Francois Souchet

Lead of Make Fashion Circular at Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Francois joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in 2016 to work with its Global Partners including Google and H&M, to help drive circular economy innovation. He now finds himself based in the UK leading a team dedicated to redesigning the fashion industry, based on circular economy principles. This new approach ensures that clothes are made from safe and renewable materials, new business models increase their use and old clothes are turned into new.

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Patrick Duffy

Founder at Global Fashion Exchange (GFX) + The SwapChain

Patrick Duffy is the founder of GFX & Intandem Creatives, focuses on sustainability, design and the production of big ideas. Patrick powers creative teams in New York, Los Angeles, and London and has produced events, created marketing campaigns and activations for some of the world’s most recognized brands. Patrick’s passion for social impact led to the creation of Global Fashion Exchange in 2013, an international initiative challenging the fashion industry to create a more sustainable world. In addition to his work with GFX, Patrick also manages global partnerships for Common Objective (CO) is an intelligent business network for the fashion industry. 

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Lorenzo Albrighi

CEO & Co-Founder at lablaco

Lorenzo Albrighi was born in London and grew up between Florence and Milan, cultivating a deep passion for design and Italian bespoke tailoring, which brought him to start sewing as an apprentice tailor at twenty years old in the historical sartoria A. Caraceni in Milan. After five years of cutting and sewing suits for some of the most influential international figures in fashion and finance, he set up his own tailoring house, before dedicating himself to building lablaco with former Giorgio Armani buying and merchandising manager, ShihYun Kuo, creating a universal platform connecting all stakeholders to accelerate digitization and transition towards a multi-dimensional circular economy for fashion. With a mission to digitize fashion, redefining the relationships between suppliers, designers, brands, retailers, content creators, and individual customers through transparency and circularity.

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John Bartlett

Director of Marist College Fashion Program

Award-winning fashion designer John Bartlett has been selected to lead Marist College’s top ranked, internationally recognized Fashion Program.

Once called “a fashion bad boy” by the Wall Street Journal, Bartlett’s signature style embraces a rugged American authenticity that earned him two Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) awards: the Swarovski Best Newcomer Award and Best Menswear Designer of the Year in 1997.  In 2010, the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) named Bartlett “Designer of the Year.” That same year his update of the Hush Puppies “Earl” loafer earned a spot in the Style Hall of Fame. A graduate of Harvard University and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), Bartlett worked with designers Willi Smith and Ronaldus Shamask before launching his own eponymous collection in 1991. Bartlett also served as creative director for two iconic American brands, Ghurka leather goods and Claiborne, which was renamed “Claiborne by John Bartlett,” as well as the Italian powerhouse label Byblos.

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Catarina Midby

Secretary General at Swedish Fashion Association

Former Sustainability Manager at H&M

Fashion and Sustainability Consultant at Catarina Midby AB

Founder at MIDBY STUDIO 

Catarina Midby has worked in the fashion industry for more than 30 years. She started her career as a fashion editor at Swedish Elle magazine and then moved on to PR, trends and sustainability at H&M Group. In 2018, she left the big high street brand to pursue a career as a consultant and also to start up her own sustainable T-shirt brand MIDBY STUDIO, and last year she was recruited as Secretary General at Swedish Fashion Association to bring together, support and promote Swedish fashion in Sweden and internationally.

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Richard Poulson

CEO at Showroom-X | Chairman of the Fashion Council of Western Australia

With an unfailing drive and determination to turn big ideas into reality, Richard is a formidable entrepreneur with a flair for the creative.

Since co-founding Morrison - one of Australia’s most successful women’s boutique fashion brands - in 2002, he has gone on to build many businesses across importing, sales, medical financial technology, retail, advertising, marketing and disruptive technologies.

With the rise in popularity of convenient online shopping, his latest venture Showroom-X is a polished e-commerce platform showcasing Australia’s finest fashion brands to an international market.

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Paul Dilinger

Vice President of Global Product Innovation at Levi's

Working for the largest jeans company in the world, Paul Dillinger, vice president of global product innovation at Levi Strauss & Co., understands the mounting pressure for the denim sector to become more sustainable.In his role at Levi’s, he has the unique opportunity to help drive this change through a combination of science and design, having worked on several groundbreaking product and design initiatives. Dillinger led the team that developed the company’s Wellthread Collection in 2015, which focuses on implementing new supply chain processes that use less water, empower workers and promote circularity in product design. And in 2019, he was instrumental in Levi’s adoption of cottonized hemp—a breakthrough that serves as a sustainable alternative to cotton.

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Chris Gelinas

Designer

Finalist in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund

New York-based womenswear designer Chris Gelinas has been recognized for his innovative approach and attention to detail, selected as a U.S. finalist for the 2015 International Woolmark Prize and shortlisted as a finalist in the first LVMH Young Fashion Designers prize in 2014. His debut CG collection won the "MADE for Peroni Young Designer Award" in 2013. Gelinas graduated with a design degree from Parsons School of Design. He refined his technical skills at some of the industry's most acclaimed fashion houses, including Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, Balenciaga, and as first assistant to Olivier Theyskens at Theyskens' Theory. Gelinas is dedicated to a movement that supports local industry, creating and producing much of his collection in New York with the highest level of skill and craftsmanship.

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Yingchun Zang

Professor | PhD of Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University

Director of Department of Fashion and Textile Design, Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University

Vice Chairman of Beijing Fashion Designer Association

Board of the Academic Committee of China Fashion Designers Association

New York-based womenswear designer Chris Gelinas has been recognized for his innovative approach and attention to detail, selected as a U.S. finalist for the 2015 International Woolmark Prize and shortlisted as a finalist in the first LVMH Young Fashion Designers prize in 2014. His debut CG collection won the "MADE for Peroni Young Designer Award" in 2013. Gelinas graduated with a design degree from Parsons School of Design. He refined his technical skills at some of the industry's most acclaimed fashion houses, including Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, Balenciaga, and as first assistant to Olivier Theyskens at Theyskens' Theory. Gelinas is dedicated to a movement that supports local industry, creating and producing much of his collection in New York with the highest level of skill and craftsmanship.

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Sara Kozlowski 

Director of Education + Sustainable Stragegist at CFDA

From scholarship to sustainability, Kozlowski oversees a CFDA program portfolio designed to provide impactful mentorship, education, sustainable business, development & awards for creatively diverse talent- ranging from student - early emerging, to professional. Kozlowski’s professional journey began by working for Anna Sui, who recruited her as an Assistant Designer following graduation from Parsons. She later launched the brand CAKE., which during its 6 years, presented during NYFW with representation from Steven Alan – & sold globally at over 40 stores including Barneys New York, Intermix, Browns, and United Arrows before closing in 2001. Within sustainability, her voice has been invited as a speaker & panelist within education and industry including UN SDG Media Zone, Berlin + Helsinki Fashion Weeks, CBS News, Business Insider, and NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business.

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Carrie Ellen Phillips

Partner and Co-Founder at BPCM

Sustainability Educator and Speaker

Carrie is a founding partner of BPCM Worldwide, a communications consultancy with a focus on Luxury, Fashion, Beauty, Hospitality, Wine & Spirits, Sustainability, Technology. She founded BPCM's Sustainability practice to help companies understand their impact as well as how and when to talk to their customers about it. She’s passionate about new innovative technologies and how to bring them to market. She’s also a speaker and educator on Sustainability and the Circular Economy.

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Amanda Parkes

Chief Innovation Officer at PANGAIA

Fashion Scientist

Amanda Parkes is a fashion scientist with over 15 years of experience in fashion innovation, sustainability, wearable technology, interaction design and smart materials spanning research, development, and product commercialization for startups and major tech and fashion companies. She is currently the Chief Innovation Officer of Pangaia, a material science brand and collective building a sustainable future in lifestyle products as well as the Chief Innovation Officer of Future Tech Lab, an investment company focused on high tech sustainable solutions in material science and bio-fabrication. Past career highlights include roles as the Chief of Technology and Research at Manufacture NY, founder of fashion tech studio Skinteractive, and co-founder of Bodega Algae, a microalgae biofuels company. She received a PhD & M.S. in Tangible Media from the MIT Media Lab and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.A. in Art History from Stanford University. 

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