VOGUE: A green evening celebrating new technologies to help sustainability in fashion
Patricia Ermecheo
“This is a sustainable revolution, and it is coming anyway, with or without us!" These are the words that both Miroslava Duma and Stella McCartney used to introduce Fashion Tech Lab to the 400 guests who joined the fashionable launch in Paris last night. The most connected digital entrepreneur in fashion and the popular designer cohosted an elegant cocktail party in the Google Arts & Culture offices to celebrate FTL, Duma’s latest project. Announced almost a year ago, the venture-capital fund and accelerator will help connect projects and brands aiming to transform the fashion system with environmentally and socially responsible new technologies.
“Let’s make the planet green again,” said Duma, quoting French president Emmanuel Macron, while McCartney greeted Haider Ackermann and Christian Louboutin not too far away: “We wanted you all here to see how many possibilities exist and how sexy it can be! I’ve been living with this consciousness every single day of my life. Please do the same.” McCartney also recently announced a partnership with one of the companies present, Bolt Threads.
The sustainable revolution, or global evolution, has officially started, and the glamorous group of guests from the worlds of fashion, investment, technology, and education gathered last night definitely decided to take part in it. Designers Diane von Furstenberg, Maria Grazia Chiuri, and Demna Gvasalia, as well as notable industry figures such as François-Henri Pinault, Alexandre Arnault, Caroline Rush, Natalia Vodianova, Vogue’s Tonne Goodman, Livia Firth, and many others, were there to support the project and show curiosity and awareness.
While everyone was catching up on Paris Fashion Week, Duma introduced the companies’ representatives. “There are so many—the ones here tonight are just a few examples,” she clarified. Carla Sozzani and Azzedine Alaïa, for example, learned about the work of Osomtex, a company that transforms clothes waste into sustainable textiles. Close by, a San Francisco–based company that uses animal cells to create cruelty-free leather and fur caught the interest of shoe designer Pierre Hardy. Gaia Repossi went straight to look at Diamond Foundry, the Bay Area–based group that uses technology to replicate in laboratories the conditions in which nature forms diamonds.
“The fashion industry has to be aware and help us with its unique taste and language,” Duma continued. Delfina Delettrez Fendi, appointed as chief creative curator, observed robotic arms in the courtyard as they prepared fancy cocktails ordered via tablets. Delicious candies injected with distilled fruit and vegetable juice (from passion fruit to pepper) were served all around. Firth mentioned several times how cool and exciting she found the sustainable values. Not too far away, Ian Rogers, chief digital officer at LVMH, enjoyed the vibe of the soiree, underlining the importance of maintaining the storytelling and desirability of each product. “It is so great to put in everyone’s head the idea that these realities exist and can be desirable. Let’s keep our eyes open.”
Everyone was there for a reason: Whether for discovering, advising, or just enjoying, FTL created the right atmosphere of dialogue, positivity, and cooperation that is much needed today across the industry. “Why compete? It makes no sense anymore—we need to work all together,” Duma said. “Please don’t leave this room without thinking about this revolution.”
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