Kering and the London College of Fashion welcome Kelly Slater, world champion surfer, entrepreneur and creator of the men’s ready-to-wear brand Outerknown, as guest of honor at the annual Kering Talk on sustainable fashion.

• As part of their five-year partnership, the Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) at London College of Fashion (LCF), UAL, and Kering, a global leader in apparel and accessories, will welcome Kelly Slater, world champion surfer and creator of the men’s ready-to-wear brand Outerknown, as guest of honor at Kering Talk 2015 on November 3.

• At this event, to be held at the London College of Fashion, UAL, Kering and the CSF will unveil the two winners of the Kering Award for Sustainable Fashion, rewarding the winners of the multi-disciplinary competition organized for LCF students.

• The event will also mark the launch of the second edition of the Kering Award for Sustainable Fashion, and the second year of the “Sustainable Fashion” Master’s program, developed jointly by Kering and the LCF.

Kering Talk 2015: sustainability at the forefront

Following the inaugural speech by François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering, in 2014, this year Kelly Slater, founder of responsible menswear brand Outerknown, will share his convictions and vision of sustainable development in fashion. Kering and Kelly Slater share the same commitment to sustainable development, aware of its crucial role, both for the future of the fashion industry and in the economy in general.

Kering and Kelly Slater also believe in the importance of inspiring and encouraging young talent to place sustainable practices at the very heart of their career paths. Moderated by Todd Hymel, CEO of Kering’s Action Sports brands, this Kering Talk will enable LCF students, industry professionals and invited experts to share Kelly Slater’s experience as an entrepreneur and founder of a sustainable and responsible fashion brand.

“It is vital for our future that business models place sustainable practices at the heart of their challenges. Sustainable development goes hand in hand with transparency, and I hope that through the partnership between Kering and the London College of Fashion, UALWe’ll be able to make a difference in the fashion industry. I’m honored to be able to share my background and experiences with the students here tonight, and I encourage them to join Kering and the fashion industry. Outerknown in our common adventure for sustainable development ,” said Kelly Slater.

Kering Award for Sustainable Fashion: this year’s winners

On the same day, Kering and the CSF will announce the winners of the first Kering Award for Sustainable Fashion. In response to this year’s theme, ” the positive fashion product “, over 160 projects were submitted by LCF students – from all disciplines – from which 30 were selected. The selected students were able to deepen and improve their projects thanks to a personalized mentoring program, in particular through training sessions delivered by LCF professors, as well as through individual coaching sessions with Kering brand experts. The winners of this annual competition were chosen by a jury made up of members of the management teams of Kering, the Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney brands, as well as the LCF and CSF Directors.

Belén Essioux-Trujillo, Kering’s Human Resources Director, said: “Thanks to our fruitful collaboration with the LCF and CSF, we have succeeded in building a real bridge between the academic and business worlds. This has enabled us to raise awareness and mobilize young professionals for sustainable fashion and new creative dynamics, while helping them to integrate these principles into the very heart of their professional initiatives. The innovative and highly accomplished projects we received for this first edition are extremely encouraging, and augur well for even greater success and creativity in the years to come.”

Professor Frances Corner, Director of the LCF and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Arts London, said: ” At the end of this first year of partnership with Kering, we have made significant progress in integrating sustainable development into our university curriculum at Masters level. Our students have had the opportunity to share their knowledge with world-renowned researchers and luxury experts in the fashion and sustainability sectors. These skills will be essential for the development of their professional careers, as well as for transforming the sector in depth. I’m looking forward to going even further in 2016″.

The two winning students from LCF’s Centre for Sustainable Fashion will each receive a €10,000 grant for their project, and will also benefit from an internship offer with luxury brands Alexander McQueen or Stella McCartney. In 2016, Stella McCartney and Brioni will be involved in the competition.

A unique university setting

The November 3 event will also mark the second year of existence of the Sustainable Development module integrated into the Master’s curriculum, an innovative university program developed and taught jointly by Kering and the LCF CSF. During this first pilot year, the module brought together 40 LCF students from a variety of backgrounds, from fashion design to sales and media. Thanks to an interactive teaching method and the involvement of a number of sustainability experts from Kering, LCF and industry professionals, these modules have raised students’ awareness of the challenges of sustainable development in the fashion industry, and imparted practical know-how to be implemented at every stage of the creative process. This joint university program is an opportunity for the CSF to experiment with new teaching and learning methods that place greater emphasis on contemporary societal issues.

Dilys Williams, Professor of Sustainable Fashion Design and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, commented: “We have forged a trusting partnership between the Kering and CSF teams at the LCF, which is exciting as we encourage each other to go beyond our current thought patterns, towards a future imagined according to our skills and creative possibilities. This is essential if we are to live in greater harmony with nature in the future. It is crucial for the fashion industry to participate in the joint development of this university program and these new working methods. This intense but essential project has only come to fruition thanks to the unstinting commitment of all our partners.

Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering’s Director of Sustainable Development and International Institutional Affairs, said: “We are extremely proud to offer this unique university program to the students of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion. at LCF. Encouraging young talent is key to supporting innovation and ensuring that sustainable and responsible working practices become the norm for the fashion industry, rather than the exception. The partnership between Kering and the CSF du London College of Fashion is perfectly in tune with this spirit and these objectives. The university program we have developed together is already helping to shape the future of responsible fashion.”

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–www.arts.ac.uk/fashion – www.sustainable-fashion.com
www.kering.com/fr/fr
www.outerknown.com

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