Return of Liverpool Fashion Summit to ULMS
Liverpool Fashion Summit, is a student-led event that gathers academics, practitioners and consumers to talk about issues in the fashion industry, was held on Friday 22 April at the Management School.
During the event, speakers discussed the role of education and policy in promoting a more responsible industry and consumption with Professor Jo Meehan (ULMS), Dr Mark Sumner (University of Leeds), Sophie Benson (freelance journalists), Dr Laura Menzies (ULMS), Jacquie Ayre (Liverpool World Centre) and Rachel Hardy (Faiths4Change).
On Thursday 21 April, the event launched with with a series of pre-recorded interviews with Dr Mark Sumner (University of Leeds and member of Environmental Audit Committee of Fixing Fast Fashion report), Prof. Anne Marie Grundmeier (University of Freiburg and member of Fashion DIET), Prof. Natasha Radcliffe-Thomas (Glasgow Caledonian University of London and Vice-chair of PRME UK&I), Rosalind Studd (co-founder of Repair What You Wear), Jacquie Ayre (Liverpool World Centre), Rachel Hardy (Faiths4Change) and Bryony and Caitlin (Stitched Up Cooperative).
On Friday 22April (Earth Day), a face-to-face event was hosted at the University of Liverpool Management School. To promote sustainable consumption across the student community, the morning started with a mending café, run by Emma Summerscales. Next, the documentary ‘Dirty Laundry’ by Teresa Hardy was screened which was originally commissioned by Open Eye Gallery for Look: Climate Lab 2022. John O. Hicks, fashion student at Liverpool John Moores University and winner of the Sustainable Fund 2021, displayed his work ‘Fashion on the Ration’ and shared styling tips with attendees. After an informal lunch, two round tables were hosted with speakers as Jacquie Ayre (LWC and lead of Fashion Fix project), Rachel Hardy (Faith4Change), Dr Laura Menzies (ULMS), Prof Jo Meehan (ULMS), Dr Mark Sumner (University of Leeds) and Sophie Benson (freelance journalist). The round tables were also streamed on YouTube here. The event closed by announcing Caitlin Jones, Fashion Student at LJMU, as the winner of the Sustainable Design Challenge.
Liverpool Fashion Summit would like to thank all the support from PhD students Katie Thompson, Ashleigh Blasbery and Malika Ben Kahla, as well as our funder North West Social Sciences DTP and partners LJMU and Voi e-scooters. Their support has been vital to the success of the event and it exemplifies the importance of partnerships to promote change towards a more sustainable future.