Defining Sustainability from Different Perspectives with Simone Cipriani

FIRESIDE CHAT WITH SIMONE CIPRIANI  FOUNDER OF ETHICAL FASHION INITIATIVE

Through this pandemic, we are able to examine the essentials -  the foundations of life including our common life, our mutual interaction, and the future. We see sustainable fashion in that trend.

The idea of sustainability includes considering not only today's but tomorrow's world, and it is our responsibility to preserve the social and environmental capital of our global community. So what can we do to make the fashion industry more sustainable?

In this special episode of IFD Soundbites, we are joined by Simone Cipriani, Head of the Ethical Fashion Initiative as we explore the world of sustainable fashion and all the amazing innovation happening in this field. Throughout his career, Simone has always believed that responsibly produced fashion can impact the world for the better.

Simone Cipriani & Ethical Fashion Initiative 

Simone Cipriani is the Head of the Ethical Fashion Initiative at the International Trade Centre (ITC) and appointed by the United Nations and WTO to eliminate waste and promote sustainability. 

The Ethical Fashion Initiative is a UN fashion project that connects skilled artisans living in urban and rural poverty with the global fashion industry. The work empowers informal manufacturers and craftspeople to enter the international value chain - providing an income for some of the poorest people in the world.

During this episode, Simone discusses sustainability from several angles relating to the fashion industry, how to build a relationship with clothing by understanding your brand's story, and why we should keep environmental issues and human rights at the forefront of our minds as social acts that are interconnected and can bring people together.

In addition to discussing the biggest challenges he faced when marketing designing products, he offers some advice for fashion students who wish to take steps towards sustainability in their work.

Key Highlights:

Tune in to this podcast and learn: 

• Sustainability defined from different perspectives (01:56) 
• How can we educate people more about human rights sustainability (05:23)
• Why raw materials impact our environment first (07:08)
• The first block to sustainability for the environment and society in the supply chain of fashion, followed by the consumption of the goods we buy and the after-sales (08:55)
• Why innovation is the future of tomorrow, and why repurposing garments will be the gain (10:37)
• Fashion repurposing: How does it happen? (11:15)
• Why does this sustainability need to be a global effort? (23:49)
•  Inequality: This is one of the most pressing problems facing the world today (26:41) 
• The Sustainable Development Goals are the goals of humanity, for a decent future for all (28:06)
• War, conflict, poverty, or lack of opportunities to reunite fractured societies require continuity  (31:03)
• How can we motivate fashion students to pursue sustainability in their work? (37:31)
• Why knowing the material properties, touching it, and understanding the logic of accounting are extremely important when starting out in the fashion industry (38:34)