Debuted last October 2020 on the occasion of Paris Fashion Week as the world's first virtual reality fashion summit, the next edition of Circular Fashion Summit (CFS) will be held from December 9 to 12 at the digital twin of the historical Grand Palais Éphémère in Paris.
The event, founded by Lablaco (a circular fashion ecosystem helmed by Lorenzo Albrighi and Eliana Kuo, connecting key stakeholders through digitization powered by blockchain across realities), will run on Lablaco’s circular fashion metaverse platform-SPIN.
Created as a means of initiating measurable action to help push forward the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set for 2030, CFS gathers global industry leaders who are shaping the future of sustainable fashion. Among the speakers of CFS 2021 there are members of Vogue Italia, The Fabricant, Giorgio Armani Privé, Dressx, Chloé, FHCM, and Kering.
This year, CFS focuses on the theme of “Redesigning Society,” highlighting the post-pandemic social evolution that reflects in the fashion industry, which includes accelerating digitization and circularity at large, collectively.
The four-day summit includes four panel talks in design, technology, sustainability, three workshops in impact design, innovation, and web 3 investment, and CFS hubs where top 10 impact designers and 10 innovators will be showcased. The Impact Design Hub is dedicated to a young generation of designers, where the ten selected international designers will have a chance to present their creations during the CFS at the Grand Palais Éphémère, in virtual reality. This year, Impact Design Hub is supported by CLO, the leading 3D fashion design software program creating virtual, true-to-life garment visualization with cutting-edge simulation technologies for fashion. The ten brands are Auroboros, Miss Sohee, Nous Étudions, untitlab, Joao Maraschin, TOMBOGO, Against Medical Advice, Tokyo James, GRACE LING, and Aleksandre Akhalkatsishvili. The finalists selected by Alexia Planas Lee, head of Impact Design and Innovation at CFS are based globally from London, to South Korea, to Argentina, to Nigeria. During the dates of the summit from 10-12 December, attendees will have 2 times slots every day to visit and meet impact designers “in person” from 9:00-11:00 CET and 16:00-18:00 CET at “CFS hubs” area.
“The focus of this year’s Impact Design Hub is 'Redesigning Society’. In line with our efforts to redesign the fashion industry system, shifting towards digitization and circular business models collectively, we put emphasis on brands that stood out for their unconventional and forward-thinking methods, evolving the role of fashion as a force for good,” said Alexia Planas Lee.
CFS also collaborates with IoDF (Institute of Digital Fashion) to create avatars that represent the spectrum of skin colors, genders, and disabilities currently missing from the VR space and digital platforms. The first avatar and digital fashion drop will be launched on the SPIN by Lablaco platform for a true representative of human-being in the virtual world. During the four days of event, IoDF and CFS will also be launching an inclusive, digital only VR couture capsule collection, the “IoDF x CFS 0.1 collection”, which will be showcased exclusively at CFS 2021 at the red carpet area, located in the VIP media zone, in the lablaco’s SPIN metaverse. The digital couture capsule collection features fashion staples that traverse between loungewear and Met Gala.
“A great honor to work with an incredibly talented team from all over the world to make this happen, from USA, Europe, Asia, Australia, we got together with the mission of creating a unique metaverse that is designed for people who love beauty, nature, and humanity. For this, we have been blessed to have such a diverse team with experience in the world’s most influential companies, from Expressions Scientists, Avatar Sculptors, Anatomy Experts, Digital Fashion Creators, Designers, Stylists, Hackers, and Engineers. I hope inclusivity and diversity come across as a simple reflection of who we are, and how we work, as it feels like you almost lose them as soon as you start talking too much of them,” commented Lorenzo Albrighi, co-ceo, and founder of Lablaco / Circular Fashion Summit.
