Dear Friend,
Can you believe it is the middle of February already? I hear a lot from everyone around me that the time seems to fly even faster in 2018. Whether our perception of time is truly changing, or our life is just getting busier, I invite you all to take time to pause and breathe and savor the beauty of the present moment. There is a lot going on in New York right now: fashion week, lots and lots of meetup events - and they all seem very similar. Seeing a lot of blockchain, AI, and VR events lately and very few of those focusing on specific industry, such as fashion. My monthly Balanced Fashion events will continue to take place in 2018, even though as some of you are aware, I will be in Europe during the next several months. I will also be organizing more volunteering sessions at Fabscrap and interviewing people for my website. Join my page on Facebook to keep up with the new posts!
As a reminder, tonight I am hosting Balanced Fashion event at NY's eBay office - The Future of Sustainable, Innovative Fashion Business Models. Join me and the panel of industry insiders to learn about the impact of sustainable, new business models and innovative technology solutions on the fashion industry. Tonight'spanelists are Shelly Madick, Co-Founder, Bow & Drape, Veronika Habrick, Co-Founder, Thursday Finest, Whitney Bauck, Editor, Fashionista, Bunny Yan, Sustainability Consultant, The Squirrelz and Veronica Cabezas, Co-founder, Genostyle. I look forward to speaking with these powerful women and talk about how we can make our industry more balanced in sustainable by applying innovative business models approach and experimenting with forward-looking technology solutions. Reply to this email for a complimentary ticket, exclusive for my lovely newsletter readers!
News Digest:
- For Farfetch, 2018 is all about global growth — and the store of the future - Glossy
- Shop less, mend more: making more sustainable fashion choices - The Guardian
- Understanding Sustainability Means Talking About Colonialism - The Cut
- New York Fashion Week: industry faces its #MeToo moment - The Guardian
- Olympic clothing designers try to beat the cold with technology - Scientific American
- Fashion month, by the numbers - Glossy
- How designers are collecting data directly from the runway - Glossy
- British designer Misha Nonoo is rewriting fashion’s playbook - FastCompany
- Retail spending on AI to reach $7.3B by 2022 - Retail Dive
- How Depop Created a Digital Shopping Revolution - 1843 Magazine
- Vogue and GQ will test content inside Amazon’s Echo Look - Digiday
- Eileen Fisher, Columbus Consulting reveal details for sustainable design plan - WWD
- Primark publishes global supplier map showing all of its factories - TheIndustry
- Instagram entices brands with new shopping-enabled ads - TheDrum
EVENTS
Tuesday, February 13th
5:45pm - 9:00pm Design Driven - Design & Management At Scale
Best monthly design event in NYC! With Lara Hogan (Founder, Wherewithall), Stephen Spyropoulos (VP UX & Design, Hudson's Bay Company), Xiaodi Zhang (Chief Product Officer, 1stdibs). Price: Free Location: BuzzFeed, 111 E 18th St
6:00pm - 8:30pm Balanced Fashion Panel: The Future of Sustainable, Innovative Fashion Business Models
Join Balanced Fashion's Nataliya Makulova and a panel of industry insiders to talk about sustainable, innovative business models in fashion. We will discuss: Fashion industry and its major problems, sustainable/ethical business models - existing solutions, how to handle waste - pre-consumer and consumer, customization & on-demand production, the future outlook for the industry, panelists' personal wellness and sustainability practices. Price: $15 (Reply to this email for a free ticket, exclusively for the readers of my newsletter!) Location: Ebay Office 625 6th Ave
6:00pm - 8:30pm Retail X Series - B2B Fundraising From VCs @ Davis & Gilbert
Join us to learn how to target VCs for a B2B seed financing. How do I tailor my pitch to VCs at the seed stage? What should I have ready before I begin the process? What questions will I get asked? How do I target investors that focus on B2B in this space? Guest Speakers: Jeffrey Silverman, Co-founder & Managing Director, Laconia Capital Joseph Sartre, Partner, Bleu Capital Dessy Levinson, VP & Head of Story, 645 Ventures Price: $20-$30 Location: Davis & Gilbert 1740 Broadway
Wednesday, February 14th
9:00am - 10:30am SheWorx Roundtable: VC vs. Cryptocurrency w Cindy Chin
Interested in learning about alternative investment methods? Join SheWorx for a breakfast conversation to learn about the right fundraising strategy for your company. Cindy Chin, the CEO/Founder of CLC Advisors, LLC will be leading our discussion. Price: $30-40 Location: NeueHouse 110 E 25th St
Thursday, February 15th
12:00pm – 1:30pm Designing & Validating Innovative Business Models
We live in a time where little is predictable. Organizations must continuously innovate their business model in order to stay profitable. We need new skills, tools and a new mindset. Entrepreneurs have to think as designers, use visual tools, make future scenarios, generate different options, and make and test prototypes. During this lecture, you will learn about how you can apply these tools and processes. Price: Free Location: Galvanize NYC 303 Spring St
6:00pm Female Founders Club - GirlsBoss
Women make better entrepreneurs. Women experience greater successes and fewer failures than their male counterparts. A generation of talented women is building businesses and raising capital to bring their ideas to life. It's not just about women. It's about talent entrepreneurs. Price: Free Location: BuroHQ, 77 Bowery, 8 Friday
Friday, February 16th
8:30am CreativeMornings
With Scott Belsky (Chief Product Officer, Adobe & EVP, Creative Cloud). Price: Free Location: Parsons School of Design, The New School 65 West 11th St.
Monday, February 19th
7:00 - 10:00pm Family Affairs
Join us with Lola Ogunnaike, the host of Entertainment Weekly's "The Show," and her sister Nikki Ogunnaike, Fashion Features Director at Elle Magazine, as they talk about landing your dream job, networking your way to the top and owning your seat at the table. Price: $10 Location: The Wing 45 East 20th Street
Wednesday, February 21st
Thursday, February 22nd
6:30pm - 8:30pm Tech And...
With Jill Manoff (Moderator) Editor-in-Chief, Glossy, Jessica Becker Director of U.S. & Canada, Manifest Group, Patrick Amori Mobile Marketing Consultant, FanHero, Tatiana Kuzmowycz Senior Manager - Communications & Voice, ClassPass, Sameer Madan Software Engineer, Facebook Price: Free Location: General Assembly, HQ 902 Broadway, 4th Floor
Sunday, February 25th
Brunchwork w/ WeWork and Chobani Incubator
You're invited to an unforgettable brunch with WeWork Chief Growth Officer David Fano & Chobani Incubator Director Jackie Miller. Enjoy a fireside chat with David and Jackie, curated connections, a business challenge and pitch off...over a seasonal Sweetgreen meal. Price: Free for members, $50 Location: WeWork Bryant Park 54 W 40th St.
Tuesday, February 27th
6:30pm - 9:00pm WIIN Event I
WIIN - Women's Investment and Innovation Network is a community for women to make empowered financial decisions and meet other women looking to advance in the same space. No prior knowledge is necessary. All backgrounds are welcome. Price: Free Location: Residence Inn 1033 6th Ave 3rd floor
Wednesday, February 28th
6:30pm - 8:30pm Panel Series: How To Scale A Social Venture
There has never been a greater opportunity for problem-solvers and innovators to make a difference through SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP than there is today. Many people have the energy, will, and vision to solve global problems, but they often lack access to the capital, training, and support necessary to transform their ideas into reality. Price: Free Location: General Assembly, HQ 902 Broadway, 4th Floor
Tuesday, March 6th
6:00pm - 9:00pm A Framework For Change: Structuring Civically-Oriented Design Collaborations
How can designers engage with movements for social change? How can the design community help clarify important civic processes and support the work of grassroots community organizations? In today’s polarized and trying political climate graphic artists are looking for ways to support initiatives for transparency, inclusion, and fairness. This conversation will help designers map their course, find groups to support, and identify ways that they can become involved with social change movements, as both designers and citizens. Price: Free Location: General Assembly, HQ 902 Broadway, 4th Floor
Cool Finds:
- Intel Vaunt - Smart Glasses that look normal
- Commonwealth Fashion Exchange - works to support and advocate sustainable development, education, youth and gender empowerment in the current and emerging fashion industries within the 52 member Nations of the Commonwealth
Balanced Quote:
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
Stay Inspired,
Nataliya