The Conscious Fashion Campaign, founded by social entrepreneur Kerry Bannigan to accelerate fashion industry action in support of the Sustainable Development Goals, is launching a month-long virtual educational experience. The event, “Discover the Sustainable Development Goals – To Power the Decade of Action”, is in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships and runs from 1-3 December 2020.

The experience aims to both advance knowledge and strengthen engagement from the global fashion industry; further supporting the Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – the 17 goals to transform our world.

Discover the SDGs online exhibit will feature a wide range of SDG informational tools.

It will also feature fashion-focused, on-demand discussions with industry leaders, United Nations officials and advocates. These include Kering, Lenzing, Allbirds, PVH, Vogue Business and CFDA. Also, the British Fashion Council, Messe Frankfurt, Collina Strada and the Swarovski Foundation.

Commenting is Annemarie Hou, acting executive director of the United Nations Office for Partnerships. “This is a critical time to accelerate partnerships to address the world’s biggest challenges. From eliminating poverty, hunger and inequalities to reversing climate change and unsustainable consumption and production practices. The fashion industry is an important ally for the United Nations in this Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs by 2030.”

Discover the SDGs virtual event, powered by Arch and Hook, Artistic Milliners and Lenzing; and supported by Interwoven, ITL Group and Orta, serves as a catalyst for a new era of fashion. It will explore the intersection of the SDGs and fashion business. This includes climate action, gender equality and industry innovation. Also, digitisation and responsible production and consumption.

Industry supporters include Messe Frankfurt, Drapers, Fashinnovation, Kingpins, Transformers Foundation and Raw Assembly.

Meanwhile, speakers include fashion designers Anyango Mpinga, Gabriela Hearst, Maria Cornejo and Tracy Reese. Also, Marsha Cooke, senior vice president Impact, Vice Media Group; Emily Chan, sustainability editor, Vogue Global Network; Dominic-Madori Davis, reporter, Business Insider; Sara Maino, deputy editor-in-chief, Vogue Italia & Head of Vogue Talents; Jill Martin Wrenn, business reporter, BBC, and finally Fiona Sinclair Scott, global editor, CNN Style.

The event will feature United Nations representatives from the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action. Plus, United Nations Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory on Climate Change; United Nations Capital Development Fund; UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women; United Nations Economic Commission for Europe/Food and Agriculture Organization, and also United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

As director of Global Business Development at Lenzing, Tricia Carey explains the importance of sustainability within the fashion industry.

“As we close out a tumultuous 2020, we have optimism for a new year with a path to recover better together. Discover the SDGs by the Conscious Fashion Campaign provides the fashion industry with the tools to make educated choices with regards to both the environment and society. Lenzing uses the Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for our initiatives to be a responsible wood-based cellulosic fiber producer making TENCEL™ Lyocell and Modal.”

Given its global reach, the fashion industry is uniquely positioned to increase collaboration and engagement around the SDGs. With the pervasiveness of the Covid-19 pandemic, the industry is seeing unparalleled disruption to its operations and supply chains. As the fashion sector revises and adapts priorities, now is the time to ensure this disruption can catalyse a new sustainable era for all stakeholders involved.

The role of partnerships is more crucial than ever; both to recover from the pandemic and advance the SDGs.

Murtaza Ahmed, owner and managing director of Artistic Milliners, highlights this. “At Artistic Milliners, we believe any one entity alone cannot rely on fragmented work to achieve global impact. Therefore, we are leveraging the power of SDGs as the most comprehensive framework of collective action to bring about real impact.

“Our efforts have led to our recognition by the United Nations Global Compact as the Global Pioneer of SDG 5: Gender Equality. We want to share our best practices with our peers and partners and the Conscious Fashion Campaign provides the perfect platform to inspire the global fashion industry to action.”

Discover the SDGs is available to access here. Click here for further information on The Conscious Fashion Campaign.