ACTAsia’s Sustainable Fur Free Fashion Festival sets a precedent in China

A meeting-of-minds has raised the bar for sustainable fashion in China, in the lead-up to Fashion Zoo’s second international expo. Following a new collaboration with ACTAsia, which will host its 6th fur-free event at the expo, the four-day fashion show in Shanghai will be launched by Stella McCartney, and will promote sustainable, fur-free fashion.

ACTAsia’s 2020 Compassion in Fashion Forum: Sustainability begins with Fur Free has guided the principle for this year’s Fashion Zoo expo, which has vetoed real fur from its opening day. The focus of ACTAsia’s forum is twofold: The true cost of the fashion industry, and Co-responsibility for compassionate fashion.

Fourteen international representatives from government, fashion and NGOs will address the audience with their personal perspective on sustainable fashion.

 

 

 

The organisers have called a moratorium on real fur on the catwalk, designer displays and sales for the first day of the event, and even asked all exhibitors and 50,000 expected visitors (onsite and online) to refrain from wearing real fur when they attend. This is a breakthrough for popular culture, which is turning its back on the cruelty and environmental destruction wreaked by the fur industry, an idea grown from a seed of emotional intelligence planted by ACTAsia when the collaboration began.

ACTAsia’s Caring for Life Consumer education programme, on which the event is based, works towards several of UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals, including Goal 3: Good health and wellbeing; Goal 4: Quality education; Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth; a particular emphasis on Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production; and Goal 15: Life on land.

Register today to join our livestream Compassion in Fashion Forum onsite and online

Register for Part 1, Thursday 3 September: The true cost of the fashion industry

Register for Part 2, Saturday 5 September: Co-responsibility for compassionate fashion

 

“We’re delighted to be the selected charity partner of 2020 Fashion Zoo expo, who shares our ambition to build a sustainable, fur-free future. Now we’ve grown accustomed to living with a global pandemic, it’s time to remember the issues we were fighting for before COVID-19. There’s no room anymore for any industry to exploit nature for commercial gain – that was at the root of the pandemic.” Pei Su, ACTAsia Co-Founder and CEO

A host of celebrated speakers includes international leaders and experts in sustainable, fur-free fashion. Highlights include:

  • Keynote speaker Rehana Mughal, Director of Arts at the British Council in China, The future of fashion after the pandemic incorporating future-proofing startegies to reduce our carbon footprint and consider people, animals and the environment through the fashion supply chain
  • Kehua Hu, Deputy Director at the Office for Social Responsibility and Sustainability Stewardship Director at CNTAC, Environment – sustainable development beyond borders, exploring China’s endeavour for sustainable fashion a global context
  • Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart, Vaute Couture, People – Responsible employers within the fashion industry, discussing how fashion is heading towards social change, including the consumer ‘vote’
  • Rebecca Cappelli, Let us be Heroes, Animals – Animals used in fashion, the true cost of fur fashion
  • John Lau, Associate Dean at the School of Design and Technology at London College of Fashion (LCF), will launch LCF and ACTAsia’s collaborative new curriculum for fashion students with ACTAsia: a fur-free future for fashion

You can hear John speak about why fur-free is so important to him as a leader in higher education here:

Register for Part 1, Thursday 3 September: The true cost of the fashion industry

Register for Part 2, Saturday 5 September: Co-responsibility for compassionate fashion

The Forum will be available as a webinar after the event.