Ye Xiaowei, founder of Yehyehyeh Innovation Agency
On October 15, 2023, the "Discussion on Good: Wild/Intelligent Fashion" Sustainable Forum, co-organized by yehyehyeh and Shanghai Fashion Week, came to a successful conclusion at the Fotografiska Video Art Center. In addition to the nearly 300 guests in attendance, the online live broadcast attracted the attention of more than 2,100,000 green friends. It can be seen that although sustainable fashion is a long-term task, the establishment of a sustainable fashion system has become a consensus of everyone. In this forum, we will tackle major issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss with "wild", pay full attention to regenerative fashion, integrate local and technological "wisdom" to reshape production and design, use and reproduce.
Designers, innovators and business leaders from around the world come together to share their practices, innovative technologies and rich imaginations to build a new fashion system that benefits nature without harm. THE MOUNTAIN FUTURE FORUM ONLINE MINI PROGRAM FOCUSES ON THE CREATIVITY AND MATERIAL INNOVATION OF MORE YOUNG DESIGNERS, CONNECTING DESIGNERS, DIGITAL ARTISTS AND BRANDS THROUGH "FUTURE MAKERS" AND "CUTTING-EDGE MATERIALS", AND JOINTLY SKETCHING THE FUTURE IMAGINATION OF ALL THINGS LIVING TOGETHER.
Swipe to see group photos of the live speakers
Build a fashion system that "benefits naturally"
Sustainable fashion alone is not enough, it is just a manufacturing strategy that reduces impact and encourages us to use better materials whenever possible. The next step is to move to circular fashion, design with circular material flows, and try to upcycle, which is the closest thing to how nature works. But a further strategy is to regenerate fashion, try to replenish what we consume and give back to nature more than we take. This is the right strategy to cope with climate collapse and rapid biodiversity loss, so "Good" proposed "rewilding" as the theme of the forum.
Carole Collet, project director at Maison/0, a creative platform created by LVMH and Central Saint Martins, called on designers to explore possible directions for future manufacturing by referring to the rhythms of biological growth in the natural world. In terms of climate, how do we design fashion products, and fashion objects? So that it can achieve carbon negative, or zero carbon; In terms of creativity and research projects, the main focus is on renewable fashion and luxury. Christelle Capdupuy, Louis Vuitton's Global Director of Sustainability, said Louis Vuitton is actively addressing climate change and believes that luxury brands play an important role in regenerating biodiversity and combating climate change, from responsible sourcing of raw materials to green supply chains, from renewable energy used in production processes to repairable upcycling and longer-term design. Targets include 100% of raw materials being environmentally certified or recycled by 2025; signed a 5-year plan in partnership with environmental charity People For Wildlife; Develop an integrated approach to biodiversity restoration on a global scale, finding solutions that are based on and benefit nature.
Biodiversity and rewilding supply chains
As Christelle explains, more and more responsible companies are trying to uphold the concept of sustainability at the very beginning of the industrial chain, restore the natural ecological environment, "rewild" the supply chain, and maximize the positive impact of the process of products from soil to shelf life. Daitana, General Manager of Erdos Cashmere Apparel Group, Zhang Cai, Vice President of Sustainability and External Affairs of RGE Group, and Chris Hatherill, Parley for the Oceans East Asia Representative, discussed the conservation achievements from grasslands, forests to oceans and how to "rewild" supply chains.
Ordos Source Ranch short film "The Source of Cashmere"
Ordos' debut short film "The Source of Cashmere" traces its roots to the grassland where Albass cashmere goats were bred. Truly record how Ordosyuan Ranch pays attention to animal welfare, biodiversity protection, co-construction with local communities and cultural shaping, etc.
Source Pasture has four scientific laboratories, which are creating grassland protection, balanced grassland and livestock breeding and management methods through environment, climate and grass industry research, increasing biodiversity, protecting soil and vegetation, and providing theoretical basis for formulating reasonable grazing policies for carbon emission reduction in the future. And encourage the promotion of more scientific breeding methods to local herders. "Responsible Cashmere is more focused on the entire value chain from front to back, the impact on the environment, and the changes we can make. Why should we pay attention to biodiversity, I think it is very important that cashmere is actually a good raw material, your product will be good, it is not a material that can be greatly improved through technology and hard work. In addition to paying attention to sheep, we must pay attention to the various environments in which sheep grow. Going back to the end, and beginning, the Earth is one big ecosystem where every part is connected," Deitana added.
RGE Group is committed to restoring degraded peatlands on the Kampar Peninsula in Sumatra
Forests are home to more than half of the species on land and are humanity's "allies" in the fight against climate change. They have rich species diversity and high carbon sink value of natural forests, primary forests and other ecosystems. RGE has been making significant investments in the pulp and paper industry, including Sateri, one of the world's leaders in the cellulose fibre industry, and forests are inextricably linked to the renewable products it covers. "We know the two sides of development and environmental protection, so we need to balance the 'three Ps' – profit, people and the planet. RGE follows the 'one for one' approach to protecting forests, that is, for every hectare of production parks, one hectare of Brazil's natural forest is protected or restored," Zhang Cai said, adding that in China, Sateri launched the Poyang Lake Freshwater Health and Wetland Conservation Project four years ago in the Poyang Lake basin to restore the protected area and surrounding wetland ecosystems, and improve the biodiversity conservation level and governance capacity of Poyang Lake.
Parley for the Oceans recycles plastic waste from shorelines
Hatherill tells us about the three main issues that marine conservation group Parley for the Oceans is focusing on this year: plastic pollution, climate change, and marine biodiversity. "Our main focus is to promote the development of remote islands that may not have the infrastructure, the budget, or the political will to do this, and we work with the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and the public to collect garbage, and if no one does it, they go out to sea." Once plastic enters the environment, it is difficult to recycle, further damaging the already fragile marine ecology. To date, Parley for the Oceans is still calling on more creative industries and international brands to join the work of marine conservation and raise public awareness.
Wild practices of innovative materials
On the material side, we may not really be able to manufacture alternative petroleum-based products on a large scale in a short period of time, and how to use innovation and technology to help sustainable fashion. Bio-based materials and biocyclic textiles and dyeing are both cutting-edge and important. Mild Karoon-ngampun, CEO of UPCYDE, a startup from Thailand, uses waste from the agricultural system to give them a second life and create new bio-based materials. In the process of development, new materials can bring value to the chain and farmers. "Telaship.com helps local artisans and local businesses in India sell textiles directly to global buyers through technology-enabled solutions," said Amrita Haralla, CEO and founder of Telaship. The community has attracted more than 10,000 artisans to connect with global buyers for fair, fast and sustainable trade. Zhu Tianze, CEO of Zeno Technology, uses various microorganisms discovered in nature to carry out precision fermentation and produce natural colorants. For different fabrics to color, color blocking, improve its dyeing rate and color fastness, for downstream customers to find sustainable coloring solutions.
The future of sustainable fashion
OTB, a global luxury fashion group, is piloting new business models to promote product recycling, while promoting collaboration along the supply chain and developing targeted supplier empowerment programs. Andrea Rosso, Diesel's brand sustainability ambassador, discussed with Simon Collins, Chief Creative Officer of Shanghai Innovation and Creative Design Institute, what an ideal Diesel looks like and how he will achieve that vision.
"At Diesel, we practice 'For Responsible Living'. Up to 80% of our products are made from cotton, so we have a responsibility to understand it and reduce the use of natural and water resources, as well as the use of chemicals. Sometimes, CEOs and management have a limited margin of decision to make sure that every decision doesn't affect the company's good fundamentals. So, you need to convince your supply chain partners to produce responsible products together, or to educate and set standards together, which takes time. So the sooner you act on your supply chain, the sooner you can claim to be a responsible, sustainable brand. At the same time, we need to improve in how to produce, we need to improve in choosing the right partners, and we need to better educate consumers with the power of emotions. ”
Digital intelligence reinvents creativity
Fashion Innovation Agency drives change through emerging technologies
Emerging digital tools (e.g., AIGC, 3D, ARVR) are reshaping the way we perceive and create fashion. Costas Kazantzis, Chief Creative Engineer at Fashion Innovation Agency, said they are constantly working to drive change in the fashion creative industry through emerging technologies, especially the use of game engines, "Through the application of digital design, designers no longer need realistic proofing, and carbon emissions can be reduced by 3%. We also provide an immersive experience platform for everyone, and anyone can see its visual effects through interdisciplinary imaging, such as videos, images, etc. It's a great way to convey information, create content, and give meaning. "Unicorn company Tezan uses AI to help Fortune 500 companies better build content and experiences across multiple channels; At the same time, it also provides digital tools to 100,000 cutting-edge content producers around the world to unleash their creativity and productivity. Wang Zhe, co-founder of Tezan, said that according to the McKinsey report, the entire AIGC will have a market of 150 billion to 300 billion for the fashion industry in the next 3 to 5 years. "Agile is also a sustainable development because it allows us to waste less. Compared to the industries we serve, the apparel industry has not yet responded quickly. For example, we ourselves have witnessed the development cycle of FMCG products from the past 18 months or so to less than 30 days, which is the support of the entire digital tool, including China's huge industry-wide supply chain. SCRY co-founder Olivia Cheng also said that the current design team has the freedom to diverge ideas on digital modeling software. We start training digital tools very early, and we will also train it to learn the design language of our designers, assist designers to complete some of the initial stages of design, brainstorm new content, and effectively combine advanced technology into the further design and development of products, basically from design to manufacturing process, can be shortened to a week, or even shorter. ”
Green consumption has become mainstream
The "intelligence" of fashion technology also leads us to better understand and reach consumers. Whether it is government agencies, shopping platforms or leading consumer brands, they are all very concerned about how to open up green consumption from the policy side, brand end to consumption end. As the largest consumer gathering platform in China, Taobao Tmall has no doubt its awareness and sensitivity to green consumption. Liu Yang, General Manager of Merchant Growth of Taobao Tmall Brand Business Development Center, first shared with us the group characteristics of green people, "We have 16% of 'green consumers' on the entire platform, they have green and low-carbon concept cognition and green sustainable consumption behavior, covering various scenarios such as clothing, food, housing and transportation, and have a strong understanding, identification and learning ability for new things. "The customized digital intelligence analysis of the DIGITAL ecological lab can break the boundaries of the data magnitude and category of the brand itself, and help the brand grasp the market opportunities in the green track through the way of ecological partners." We need to co-create a lot of things, and many times what the brand is going to do and what the consumer needs needs needs to be defined and called. As a bridge connecting the supply side and the demand side, using digital technology to drive the green upgrading of the consumer industry and promote the unity of commercial value and social value is our starting point for being a green crowd. Xie Yanghui, vice president of Baiqiu New Internet Commerce, further said that how to gather all the forces to let the remaining 84% of the population continue to feel green consumption from concept to action is a big challenge. As a service provider, our role is to efficiently connect consumers and feed back consumer information to more than 100 brands we serve. Can we form a green special session of the fashion industry itself and continue to tell the story of the upstream and downstream of the industry? Service providers bear how to efficiently match this matter and help the green transformation of the industry. "Xia Yanhong, head of sustainability and communications at Decathlon, gave a sharper and more urgent response from the perspective of his own brand." Decathlon Group requires that 100% of all products must be eco-designed by 2026, and all new products launched today must be based on eco-design. Today, Decathlon has more than 2,000 SKUs that are environmentally friendly and are still being implemented as projects. But by 2026, ecological products will be everyone's daily work. On the other hand, we will continue to provide consumers with a green sports experience, and create the value transformation brought by this experience with customers. ”
Everything is a cycle
Blue Sky Lab makes fashion products from leftovers from the production of new energy vehicles
Whether it's the growth of green consumers or the shift to reproducible, remanufacturing, and recycling systems, more and more brands have rooted the concept of "circularity" in every link. Weixiang Wang, Director of NIO Life Fashion Studio, introduced the BLUE SKY LAB, a fashion brand based on circular economy principles of circular design. "Over the past few years, we have upcycled and reprocessed leftovers from airbag fabrics, seat belts and Haptex leather from our new energy vehicle production into better mass-produced and purchaseable fashion/home goods. The automotive-grade material lasts longer than conventional clothing fabrics. We also collaborate with design forces at home and abroad and within the owner community, hoping to become a platform for bringing together the power of sustainable design. Hasan Boylu, Vice President of Products at Vans Asia Pacific, explained Vans' circular philosophy from three parts: cultural cycle, material cycle and economic cycle. Consumers are more conscious about health and the environment. However, when they enter a retail store to buy a product, the environment is still not the first consideration. But that doesn't mean sustainability isn't important, we need to start with design to rebrand, find circular materials, and rethink the product life cycle to make it easier to start. At Vans, we embrace the 'culture of play' and reduce our carbon footprint through the use of reproducible, renewable and recyclable systems. Every year, more than 1,000 young designers from more than 50 countries apply for the Redress Design Competition. Christina Dean, founder of Redress, said: "I think of the circular economy as a team sport, with different players involved and each individual having to be strong in order to play. And referees, we need more comprehensive and strong sustainability policies. ”
Contribution: Division of Market System Construction