British Fashion Council Announces Schedule for Inaugural Institute of Positive Fashion Forum

May 20, 2021

The British Fashion Council (BFC) is delighted to announce the schedule for its inaugural Institute of Positive Fashion Forum (IPF Forum), a thought leadership event designed to galvanise the British fashion industry alongside international businesses into global collaboration and local action, ahead of COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, hosted in Glasgow in November. 

The day-long event which will take place digitally on Thursday 10th June 2021, will see over 40 speakers coming together from all around the world to focus on catalysts for Positive Change. The IPF Forum will host inspirational talks and practical action-led discussions to address the day’s agenda featuring Alok Sharma (COP26), Virgil Abloh (Off-White & Louis Vuitton Mens), June Sarpong  (BBC), Stella McCartneyPriyanka Chopra Jonas (BFC Ambassador), Emmanuel Gintzburger (Alexander McQueen), Marco Gobbetti (Burberry), Marie-Claire Daveu (Kering), Cyrill Gutsch (Parley for the Oceans), Law RoachNicolaj Reffstrup (GANNI), Bandana TewariAyesha Barenblat (REMAKE), Baroness Lola YoungKalpona Aktar (Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity) and many more. The IPF forum will encourage participants to take action by signing up and adopting the recommendation of the Race to Zero, Terra Carta, Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, Fashion Pact, Sustainable Development Goals. 

The IPF Forum will act as an opportunity to debate the important issues facing the fashion industry through the lens of the IPF Pillars, Environment, People, Community & Craftsmanshipand the COP26 themes Adaptation & Resilience, Energy, Finance, Nature and Transport.  Tickets for the day are now available to purchase here and the day’s schedule includes (running order not final & subject to change) 

Welcome and Introduction

Stephanie Phair, Chair, British Fashion Council

COP26: Setting the scene and outlining the climate goals

Alok Sharma, COP President Designate

Positioning around COP26:  The Role of UK Fashion to Help Fight Climate Change

Caroline Rush, Chief Executive, British Fashion Council in conversation with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

The Just Transition: Exploring the Business Case for Change

Amy Clarke, Co-Founder & Chief Impact Officer, Tribe Impact Capital; Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Sustainability & Institutional Affairs Officer, Kering

Future of Fashion: Innovation for Climate Action

Ben Alun-Jones, Chief Product Officer & Co-Founder, Unmade; Dian-Jen Lin, Co-Founder, Post Carbon Lab; Karinna Nobbs, Founder, The Dematerialised; Motie Bring, Chief Commercial Officer, Nuvei; moderated by Shailja Dubé, IPF Lead, British Fashion Council

Fashion and nature: How biodiversity is moving up the corporate agenda 

Dilys Williams, Founder & Director Centre for Sustainable Fashion; Dr Helen Crowley, Head of Sustainable Sourcing & Nature Initiatives, Kering; Michael Wessely, Co-Founder, Sheep Inc.; moderated by Bandana Tewari, Lifestyle Journalist & Sustainability Activist

Social Justice: Eliminating exploitation in the supply chain

Baroness Lola Young; Ayesha Barenblat, Founder & CEO, Remake; Kalpona Akter, Founder & Executive Director, Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity; moderated by Whitney Bauck, Journalist

Visibility and Representation: Using your platform for positive change

Priyanka Chopra Jonas, BFC Ambassador for Positive Change in conversation with Law Roach, Image Architect

Keynote: Creating the next generation of sustainable luxury

Marco Gobbetti, Chief Executive Officer, Burberry 

Driving scale: Placing circularity at the heart of the business model

Cyrill Gutsch, Founder, Parley for the Oceans; Eshita Kabra, Founder & CEO, By Rotation; Laura Balmond, Make Fashion Circular Lead, Ellen MacArthur Foundation; Nicolaj Reffstrup, Founder, Ganni

Evolving Retail: Shifting to Responsible Consumer Behaviours

Caroline Rush, Chief Executive, British Fashion Council; Clearpay

Keynote: Alexander McQueen

Emmanuel Gintzburger, Chief Executive Alexander McQueen in conversation with Imran Amed, Founder & CEO Business of Fashion

Transformational leadership and collective action

John Elkington, Founder & Chief Pollinator, Volans

Female leadership and entrepreneurship – How to push the agenda forward

Daisy Knatchbull, Founder, The Deck; Fenn O’Meally, Director; Rene Macdonald, Founder & Creative Director, Lisou

Social Mobility: challenge the fashion industry & ensuring representation

Virgil Abloh, Founder & Creative Director, Off-White and Artistic Director Louis Vuitton Mens in conversation with June Sarpong, Director of Creative Diversity, BBC

Keynote: Stella McCartney

Stella McCartney

The IPF Forum will also launch the IPF Future of Fashion Innovation Showcase.Focused on UK innovation across each step of the fashion value chain, the Showcase will present disruptive and transdisciplinary innovators who are changing the business paradigm to support climate action and the goals of COP26. The confirmed innovators include Alchemie, Away to Mars, Biophilica, Bundle Packaging, Colorifix, Compare Ethics, Fibershed Southwest England, Materra, MonoChain, NotPLA, Post Carbon Lab, Reflaunt, ReGAIN, Reskinned, Sheep Inc, Sozie, The Dematerialised, Unmade. The project is curated by the British Fashion Council, and Fashion For Good. 

The BFC is dedicated to drive positive change across the industry. As part of the IPF and the COP26 action plan, the IPF Forum will host a series of closed-door roundtables on key topics in support of the COP26 agenda. 

The IPF Forum will be accessible to ticketholders through the IPF website where tickets for the day are now available to purchase. All tickets are priced at £150 with corporate packages available on request (see contacts below). BFC Patrons and Designer Members will be offered one complimentary ticket each as well as the opportunity to buy additional tickets at a special rate.

Ticket holders will gain access to the live day of seminars and talks via a private log in, have the opportunity to network online with other attendees, build a personalised schedule and access resources in the IPF Future of Fashion Innovation Showcase.  

The BFC continues its collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP) to further engage the fashion industry in the Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The IPF Forum aligns with SDGs 5 (Gender Equality), 8 (Decent Work & Economic Growth), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 13 (Climate Action) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

The generosity and commitment of our partners is more vital than ever. Please help us by acknowledging their support for the IPF Forum. Official Partners: Clearpay, Nuvei. With thanks to the IPF Founding Partners: DHL and Vanish.

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