Category Archives: Conferences

FASHION EVOLUTION

Our friends over at Re-dress in Ireland have been BUSY!

In less than one month, Re-dress will present FASHION EVOLUTION, Ireland’s 3rd ethical fashion week:

“Fashion Evolution aims to re-vitalise the spirit of the Irish fashion industry, with a schedule of exciting events catering for consumers, producers, retailers and supporters of fashion alike.” (Re-dress)

“Our mission is to provide the Irish fashion sector with the tools needed to make more sustainable fashion choices.” (Re-dress)

We don’t think they’ll have any trouble accomplishing this goal–just take a look at what they have planned!

What: Re-dress ETHICAL FASHION CALENDAR LAUNCH
When: Tuesday 4th April
Where: Online www.re-dress.ie
Cost: Free

What: FASHION MENTORING SESSIONS
When: Wednesday 5th 6-8pm
Where: Sugar Club, Upper Leeson Street, Dublin
Cost: 15 Euros BOOK NOW!

What: FASHION ENTREPRENEURSHIP; EVENING LECTURE AND NETWORKING SESSION WITH KATHARINE HAMNETT
When: Wednesday 5th 8.30-10pm
Where: Sugar Club, Upper Leeson Street, Dubin
Cost: 10 Euros BOOK NOW!

What: IRISH FASHION INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
When: Thursday 6th 9am-2pm
Where: Fallon and Byrne
Cost: 40 Euros (students and unemployed 20 euros) BOOK NOW!!

What: CLEAN CLOTHES CAMPAIGN – GENERAL MEETING
When: Thursday 6th Time TBC
Where: TBC
Cost: TBC BOOK NOW!

What: FREE PUBLIC FILM NIGHT
When: Friday 7th 7pm
Where: Smock Alley Café
Cost: FREE BOOK NOW!

What: EJF Cotton T-shirt exhibit
When: Tuesday 4th-Saturday 8th 10am-5pm daily
Where: The Greenhouse
Cost: FREE

Title: FASHION EVOLUTION
Location: Ireland
Link out: Click here
Start Date: 2010-05-04
End Date: 2010-05-08

drc: Design Research Conference 2010// IIT Institute of Design + Competition

“The IIT Institute of Design’s 9th Annual Design Research Conference (DRC) will be held at the Spertus Institute in downtown Chicago on May 10-12th 2010. It will feature exceptional international speakers and opportunities to spend time with our brilliant community of designers, planners, researchers, educators, students, managers and executives concerned with understanding people.” (drc)

This year’s conference includes a design research competition. The deadline to apply is April 2nd, but hey…you still have 3 days! The winners will get to speak at the conference, and will be included in the program.

Click here to apply! Good Luck!

Check out this year’s speakers:

Tim Brown | IDEO

Martha Cotton | gravitytank

Erica Eden | Smart Design, Femme Den

Kim Erwin | IIT Institute of Design

Diane Fraley | D.S. Fraley Associates

Heather Fraser | Rotman Designworks

Usman Haque | Pachube

Cathy Huang | China Bridge International

Stokes Jones | Lodestar

Anjali Kelkar | Studio for Design Research

Diane Lee | Smart Design

Yvonne Lin | Smart Design, Femme Den

Gerald Lombardi | Hall & Partners

Doug Look | Autodesk

Bill Lucas | LUMA Institute, MAYA Design

Don Norman | Nielsen Norman Group

Sona Patadia | PDT

Ron Pierce | Stuart Karten Design

Heather Reavey | Continuum

Rick E. Robinson | Sideriver Ventures

Rob Tannen | Bresslergroup

Paula Wellings | Adaptive Path

Eric Wilmot | Wolff Olins

Lisa Yanz | PDT

Title: drc: Design Research Conference 2010// IIT Institute of Design
Location: Chicago
Link out: Click here
Start Date: 2010-05-10
End Date: 2010-05-12

Design Currency 2010// Design Week, Vancouver

Design Currency: Icograda Design Week In Vancouver Cur”rency\ The state or quality of being current; general acceptance or reception; a passing from person to person, or from hand to hand.

Design has the power to influence our core values, our identity, our expectations and our worldview. Design brings clarity and enhances meaning. Design Currency 2010 offers designers, business leaders and government the opportunity to experience current design thinking. Reshape your understanding of the value of design. 

As a Vancouverite, I am so excited for Design Week Vancouver: Design Currency 2010.

I’ve written before on SA on the inspiring research and work of both Nathan Shedroff, author of Design is the Problem, and David Berman, author of Do Good Design. Both Shedroff and Berman will be speaking at the conference on sustainable practice, alongside Valerie Elliott. Click here for a full list of speakers.

To ice my gluten-free cake, the outstanding Giant Ant Media is one of the supporting partners: there is no doubt this event will be brilliant and inspiring.  

Title: Design Currency 2010// Design Week, Vancouver
Location: Vancouver
Link out: Click here

Start Date: 2010-04-26
End Date: 2010-04-30

Headspace: On Scent as Design

“On March 26, Parsons and MoMA with IFF, Seed, and Coty present Headspace: On Scent as Design.

Headspace is a one-day symposium on the conception, impact, and potential applications of scent. This event gathers leading thinkers, designers, scientists, artists, established perfumers as well as “accidental perfumers” (a selection of architects, designers, and chefs invited to experiment with scent) to acknowledge scent as a new territory for design and begin to draft the outline of this new practice. The event marks the establishment of a new MFA in Transdisciplinary Design at Parsons.” (Headspace)

Click here for more info on the event.

Title: Headspace: On Scent as Design
Location: New York
Link out: Click here

Start Time: 10:00
Date: 2010-03-26
End Time: 18:30

Green Week Conference 2010

“This year, the largest annual conference on European environment policy turns the spotlight on biodiversity. Over some 30 sessions, the conference will address the state of biodiversity and nature in Europe and the world, the benefits they bring, present-day pressures on them, and possible solutions to the current rates of loss. The path to be taken by EU policies on biodiversity and nature policies post-2010, the economic dimension of biodiversity, ecosystem services and Natura 2000 will also be investigated.

These are some of the many questions Green Week 2010 will examine in three days of discussion and debate between high-level speakers from Europe and beyond.

Green Week is a unique opportunity for exchanges of experience and good practice.

Some 3 800 participants are expected from EU institutions, business and industry, non-governmental organisations, public authorities, the scientific community and academia.” (Green Week Conference, 2010)

Title: Green Week Conference 2010
Location: Brussels
Link out: Click here 

Start Date: 2010-06-01
End Date: 2010-06-04

Organic Exchange/MADE-BY: ‘The Case for Sustainable Fashion’

“MADE-BY and Organic Exchange is delighted to invite you to a unique 2-day intensive seminar on sustainable fashion (clothing and textile) in Stockholm! This seminar is the perfect opportunity to assist textile and apparel professionals working in brands and retailers to come up to speed on changes and opportunities in the supply chain.

Speakers and several important topics covered include:

• Environmentally Friendly Fabrics – Understand the Definition, Sourcing and Production Issues,
• A Discussion on Recycled Materials – Polyester and Nylon,
• Responsible Processing – The Good The Bad & The Ugly of Dyeing and Finishing Industry,
• Product Integrity – Certification, Labeling, Transparency and Traceability,
• Social Compliance – Understand the Different Systems and Learn The Actual Work Done,
• Setting Sustainability Strategy – Learn from the Perspective of Leading Brands, Their Pitfalls, Triumphs and Lessons Learned,
• Communication Strategy – How Sustainability and Branding Strengthen Each Other?
• Fashion and Consumer Trends Towards Sustainability in Europe.

Participants will be encouraged to be critical, ask questions and share experiences during discussions. It would be an excellent place to actively share knowledge and information and to network at every possible level.” (MADE-BY)

Click here to download the latest version of the agenda.

Here are some testimonials from past events:

“Most valuable aspect was meeting with other people facing the same issues and discussing how we can work through to a solution together”

– Marks & Spencer, United Kingdom

“After the seminar, striking argument towards our top management on sustainable fashion production has been developed!”

– INTERSPORT International, Switzerland

“A real thorough approach to looking at all aspects of building and implementing a sustainable strategy, fantastically useful and incredibly interesting”

– Ted Baker, United Kingdom

“The most valuable aspect were the case studies of brands committed to sustainable fashion, good networking opportunities and the open atmosphere during interactive discussion”

– PUMA, Germany

Title: Organic Exchange/MADE-BY: ‘The Case for Sustainable Fasion’
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Link out: Click here
Start Date: 2010-05-26
End Date: 2010-05-27

American Reusable Textile Association (ARTA): Green Summit

“The seminar, to be held at the Chateau Frontenac Hotel, will include an overview of new life-cycle assessment research; information and tools designed to help market the benefits of reusable textiles; and information on how to enhance and measure the sustainability of a facility’s operations.

The Green Summit is open to ARTA members and non-members and as well as education and networking opportunities, will also feature supplier exhibits.

Announcing the event, ARTA president Steve Tinker said that to remain competitive, businesses would need to incorporate sustainable practices into operations and be able to verify those efforts. “Some might argue that ‘green’ is a trend, but legislative and consumer indicators show that the focus on sustainability is here to stay,” he said.

‘The green era offers a unique opportunity for the textile services industry. We’ve been providing and supporting a green product — reusable textiles — for more than a century! The immediate challenge lies in quantifying the green benefits of reusable textiles and of our operations, and then marketing those benefits to our customers.’” (Ecotextile News)

Source: Ecotextile News

Title: American Reusable Textile Association (ARTA): Green Summit
Location: Quebec City, Canada
Link out: Click here
Start Date: 2010-07-22
End Date: 2010-07-23

Social Alterations// Slides

Nadira and I both promised to make the slides from our presentations at the FEI conference available online, and here they are, along with a slideshow of some of the images we captured from the event. I’ve reposted the videos of the presentations for convenience.

Thanks to everyone who offered feedback, we were so grateful for your considerations. Please, keep let’s keep the conversation going!

Be sure to contact us with any questions!

Social Alterations: An Education Lab for Socially Responsible Fashion Design

Social Alterations @ FEI from Social Alterations on Vimeo.

CSR Trends in China’s Apparel Supply Chain

CSR Trends in China’s Apparel Supply Chain from Social Alterations on Vimeo.


Find more photos like this on Social Alterations

WATCH// Social Alterations @ FEI

Here are just two of the videos we took at the conference. We have more videos to come, so stay tuned for those.

The first video is of my Pecha Kucha talk. I’ll be posting the slides and my notes a little later on. Please contact us if you have any questions on the works cited in the presentation.

Social Alterations @ FEI from Social Alterations on Vimeo.

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) held the table next to ours during the Market Place on day two of the conference. We asked them what exactly responsible fashion meant to the EJF, and for their thoughts on why designers should care.

FEI Conference 006 from Social Alterations on Vimeo.

Pesticide Action Network (PAN) was also there, asking participants “what organic cotton means…..to me”. Pictured above is Nadira Lamrad (right) with her answer.

Social Alterations @ FEI

So here we are in London for the Fashioning an Ethical Industry Conference: Fast Forward. Today, Nadira and I will both be presenting at the conference, and with Katrine in attendance, this will mark the first time the SA team is all together in the same place at the same time!  

We will be doing lots of blogging and twitter (ing?) from the event, and will have our presentations uploaded later tonight for you to check out, so be sure to tune in.

Follow on twitter via @maryhanlon for that feed.

Wish us luck!