Textile Exchange announced an initial list of speakers participating in this event to discuss current sustainability issues, including how to engage with the United Nations #SDGs and the #GlobalGoals. On the brand and retail side, the conference will feature Ariane Grazian, Sr. Manager of General Merchandise Sustainability, Walmart; Helena Helmersson, Global Head of Production for H&M; Jeffrey Hogue, Chief Sustainability Officer, C&A; and Caroline Reid, Project Manager Sustainable Development, IKEA.

Justin Mundy, Director of HRH The Prince of Wales International Sustainability Unit, will also join the event for a special presentation on 11 October 2017 on Scaling the Use of Sustainable Cotton. He will be joined by representatives from the Sustainable Cotton Initiatives. Leading suppliers such as Shreyaskar Chaudhary, Managing Director, Pratibha Syntex Limited and Jose Fernandez, Global Merino will also be presenting.

Innovative ideas

Visitors can learn about innovative ideas delivering on the #SDGs from:

• Dr Maurizio Crippa, CEO, gr3n
• Karin Ekberg, CEO, Leadership & Sustainability
• Tim Greiner, Co-founder and Managing Director, Pure Strategies, Inc.
• Dr Jung Ha-Brookshire, Assoc. Dean for Research & Graduate Studies of College of Human
• Environmental Sciences & Assoc. Prof of Textile & Apparel Mgt, Univ. of Missouri
• Karla Magruder, Founder & Textile Consultant, Fabrikology International
• MeiLin Wan, Vice President Textiles, Applied DNA Sciences
• Sophie Mather, Material Futurist, BIOV8TION
• Maggie Kervick, Director of Communications & Outreach, GCNYC Fair Fashion Center

Conference

The conference agenda structure offers two full conference days, and additional pre- and post-conference days dedicated to in-depth workshops. The series of workshops take the audience through multiple sessions of insight and information.

A special Textile Exchange member-only breakfast will feature Andrew Winston, a globally recognised expert on green business and author of Green Recovery and Green to Gold.

After attending Textile Exchange’s 2016 conference, Nicole Bassett, Co-Founder, The Renewal Workshop said: “I always walk away from the Textile Exchange global conference with a deep understanding of the newest ideas, innovations and companies in sustainability in the textile industry. The conference gives the opportunity for great networking and developing business relationships.”

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