German Academy of Fashion & Design (AMD) to host Global Fashion Conference 2022 on Sustainability

The Global Fashion Conference, an initiative that aims to create an innovation system for the fashion industry, is to be hosted from Germany for the first time this year.

The ninth edition of the international conference will take place online from November 17 to November 18 and will be hosted by the Akademie Mode & Design Design (AMD), the design faculty of the German Fresenius University of Applied Sciences.

The programme of the two-day conference entitled Fashion Sustainability: From Dream To Reality, will consist of four sections, namely, Ethics and Aesthetics of Sustainability, The New Age of IT and Sustainability, Political and Legal frameworks of Sustainability in Fashion, Investment and Financing for Sustainability, and Financing for Sustainability.

At GFC 2022, international scientists and specialists from the world of fashion as well as experts from business and politics will present the latest findings and strategies on the subject of sustainability.

Around 100 speakers and contributors will be present, including Theo Grassl, Chairman of the German Fashion Council, Dr. Christiane Rohleder, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, and Heike Derwanz, professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, specialising in the topic Minimalism as a future sustainability strategy.

In addition, Kate Fletcher and Mathilda Tham of the Union of Concerned Researchers in Fashion, will attend the conference, as well as Henrietta Onwuegbuzie, Director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program at Lagos Business School, and Christiane Luible, Co-Director of the Fashion & Technology Department at Linz Art University.

Two prizes will be awarded on the second day of the conference for the best research papers or projects in the Sustainable Fashion and Innovation in Luxury and Fashion categories.

The independent jury includes Henrietta Onwuegbuzie, and Kerstin Weng, Head of Editorial Content at German Vogue.

GFC 2022 to feature virtual marketplace

Furthermore, a virtual marketplace will be launched on the first day of the conference, November 17. It will provide a meeting place for figures in the field of sustainability, students, start-ups, brands, and fashion researchers.

The marketplace will feature a ‘greenhouse’ for start-ups, a Craftsman's Inn, a Town Hall, a Gallery, a Kiosk, an Artists kiosk, and an Artists & Activists Club.

The German Fashion Council and FashionRevolution Germany are involved in the project, as well as Femnet, the Ethical Fashion Initiative (UNO), Re-FREAM (a project of the EU Commission), A New Kind of Blue, The Wearness, CLOTHES friends, the Greenstyle Fair, and the BuyGoodStuff Guides.

Those interested can register until October 30 via the website of the conference. Time slots can also be reserved in advance.