The Association of Suppliers to the British Clothing Industry is to conclude its Beyond 2020 event series with a digital conference aimed at exploring a “smarter future” for fashion.
The event, which will be held on 12 May, will dissect what ‘smartification’ really means and explain how fashion businesses can apply smart principles to ensure they are fit for purpose for the coming decade and beyond.
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By GlobalDataThe conference, which is organised with Lectra and sponsored by Advanced Supply Chain Group, follows earlier webinars on Smart Skills and Smart Consumers. It will bring together the learnings from the two for an in-depth look at the broader topic, with the aim of providing actionable insights to delegates from across the sector.
The speaker line-up spans the whole supply chain from product conception to consumer purchase. Experts will outline the imperatives of a new era for the global fashion industry as it grapples with the twin pressures of Covid-19 and the climate crisis. Speakers will draw on their own knowledge and experience as well as wider industry learning to examine the new technologies, strategies, and skills that will help the industry forge a more sustainable future.
Confirmed speakers include Marcella Wartenbergh, CEO of the Pepe Jeans Group, who will be interviewed by Ton Wiedenhoff, Alvanon executive director for Europe. Marcella and Ton will discuss how smartification differs from pre-pandemic ‘work smarter’ concepts, and what organisations should be doing right now to smartify their businesses. She will also touch on what she believes the implications might be if the industry as a whole fails to embrace smartification.
Keynote speaker Ed Gribbin, CEO of strategic advisory firm Gribbin Strategic LLC, will share his thoughts on supply chain innovation in an age of disruption. Ed will look at how the fashion industry should respond to the climate crisis and the chaos of Covid, and how businesses can leverage the latest technologies to future-proof their operations.
In her presentation ‘Smart Sourcing and the new manufacturing recovery,’ Jenny Holloway from Fashion-Enter will discuss fast, flexible, and sustainable local sourcing, including the importance of partnerships, the role of UK manufacturing in post-Brexit Britain and the technologies that can deliver this.
The digital journey and how the right technology can support the smartification of the fashion industry will be covered by Steffan Meiler from Lectra, while digital psychology expert Andrew Nicholson from Kulea will provide his insight into how the pandemic has impacted consumer behaviour now and in the long-term. Caroline Ellis from Advanced Supply Chain Group will then look at intelligent supply chains post-Covid and how the sector can respond and adapt to the new retail demands.
Finally, UKFT CEO Adam Mansell will close the conference with his presentation ‘The future of fashion – the big picture,’ examining how the events of 2020 have changed the sector’s priorities, as well as the long-term impact of Brexit on UK fashion.
More details can be found here.
