UN panel on sustainable fashion

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Bath Spa Professor chairs United Nations sustainable fashion panel

As a respected voice in the world of sustainable fashion, on Tuesday 2 July our Professor of Fashion and Sustainability and founder of Fashion Roundtable, Tamara Cincik, stood shoulder to shoulder with fashion experts from around the UK as part of United Nation’s Fashion Sector Exchange.  

The Fashion Sector Exchange took place at London’s Soho Works, bringing together key stakeholders across the fashion industry. Over 80 attendees joined business, government, academia, and civil society representatives to gain a better understanding of current sustainability issues, hear best practices from businesses that are ahead of the curve, and inspire action through networking with peers. As part of this significant event, Professor Cincik stepped up to the mic to chair one of these evermore important panels.  

Photos by Fashion Roundtable

With opening remarks from the hosts United Nations Global Compact Network UK and a rousing keynote speech from The Great British Sewing Bee’s esteemed judge and founder of Community Clothing, Patrick Grant, the event got underway.  

First up, a panel on 'Slow vs fast fashion', discussing how to balance the dilemma of growth vs profit and slow vs fast fashion for businesses in the sector, whilst still managing competing expectations.  

Next, a chat centered around 'Disruption in supply chains', bringing to the room a discussion on how Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can underpin the relationship between brand and supply chain. And how, at a time of growing global disruptions, leading brands can protect people and the planet. 

Then came the turn of our Professor of Fashion and Sustainability, Professor Cincik, who chaired 'Next in sustainable fashion: getting ahead of the curve' with panellists including Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey and designer Rahemur Rahman. The panel focused on how currently 48 initiatives are working to further sustainability in the fashion sector, leading to business fatigue for those trying to keep up with what’s next. 

The panel assessed the emerging issues facing the fashion industry, identified the areas where businesses can have the biggest impact, and shared tangible solutions to addressing these challenges. Baroness Young spoke of her tireless work on social justice in the House of Lords, while Rahemur commented on what government, education and business need to do to support the next generation authentically. 

Reflecting on the event, Professor Cincik said:

“This event has been a year of planning and seven years in the making. I am honoured that my team partnered with the UN to host this event. The SDGs are tools to live, work and honour both people and planet by and I hope this is the first of many such gatherings which place such prominence on these key strategic goals.” 

Honoured to be involved in this prestigious event, Bath Spa University continues to take a pioneering approach to addressing the 10% of carbon emissions generated by the global fashion industry and Professor Cincik is at the heart of this effort as Director of the National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability (NCFS). Echoing the need for a tangible and clear solution to the environmental impact of the industry, NCFS will provide an innovative space where leading thinkers, learners, businesses and communities will drive the fashion and textile industry toward practices that will be healthy for people and the planet.   

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