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The responsible future of fashion takes centre stage in Venice

This week Istituto Marangoni was invited to be part of the fashion players investing in the industry’s sustainable future. As an international fashion and design school, we were asked to attend the first Venice Sustainable Fashion Forum 2022.

The first international summit dedicated to the sustainable transition of the fashion industry took place in Venice, at Fondazione Giorgio Cini

The first international summit dedicated to the sustainable transition of the fashion industry took place in Venice, at Fondazione Giorgio Cini

The first international summit dedicated to a sustainable future for the fashion industry, the Venice Sustainable Fashion Forum debuted to launch a shared method among the leading players in the supply chain to create an ecological transition in the sector.

With its lagoon, Venice aims to become the world’s first sustainable city. Its iconic bridges and canals symbolise the need for industry connections to pursue the path of sustainability.

Venice has the ambition to become the world’s first sustainable city

Venice has the ambition to become the world’s first sustainable city

The forum was organised by several players, including Camera Nazionale della Moda (The National Chamber for Italian Fashion). As a not-for-profit association regulating, coordinating and promoting the development of Italian fashion, CNMI is deeply involved in fashion education. Fashion institutes are the first step to training future professionals to think in new ways about fashion.

Venice Sustainable Fashion Forum 2022

Venice Sustainable Fashion Forum 2022

On the first day, the forum launched six proposals for a Just Fashion Transition:

  1. Anticipate market transition, adopting the future mandatory instruments that the EU is developing;
  2. Get the national government involved to support the industry in its sustainable transformation;
  3. Make alliances between all players, upstream and downstream, to disseminate good practices;
  4. Measure the change effectively, creating a database of significant KPIs;
  5. Promote a positive cultural shift with the consumers that want sustainable clothes but are not yet willing to pay more to obtain them;
  6. Encourage sustainability vanguard through Italian and French luxury value chains so that luxury will become a symbol of quality and a front-runner in this sustainable transition.

The Values of Fashion was the second day’s theme, and the focus shifted to how sustainability should be integrated into fashion education.

Prada's Lorenzo Bertelli, on stage at the first edition of the Venice Sustainable Fashion Forum 2022

Prada's Lorenzo Bertelli, on stage at the first edition of the Venice Sustainable Fashion Forum 2022

Lorenzo Bertelli, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility of the Prada Group, discussed the crucial need to educate the younger generation about sustainability. “We are a family business, and education has always been at the heart of our family,” Bertelli said. “Being better educated is not only relevant for sustainability, but also our daily lives.”

Renzo Rosso, Founder and Chairman of OTB Group, went on to describe how they have managed to reduce water consumption for denim by 90 per cent at Diesel whilst increasingly working with eco-friendly dyes.

From left to right, Andrea and Renzo Rosso attending the event in Venice

From left to right, Andrea and Renzo Rosso attending the event in Venice

Fiorenzo Omenetto, Dean of Research at Tuft University, Boston, got us thinking about how we can reverse the current pollution trend: “Materials got us into this mess. (Bio)materials will help us get out of it”.

The biggest thing for sustainability is to start doing something, with small or big budgets, in an attempt to harmonise the fashion industry chain and get a little closer every day to making this sustainable transition fully happen as soon as possible.

 

 

Irene Festa
Fashion Design Programme Leader, Milan
Course
Programme
undergraduate-BA (Hons) Degrees · 3-Year courses · Bachelor of Arts