Ahead of March the 8th, it’s hard not to look around and be proud of just how far women have come. Of course, there is still a long way to go, but on International Women’s Day, women from around the world will come together to celebrate the social, cultural, economic and political accomplishments and advancements that women have made.
In the fashion industry, there is a brilliant selection of women driving important change in an industry that has previously objectified and exploited the very gender that it appeals to most.
For the past couple of years, environmental sustainability and social justice has been at the forefront of the changes, and the women leading the charge are rectifying the lack of regulation in the industry which has resulted in irreversible damage to our planet and millions of people.
So, who are the women steering fashion in a new direction?
EVA KRUSE | President and CEO of Global Fashion Agenda and Copenhagen Fashion Summit
Eva Kruse is the pioneer and force behind sustainability in fashion.
Eva launched the Copenhagen Fashion Summit in 2009, an annual business event on sustainability in fashion, and then in 2016 created the overarching Global Fashion Agenda, which is ‘aimed at guiding and supporting industry leaders in changing the way they produce, market and consume fashion, for a world beyond next season’.
ELLEN MACARTHUR | Founder of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Ellen MacArthur has spent much of her life living at sea. In 2005, Ellen became the fastest solo yachtswoman to circumnavigate the globe, a record that gained her recognition around the world. Her love and experience of the ocean though gave her insight into the fast deterioration of the health of our planet via the destructive and wasteful ways of mankind.
In 2010, Ellen founded the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, ‘which works with businesses, government and academia to build a framework for an economy that is restorative and regenerative by design’.
In 2017, Ellen turned her attention to the fashion industry and at the annual Copenhagen Fashion Summit, announced the ‘Make Fashion Circular Initiative’.
‘Its aim is to stimulate the level of collaboration and innovation necessary to create a new textiles economy, aligned with the principles of the circular economy’.
LIVIA FIRTH | Co-Founder and Creative Director of Eco-Age
Livia is the influential communicator on all thing’s sustainability.
Co-founding Eco-Age with her brothers, the brand consultancy agency works with businesses on developing and delivering sustainability strategies that are in line with the commercial realities of today’s world. Eco-Age streamlines sustainability, ‘offering achievable, sustainable solutions that help businesses demonstrate sector leadership and enhance the bottom line’.
Livia has also become a renowned spokesperson and leader for environmental sustainability and social justice in the fashion industry, co-producing the fashion documentary, The True Cost, and founding the Green Carpet Fashion Awards and Green Carpet Challenge.
Credits: Copenhagen Fashion Summit, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Eco-Age.