MILAN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--lablaco, creators of the Circular Fashion Summit (CFS), today announced that AltspaceVR by Microsoft, Oculus, Comfort by Unilever and Unity Technologies have signed on to support CFS2020: the first-ever virtual reality fashion summit. Taking place in AltspaceVR by Microsoft on October 03 - 04, 2020 during Paris Fashion Week, these sponsors are leveraging their technology solutions and financial support for positive impact across environmental, revenue and sustainability goals facing the fashion and retail industries today.
CFS2020 will be created using Unity’s real-time 3D technology, and hosted and produced inside Microsoft’s social VR platform, AltspaceVR. Attendees will be transported to the conference via Oculus headsets. Unilever has committed to executing measurable actions that will be announced exclusively as part of the Circular Fashion Summit, contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030 by promoting responsible consumption and product care to prolong product life cycles.
“COVID aside, the fashion industry is readjusting itself to operate in a world where virtual technologies can transform a company’s social and environmental impacts throughout the whole value chain,” said Burak Cakmak, Dean of Fashion at Parsons School of Design, and Founding Partner of the Circular Fashion Summit. “The summit’s goal is to unite those key decision makers and companies who are equipped to impact change, and who can build some of the systems around addressing these issues across the board at a very large, multinational fashion business.”
AltspaceVR, Oculus, Unilever and Unity each have proven track records in impacting and accelerating industry innovation. AltspaceVR and Oculus are supporting CFS2020 from a technology perspective, while Comfort by Unilever and Unity have signed-on as corporate sponsors. CFS2020 presents an opportunity for Virtual Reality technology to connect attendees while they also test drive the use of the technology for real world application.
“At AltspaceVR our goal is to scale human connection through virtual events. We’re thrilled that our platform empowers innovative pioneers like lablaco,” said Karolina Manko, Program Manager, AltspaceVR. “The work they’re doing with the Circular Fashion Summit is an amazing example of how emerging technologies are unlocking new possibilities across industries.”
“VR redefined how we interact with content outside of the 2-dimensional borders of our monitors. This new perspective changed the game in how we conceptualize designs for attire,” said Giovanni Nakpil, Art Director at Oculus VR. “The potential for what could be is so exciting and unknown. My imagination goes wild when I think of designers being able to display their work on a virtual mannequin - a mannequin that can strike a pose! Or being able to dynamically swap out patterns and materials with the flick of a wrist. Ensuring this technology is used for good is a necessary responsibility, and I'm grateful for CFS’ commitment to help spearhead this cause.”
“We’re honoured to be part of the Summit and excited about teaming up with GFX & lablaco, our shared love of clothes and the importance of keeping them in the loop for longer is a common goal we are both striving for,” said Salwa Alireza, Senior Global Brand Manager Home Care at Unilever. “Comfort has been caring for clothes for over 50 years, so it’s no surprise that we care how clothes are treated and where they end up ‘Not in landfills’, but back into the fashion cycle to either be loved again by someone new or to be redesigned. We believe that through this partnership, we will be able to make a real change in people’s behaviour towards clothes, because clothes are just too precious to waste!”
“XR technologies help to bring our imaginations to life and better teach our experiences to others,” said Timoni West, Director of Product, XR Tools, Unity. “We have successfully helped XR tech transform industries like Architecture, Engineering & Construction as well as Automotive, and are honored to help anchor the Circular Fashion Summit in a way where the conference experience is made with Unity, and simultaneously attendees are able to feel the impacts that XR can have on their business interactions.”
lablaco, the universal platform connecting all stakeholders to accelerate digitization and transition towards a multi-dimensional circular economy for fashion, is bringing together lead technology partners to accelerate the retail and fashion industry’s need for actionable change.
“Now more than ever have we felt the readiness of the market and the opportunity to truly accelerate the digitization and transition of the fashion industry towards a global circular economy powered by collective action and technology,” said Co-Founders of lablaco and Circular Fashion Summit, Lorenzo Albrighi and ShihYun Kuo. “Collective partnerships are the core spirit for us to experiment the new sustainable experience for the Fashion Industry. Uniting world class technology partners and global companies, we are bringing circular fashion and actionable collaborations beyond geographical and digital boundaries.”
The global heads of Fashion Weeks from Shanghai, Paris, London, Milan and New York will unite for the first time in virtual reality at CFS 2020 this October. The first edition of CFS, held in September of 2019, was attended by iconic luxury fashion brands including Hermes, Chanel and Balenciaga.
For more information on CFS2020, please visit www.circularfashionsummit.com/
About lablaco
Pioneering Circular Retail for the fashion industry, lablaco is a universal platform connecting all stakeholders in a multi-dimensional circular economy. Enabling the evolution of fashion into circularity, impact design, and traceable ownership powered by blockchain.
By digitising fashion, we are redefining the relationships between designers, brands, tailors, retailers, content creators, and individual customers through transparency and circularity. Empowering art, design, science, and engineering for a new sustainable ecosystem.
