and what will happen as it explodes. Come connect with fellow #mindfultech enthusiasts and get in on the ground floor as we build this community together! Price: $10 Location: Leesa Dream Gallery. 112 Wooster Street.

Tuesday, December 5th

6:30pm — 8:30pm Future of Peer-to-Peer Fashion Rentals w/Lona Alia of Style Lend

Style Lend offers peer to peer fashion rentals and helps women monetize their closet by renting out their clothing and accessories. Women are enabled to access to their dream wardrobe by allowing users to borrow any item at 90% off retail. I’m a huge believer that the business models like Style Lend will thrive in our sharing economy and the rise of conscious consumption. Come and learn about the insights of running a peer-to-peer rental business and learn Lona’s vision of the future of fashion industry. Price: Free Location: Galvanize, 315 Hudson Street, 2nd Floor

Cool Finds:

• Oak — Meditation and breathing exercises for geeks
• Mindful Technology — a source for tech lovers who also want to be good humans. And it’s an exciting new Liza Kindred’s project!
• Applications are now open for NY Fashion Tech Lab 2018, apply here.

A Balanced Thought:

“We have executives in the (retail) industry with expired experience”

- Milton Pedraza of Luxury Institute

Stay Inspired,

Nataliya