Conscious Fashion Tech News & Events in NYC | 10.29.18 - 11.19.18 | Nataliya Makulova as a Co-Host of Fashion is Your Business Podcast

Dear Friend,

I am grateful and humbled to announce that I'm now officially one of the co-hosts at the Fashion Is Your Business by MouthMedia Network - the top podcast on all things fashion tech & retail! Before I was a guest host at quite a few shows and this time we are committed to a more solid partnership, where I will be the voice of sustainability in fashion tech. The other week we recorded an episode with Pierre Nicolas Hurstel, the founder of the first Fashion Tech x Sustainability conference, ReMode that will take place in LA on Nov.13 & 14. I will be flying over there to attend the show, record interviews for the podcast. To learn more about ReMode, listen to this insightful episode with Pierre and learn about the importance of creating an opportunity for in-person industry connections, innovators in the fashion industry that make an impact and just to get to know this amazing visionary that this French man is!

Also, I would love you to come and celebrate Halloween with us this Wednesday, October 31st at our Balanced Fashion panel and workshop event focused on Circular Fashion Business Models. We encourage you to wear a costume - panelists plan to come dressed up. We are going to have a powerful conversation with the industry experts in circularity: Jennifer Yassen, Director of Strategic Relations for Fashion of Tomorrow, Kimberly Neer, Community + Operations, Wardrobe, Jessica Kelly, Founder, Thr3efold and Sergey Moliavko, Founder, Sharecloth, moderated by myself. Following the panel, there will be a workshop led by Meg Luce of Fashion Business Models Inc. This hands-on experience will inform the audience on how to use the business model canvas for their business idea development and brainstorm ways to drive innovation, transparency, and circularity in the fashion industry. We will use a circular fashion business brand For Days as a case study example to learn how to apply the Business Canvas methodology to the audience's ideas.

RSVP now and get a special discount for this newsletter readers, use promo code BFEarlyBirdOct31 for a limited number of $12 tickets. Look forward to seeing you there!

For our Balanced Fashion November event, we are collaborating with Jessica Couch, a fit technology expert at Luxor + Finch on an event focused on fit technology for sustainable fashion. It's not a secret that a poor fit is a huge issue in the fashion industry. Returns cost the US market $62B a year, while poorly fitting clothing accounted for $50B worth of dead inventory. Both contributed to over 15.1M tons of textile waste produced in the US annually. Inefficient production practices, a lack of understanding of fit, and the emerging popularity of online shopping lead to thousands of outdated fashion brands and stores closing permanently. More details on speakers are coming soon!! Get your ticket now and use the discount code BFFriends50off for a 50% off an early bird price!

Finally, in this newsletter, you might notice that I got back to writing my own little overviews for the upcoming events to save you time and help you better navigate the multitude of the events this city has to offer! I'm usually quite blunt and to the point. Remember, that I would never recommend my newsletter readers an event that I would not attend myself. 

News Digest:

Sustainability & Ethics

  • How Everlane Plans to Rid Its Entire Supply Chain of Virgin Plastic -  Fashionista
  • Game On! Inside The New Amsterdam Fashion For Good Museum - Forbes 
  • Eileen Fisher and Public School may be strange bedfellows, but their collab works - Fashionista
  • How Eileen Fisher’s Tiny Factory became an incubator for young designers focused on sustainability - Glossy
  • New Docu-Series And Creative Agency Aims To Make Sustainable Fashion Stylish - Forbes
  • Sustainable Fashion Marketing: The Playful Approach - FashNerd
  • The fashion industry is wise to embrace recycled polyester - TreeHugger
  • This Swiss Brand Pioneered a Fair Trade, Sustainable, Zero-Waste Backpack Made From Banana Fiber - Ecocult
  • Reformation’s Yael Aflalo: ‘Sustainability is about people, profits and environment’ - Glossy
  • Why the role of plastic in fashion has got to change - Eluxe Magazine
  • Shoes: green alternatives to artificial leather - Promostyl
  • The clothing industry harms the planet. What can fashion students do? - The Guardian
  • Fashion, Textile Industries Map Out Sustainable Agenda - WWD (Subscription Required to Read)
  • How Fashion Weeks Engaged With Sustainability For Spring '19 - Common Objective

Business & Technology

  • ‘Retailers have to be ready for it’: visual search sits on the brink of a breakthrough - Digiday
  • Inside the $2.6 billion subscription box wars - FastCompany
  • How blockchain will allow for fewer counterfeit goods and faster product recalls - Vox
  • Digging Into Drop Culture: Evolving A Roaring Retail Ritual - Forbes
  • How to Tackle Fashion’s Tech Deficit? Hire the Right People - Business of Fashion
  • From DTC founders to streetwear brands: How industry outsiders are changing fashion - Glossy
  • Fame & Partners launches fully customizable clothing line - FashionUnited
  • Confirmed: ShopRunner acquires Spring, raises $40M - Tech Crunch
  • Here’s a list of 57 bankruptcies in the retail apocalypse and why they failed - CBInsights
  • WeWork is getting into workplace fashion with Rent the Runway - Bloomberg
  • How streetwear collabs make uncool brands cool - Glossy
  • H&M creates augmented reality experience for Moschino collab - WWD

Events:


October 25th - November 6th

11am – 7pm Mon. - Sat. / 12pm - 6pm Sun. The ReNew Experience by Everlane

MUST GO for everyone who wants to learn more about the plastic problem and how YOU can make a positive impact. I've already seen tons of posts by my friends on Instagram who's visited this experience already. I'm going there this weekend! Price: Free Location: 150 Wooster Street

Tuesday, October 30th

6:00pm Worn in New York

Author Emily Spivack presents her new book: Worn in New York - come to learn about the way our city influences the style of its citizens. Price: Free Location: Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center, first floor, 7th Avenue and 27th Street

7pm - 9pm Sustainable Fashion Spotlight: Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Attend this panel just to listen to the incredible panelists: Dana Davis, Vice President of Sustainability, Product & Business Strategy, Mara Hoffman; Tabea Soriano, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, FUTUREMADE; Ann Cantrell, Assistant Professor, Fashion Business Department, FIT. Price: $20 (Free for Be Social Change members. Join for $19/year) Location: Prime Produce, 424 W 54th St 

7pm - 9pm Luxury in 2018: The influence of millennials

EDITED, a fashion analytics company hosts an event focused on the new ways brands and consumers interact these days. Panelists: Jemma Cassidy, Chief Merchandising Officer at Diane von Furstenberg, Maria Salazar Levin, Vice President at Valentino, Bianca Kuttickattu, Design Director at Vince, Moderator: Jenna Blaha, Fashion and Technology Editor at ELLE Price: Free Location: Wythe Hotel, 80 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn

Wednesday, October 31st

6:00pm - 9:00pm Circular Fashion Business Models Panel + Workshop by Balanced Fashion x Business Models Inc

It's a Balanced Fashion event, so it's MUST GO by default! :) I look forward to seeing you there, wearing a costume of course. Listen to the panel of experts in circularity and learn to use the Business Model Canvas to create your own circular fashion startup. Price: $20 (Discount for our Newsletter readers: $12, promo code BFEarlyBirdOct31) Location: WeWork 109 S 5th St, South Williamsburg

November 1st - 4th

Change Fashion: Conference, Exhibition, Bazaar

Looks like it's going to be a VERY POWERFUL event series featuring a bunch of panels on different topics within sustainable fashion with impressive speakers. I'll definitely be attending a few of them! Price: Free Location: Donna Karan's Urban Zen, 705 Greenwich Street

All events from this series:

Nov 1st: 

9:30 AM – 10:15 Change Fashion Forum presents: Sustain Fashion Opening Panel

Nov 2nd: 9:45 AM – 12:45 Blockapps presents: Transforming Supply Chains - Block by Block

12:00 PM – 1:00 Change Fashion Forum presents: Toxic Fashion

1:00 PM – 3:00 World Resources Institute presents: Tomorrow's Markets

2:30 PM – 3:30 World Wildlife Fund presents: Fashion and Nature

5:30 PM – 6:30 People's Revolution presents: The New Guard- Emerging Sustainable Designers

6:30 PM – 7:00 Change Fashion Forum presents: Is Circularity Really a Silver Bullet?

7:00 PM – 8:00 Change Fashion Forum & The Soze Agency presents: Art + Social Change

Nov.3rd: 11:00 AM – 12:00 The Library presents The Power of Partnerships and Collaborations

1:00 PM – 2:00 The Library presents May Our Voices be Heard

2:00 PM to 3:00 The Library presents Fashion Politics

Nov. 4th 11:00 AM – 5:00 Fashion Revolution USA presents Future of Fashion Bazaar featuring innovative Brands

Friday, November 2nd

Decoded Future Summit

An established industry summit featuring Experience & Lifestyle, Fashion & Luxury and Beauty & Wellness companies. Have your company sponsor your ticket and you'll learn A LOT for sure. Not sure if sustainability is going to be on their agenda though. Price: $999 Free Location: CONVENE 117 W 46th Street

Tuesday, November 6th

4pm - 6pm TEXTILE TUESDAY: Organic Fabric Presentation with Xoomba

Come to earn more about organic fabrics. Price: $10 ($5 for BF+DA members) Location: Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator, 630 Flushing Ave, 7th Floor, Brooklyn

5:45pm Design Driven

The absolute top quality and longest running design meetup in NYC. I've done to way too many of them and never regretted. Not fashion related, but you'll definitely take away something you can apply in your own business. Price: Free Location: BuzzFeed, 111 East 18th Street

6:30pm - 7pm How To Embrace Sustainable Fashion

General topic, great for the audience just tipping their toes into sustainable fashion, also good to attend if you're interested to check out the RealReal NY office. Price: Free Location: The RealReal, 80 Wooster Street

Wednesday, November 7th

6:30pm – 9:00pm Branding Your Startup - Strategies For Founders

General startup topics on branding - great for fashion people to attend these kinds of events not to be too focused inside of the fashion branding bubble. Price: $20 Location: Alley Chelsea, 119 West 24th Street, 2nd floor

Thursday, November 8th

8:00am - 6:00pm Raise the Green Bar 2018: Your Roadmap to Sustainability & Success

Worth it if your company can sponsor your ticket - generally anything that Hearst hosts should not be ignored. Price: $495 Location: Hearst Tower, 300 W. 57th Street, 44th Floor

Friday, November 9th

7pm – 2am PAUSE at The Canvas Grand Opening

PAUSE is the Amsterdam based pop-up shop company curated 40 brands from around the world leading the way in sustainable fashion. Come for the opening night for networking. Price: $15 Location: The Canvas, 904 Lexington Avenue

Saturday, November 10th

4pm – 8pm Do + brew: a conscious fashion event by esa New York

Come for a clothing swap and learn how to transform your old clothing into something new and unique while sipping on brews and listening to tunes.. Price: $10 Early Bird Location: Project Farmhouse, 76 East 13th Street

Thursday, November 15th

6:00 - 9:00pm Fit Tech and Sustainability in Fashion: Balanced Fashion event in collaboration with Luxor + Finch

Balanced Fashion event = MUST GO! (not biased at all.. :)) More details are coming soon! Price: $20 ($10 Early Bird + use discount BFFriends50off for 50% off) Location: TBD

Monday, November 19th

6:30pm – 8:30pm NYC FTC Sustainable Fashion Committee Meeting

I've been to NYC Fair Trade Coalition event - great if you're a young brand looking to pave your way into sustainable fashion. Very well structured community event and great for networking. Highly recommend for joining their membership for more solid support! Price: $8 (free for NYC FTC members) Location: LIM College, 216 E 45th Street

Announcements:


Stay Inspired,

Nataliya Makulova 
Founder of Balanced Fashion, Conscious Fashion Tech Consulting Agency
RSVP for our Next Event