Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks 2020 recap

All photos courtesy of Fashinnovation

The Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks is a conference which normally takes place in New York. Living in California, and raising a family, has made it difficult for me to travel to everything in the fashion industry I would like to attend, and be a part of. As a result of the current stay-at-home orders around the country, many events have moved into virtual formats; making it easy for people who would like to attend industry events without the need to travel. How fortunate are we for technology!

The fashion industry, as well as many other industries in the world, is at a standstill right now. Factories are closed, shops are shuttered, retail orders by retailers are being delayed or cancelled, and the industry has been forced to take a deep breath, and reset 2020; and possibly the future of how they run their businesses.

I was always taught that clothing and shoes were needs. We need to cover our bodies to protect our modesty and to guard against the elements. Shoes are also a necessity to protect our feet from the ground when we walk and run. In the era of Covid19, clothing and accessories have been deemed non-essential, and the industry has been told to close while the world gets this virus under control. While excessive shopping and filling up our closets with things isn’t a necessary thing, sometimes we do need fashion items for certain weather and activities. We can purchase these items inline and have them delivered to our homes, but traditional brick-and-mortar retail outlets have been temporarily closed down; so people cannot go out and shop in person. The question rises, do we need brick-and-mortar retail?

One of the topics during Fashinnovation was surrounding retail outlets, and what the future of brick-and-mortar might look like. Internet shopping has slowly been chipping away at traditional stores for years, this shut-down might be the chance the industry has to adapt and change to the future of the industry and how people prefer to shop. Millennial’s have a mantra, “Experiences not things,” and the retail industry understands this.

Kenneth Cole was one of the keynote speakers during Fashinnovation. One of the points he made was that the industry will need to tighten it’s belt, and evolve. Retail outlets will need to become more experimental, and that brands will need to interact more with their customers; not just to sell something, but to understand each other.

Eno Polo believe this pause in the industry will accelerate what was already happening in the industry. He sees customers enjoying online shopping and a larger percent will continue to shop online rather than return to stores. He sees shops as needing to turn into an environment instead of being rows and rows of racks. Stores will have more tech and turn into a place for customers to hang out, rather than purchase large amounts of items. He feels stores will no longer have a warehouse feeling, they will turn into experiences where the customer understands and relates to the brands or designers.

Harry Cunningham from Vera Bradley would like to see the current restaurant model move into fashion retail. He envisions a version of take-out where customers place and order and pick it up. Stores would be more of an experience rather than racks of things to sort through. He feels sales per square foot, which is a traditional measure of a stores success, while not be as important in the future as creating an experience in-store, and measuring how long a customer lingers inside the store, rather than spends, will be the new measure of success.. He also envisions the use of tech in his stores where augmented reality helps customers try on clothing, or see how a piece of furniture would look in a room. This would help eliminate touching things and trying on clothing before purchasing it. Shopping will include more virtual experiences, as well as safety measures which eliminate a lot of touching. The use of mobile wallets without any touching or signing, would be an ideal replacement for cash which tends to be dirty. Cunningham also spoke about lowering our carbon impact on the world, which was a common theme among speakers during the conference.

Sustainability was a huge theme during the Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks 2020 virtual conference. It’s incredible how many manufacturers and designers are recognizing the environmental impact all portions of the supply chain have on the planet, and they have many systems and ideas in place to overhaul the industry, and make it more sustainable. There are several companies already doing these new practices, while others have plans in place to move in that direction. This is good news as we look at photos online and through social media being posted right now from around the globe of the environment without it’s usual pollution; it’s beautiful right?

Giulio Bonazzi from Econyl is already working hard to make the environment a better place. His company recycles waste and makes products. He views a landfill as a goldmine. It’s a place to find recyclable materials to make thread and fabrications. Many of his high profile clients include adidas, Burberry, Prada, Stella McCartney, Tommy Hilfiger, and more. His recycled materials are also used to make carpets and furniture. The fabrications can be continually recycled after someone is done with them. There is no limit as to how many times the fibers can be turned into something new. He lives in a recycling economy. Isn’t this amazing?

I was really excited when Runa Ray came on screen. It’s always fun to see someone you’ve met, and whose work you admire, speak at a high profile conference. Her collection has always been about sustainability, so her systems are something many in the industry can learn from. She employs a zero-stitching technique for her collection which results in zero waste; no fabric scraps! She also uses dying techniques with natural dyes which leave no trace in the water.

Ray expressed that this current economic pause is a great time to educate consumers about sustainability and become fashion activists. Consumers need to know about recycling fabric, and sustainable manufacturing techniques. This will help them make better informed decisions about purchasing products in the future. Runa Ray also would like to see bar codes on clothing which can be scanned and tell a client where the garment came from, what was it’s carbon footprint, and how to care for it. Wouldn’t that be amazing? I can’t wait for it!

Mara Hoffman, another designer I really admire, touched on all aspects of the industry. She sees this as a time to realize what is wrong with the industry, and where changes need to be made. It’s a time to fix internal practices you weren’t happy with in your business, and change for the good. She would like to see a move towards fewer collections during the year, and more sustainable practices. A new fashion calendar would help designers create collections which favor the planet, and not a throw-away society. Hoffman also expressed how designers need to own more of their company and sell their own product without reliance on other retailers. Sustainable collections and a move towards quality not quantity is part of the future she envisions for the industry. This is a time to reinvent, be creative, and consider the planet. She’s so inspirational!!

There were roughly ninety speakers at Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks 2020, and the overall consensus was a move towards more sustainable manufacturing processes and reinventing the fashion calendar. Designers envision a very small fashion week which would be live-streamed or broadcast to those who would normally fill seats at the shows. They see more fashion events taking place virtually rather than in person. The planet, and more localized sourcing and manufacturing, are the future for fashion industry as a whole. It’s amazing what designers and manufacturers are doing to help protect the planet, and bring the industry to a more localized system. I am excited to see what the future brings!

Thank you to Fashinnovation for inviting me to their conference. If you would like to learn more, please visit their website at Fashinnovation.nyc.

Home workout and PE ideas

home PE ideas

Outfit details from left: blue tee / black sweatpants / running shoes / boys green jersey / boys black shorts / red long sleeve tee / black and gold sweatpants / white sneakers /

Can you believe schools have been closed for a month already? Time flies! With three kids at home, I have to get creative in order to ensure they are doing their required P.E. time everyday for school.

My kids are required to combine strength, stretching, and cardio, into a thirty-minute workout, five days per week. They have to keep a log of what they do for exercise, and then turn it in to their P.E. teachers every Friday. If they aren’t logging their exercise daily, they will lose precious points on their grade!

In order to ensure they are keeping their P.E. grades up, and to also stay fit, we have devised a weekly at-home P.E. plan! This has turned into a great workout for myself, and my husband too! After all, we are all sheltering-in-place at home right now, so of course the gyms are closed. This makes working out at home even more important. We have no other place to go!

There are three important concepts my kids are required to incorporate into their daily P.E. routine. They need to incorporate stretching, strength, and cardio. We always start our workouts out with strength, then we incorporate cardio, and finish with stretching.

Here is a sample workout of what we do each day for P.E. This is a great workout for adults too! It has turned into my home workout routine.

This can be done in the backyard, or on the floor inside a home or apartment.

  • 10 jumping jacks
  • Basic stretch routine: stretch legs, back, and arms.
  • 25 squats with feet positioned directly below shoulders, toes pointing straight ahead.
  • 25 squats with feet wide, and toes pointed 45 degrees outward.
  • Walking lunges: you can go around your yard, back and forth inside a room, or save these for an outside walk.
  • 10 push-ups
  • Plank: on elbows or raised on hands for 30 seconds.
  • 10 traditional sit-ups
  • 20 crunches
  • 60 seconds of ab work, your choice.
  • Gently stretch legs, core, and arms.
  • Go out your front door for a thirty minute walk. You can incorporate walking lunges! To mix things up, we run in a circle around any cul-de-sac we see. If you are in an urban setting without cul-de-sacs, try doing a sprint down the block after ten minutes of walking. Then repeat after twenty minutes of walking.
  • You can also substitute jogging, bike riding, riding a scooter, or roller skating for walking. It’s good to alternate your cardio each day.
  • When you return home, do a ten minute stretch routine starting with your legs, followed by arms, and ending with your core.

That’s it! This workout never seems to get boring since we do it as a family, and we mix up the cardio segment of the routine. I’m so thankful we have our fabulous adidas gear for these workouts. They look and feel amazing, so we can continue working out everyday with ease! Love that!

What have you been doing for your home fitness routines during this time? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

*thank you to addias for sponsoring this post, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The art of the written letter

write letters

Pink rose stationary / pen (gift from my Grandmother in the 1980’s, also love this pen)

When was the last time you wrote a letter, on stationary, by hand? I know, it’s been a long time! I have to admit, I miss the days of shopping for pretty stationary, and then writing a meaningful letter to a friend or family member. Plus, it was always fun to find a letter from someone, to me, in my mailbox! After all, the only mail we get these days are bills and advertisements. There is never anything fun in my mailbox!

You may have heard the news about the post office having financial troubles. Of course, this news isn’t new. It just happens to pop up every few years when something financial is going on with the economy. The post office has been hurting since society switched over to email from written letters, as well as online billing instead of paper billing. Couple that with delivering packages for Internet companies for pennies on the dollar, and our post office isn’t running with healthy financial books!

Let’s bring back the written letter!

The written letter is something everyone can benefit from. We can enjoy writing something special to a friend or family member, they can receive our beautiful letters, and the post office gets $0.55 for each stamp we use. It’s win/win! If we do this together, we will receive letters back while helping the post office! Then it will be fun going to the mailbox again. Love that!

Are you wondering what to write about? When I was in college, I used to write letters to my friends from home. We used to write letters to each other once a week. The letters recapped my week, and weekend. I would ask questions about their activities, and answer questions they had about mine. Some letters would be front and back, while others would be front, back, and multiple pages! In some cases, a letter might need two stamps! It was always fun to receive letters like this too. I loved going to my mailbox and finding a letter from my friend. I would open it before I got back inside my dorm or apartment. I would start reading it immediately as I walked towards a chair to sit on. Letters were exciting, and a great way to stay connected to my friends and family members. After reading a letter, I would re-read some parts, and then immediately grab a piece of stationary and start writing back. I would literally drop everything I was doing to respond to a letter. It was fun and meaningful. I miss those days.

Yes, we can all continue to stay connected via social media, texting, and emails; but wouldn’t it be fun to add back written letters? Plus, we are all social distancing, and some of us are still sheltering-in-place. Writing a letter, is a great way to add a personal touch to staying connected right now. Let’s do this!

I just bought this stationary online to start writing letters to my friends and family members. Here are some more fabulous stationary kits online to get your letter writing started!

Do you plan to start writing letters again?

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy