Helsinki Fashion Week
PRESS RELEASE
The Next Sustainable Environment of Fashion.
As seen from Cyberspace.
The most beautiful thing to come from the COVID-19 pandemic that our species is currently facing is the demonstration that when human life is in danger, we are able to put aside ‘business as usual’ — even when severe financial consequences stare us in the face — and stand together for the greater good in order to prioritize the preservation of human life. This display simply proves that we can act on our promises and commitments when it comes to sustainable development. Let us remember this precedent when tackling climate change, the next great humanitarian challenge on our world’s agenda.
The year 2020 commemorates Helsinki Fashion Week’s 6th year. And while just about every other event across the planet has either had to reschedule, cancel, or come up with an alternative solution; we are privileged to be able to continue to push forward with our mission of all-things-sustainable without compromise, thanks to our partners, and everyone who continues to stand behind HFW.
From the Eco Village in 2018 to the Bio Playground in 2019, Helsinki Fashion Week has successfully branded itself as the World’s first sustainable Fashion Week, and continues to be the World’s most sustainable Fashion Week, bringing together the most inspiring Thinkers from a diverse number of industries in order to experiment, test, and implement. Through collaboration, we continue to seek a holistic approach to Fashion that we stand for.
High-end fashion is an investment and a promise. It is a philosophy with values directly in line with the principles of sustainability. Luxury fashion, like sustainability, is a sacrifice made today in order to reap a reward later. These are noble quests with the sole purpose of obtaining real long-term value.
Our event goes further to brashly ask the needed questions surrounding garment production in the era of fast fashion and greenwashing; along with addressing the physical and mental wellbeing of the consumers of our showcased garments, to truly move into an inclusive all-encompassing space. HFW then presents this information to consumers, buyers and producers in order to help them consciously make the informed choices that ultimately affect us all as a global community.
So what’s next? The year 2020 does sound like something out of a sci-fi novel. And that’s just one more reason to take it one step beyond. This year’s decision to host Fashion Week in Cyberspace was thus a very natural next step. Securing liberty in the future adamant on running away without us requires a solid understanding of life inside the machine. Our forecast foresees a catwalk of the future with sustainable clouds, where transparency and the ethical use of data isn’t something we need to ask for.
Avatars on the Blockchain
In 2020 Helsinki Fashion Week will be digitizing its participants. Our respected Guests, along with the 15 International Designers taking part in our Virtual Designer Residency program 20.-26.7. will be browsing the Event in their own Avatars. Via interactive livestreamed media, our Designers will be documenting the Sustainable Fashion’s journey from idea to product.
Via 5G or 4G, depending on your lobby, the movement of your digital kicks along with other personal data will be collected. Your info will then be analyzed, much like your browsing data is currently being analyzed to create the algorithms that define your tastes. The crucial difference in this instance being that your mined Data at HFW will actually be shared with you. In order to customize our footprint, we first need to understand it.
From the Gen Z’ers who are re-gramming this; to the Millennial writing this; to the Gen X’ers who truly still believe in a better world; HFW is going to shine that digital footprint mirror onto the eager retinas of our conscious partners, supporters, and followers.
Incorporating Blockchain technology with partner LUKSO, we will be sharing ideas on creating frameworks for visualizing the actions of players in the supply chain. The many creases in the quilt of the current Fashion landscape can be ironed out in unique ways. We will demonstrate how technology can be used to help us express our values in order to achieve real transparency and accountability.
“Blockchain technology allow us to actually own and shared digital assets, curate and own our digital identities, empowering consumers and creators, and challenging the current power dynamics within the fashion industry” Marjorie Hernandez, co-founder of LUKSO.
The HFW Cyberspace Universe will be created in luscious 3D exclusively by the young bright minds NDA Paris and produced by Soldats Films, award-winning Paris based production company celebrated for crafting cutting edge creative visual content.
“For this first sustainable and now first digital fashion week we want to create something that is recognizably from the fashion industry, real models,catwalk shows, realistic garments — but also want to use the capacity of the 3D innovative way of traveling through worlds and visual universes that is unique to each creator. It is not because it’s sustainable that it should be boring, tech is exciting and as an ally of a brighter future can serve fashion.” – Melvyn Bonaffe, NDA Founder
“When I heard about what Helsinki Fashion Week was planning, I felt the ambition and the single-core value of sustainability. We love the challenge of making a good product especially when its embraced with creativity.” – Pierre CazenaveKaufman, Executive Producer, Soldats
While the minds at HFW traveling through parallel dimensions, partners like Natural Fiber Welding ensures that the mechanics of our sustainable space rocket are on point. Committed to creating materials that can be upcycled to eliminate waste and ensure responsible end-of-life options, Natural Fiber Welding helps facilitate a fashion industry that is circular. If a material cannot make it back to their production facilities, then it must at very least be biodegradable. New material innovation, along with deadstock and vintage materials,will all find a home at Helsinki Fashion Week in 2020, and ultimately a new life.
Keeping our event greenwash-proof, our partners in Sweden at Normative Digital Sustainability will be mapping and measuring just how sustainable the 2020 edition of Helsinki Fashion Week is going to be.
The new design processes and garment development virtually is feeling like urgency in a world where resources are limited. Many fields like architecture and product design have made the leap a while ago.
With partner Scotomalab, Helsinki Fashion Week is bringing together a group of global creatives sharing the same vision. Across the World, stretching beyond Europe from Canada to Japan, the US, Russia, Turkey and more, the believers in Sustainable Fashion spans an entire planet. Thank you, and thank you all who have stayed with us over the years!
Everybody is on board and ready to go digital. Trust, collaboration, creativity! In the year 2020 Helsinki Fashion Week is taking Data back to the People, and returning Real Value to one of humankind’s most inspiring industries. My Avatar! MyChoice! Things are moving quicker than we expected. But it’s OK, we’re all in this together.
WWW.HELSINKIFASHIONWEEK.COM
CONTACT@NORDICFASHIONWEEKGROUP.COM
@helsinkifashionweekofficial