For the 2022 edition of Neonyt’s Fashionsustain beginning from January 18, representatives from sustainable fashion brands, technology companies in the preliminary design phase, retail experts, behavioural economists and certification experts are scheduled to come together to explore the discrepancy between wanting to change and actually changing.

Alongside technological innovations, new business models and ideas for fashion retailers, topics like consumer behaviour, ‘Nudging for Good’ and the gaming industry will play a role at the conference, fair organiser Messe Frankfurt said in a press release.

To provide a full overview of the industry, this year’s Fashionsustain will bring together brands, suppliers, media, NGOs, textile certification associations and government bodies right from the very first day, to bring about a real change. It is essential that everyone involved in the textile sector not only rethinks their previous approaches, but also works together.

For the 2022 edition of Neonyt’s Fashionsustain beginning from January 18, representatives from sustainable fashion brands, technology companies in the preliminary design phase, retail experts, behavioural economists and certification experts are scheduled to come together to explore the discrepancy between wanting to change and actually changing.

Setting the framework for this is Dr Maren Urner, neuroscientist and professor of media psychology with her keynote speech entitled Change the Mindset. The focus here will be on the attitude-behaviour gap: a scientific phenomenon that involves consumers increasingly saying in studies that they attach importance to sustainability and are willing to spend more money on sustainably produced goods, while other studies confirm that pricing is still one of the most decisive purchasing criteria. Afterwards, she will be reflecting on why people act differently despite having other intentions and how our own attitude will reflect our behaviour even more in the future in a panel discussion with Lutz Dietzold from the German Design Council and other industry and NGO representatives.

“How this attitude can be embedded into globally applicable standards and laws will be discussed by the German Environment Agency together with Lenzing AG and the two NPOs Fairwear Foundation and The Sustainable Angle in Sourcing – How to tackle disruptions and become more sustainable. The focus here is on making supply chains transparent and ensuring that companies assume liability for human or environmental rights violations by their suppliers,” the release added.

At the conference, sustainability standard Bluesign together with outdoor experts from Deuter, Pinqponq and Sympatex, will hold a talk entitled ‘Outdoor fashion: Nature lovers in the City’. They will talk about how they have adapted their products and working practices to their changing target group. To round off the first day, Silke Düwel-Rieth, director of business and SDGs at the UN Global Compact Network Germany, will therefore be giving insights into how the SDGs can be implemented into everyday business practices with the UN Global Compact Academy.

The second day of Fashionsustain will revolve around technological advancements. Majken Kalhave, executive director of Creative Denmark, a not-for-profit, public-private partnership that fosters relations between international stakeholders and Danish creative industries, will be speaking about Sustainability by Design before joining Livia Lee, CEO of Lala Berlin, Jess Fleischer, CEO of Son of a Tailor and Niels Mikkelsen, co-founder of Create2Stay, in discussing how to use digitalisation to create sustainable fashion.

The second day will be rounded off by a discussion on textile certifications as an important intersection between the physical world of the product and the digital traceability of its supply chain. Under the title Certification Jungle, Sebastian Herold, deputy head of unit at the federal ministry for economic cooperation and development, Axel Schröder, sustainability manager human rights at Tchibo, and a sustainable fashion brand will be guiding through the jungle of certifications and standards.

Consumer behaviour is changing – and not only because of the pandemic, but also because of a progressive change in values. How retailers can keep up will be at the focus of the third day of Fashionsustain. Nudging for Good – E-commerce and climate action will be the topic of the first panel discussion. Nudging for Good is a way for companies to help people adopt healthier and more sustainable lifestyles.

How sustainability can contribute to reviving city centres and retailers can position themselves as providers of knowledge for consumers will be discussed by Tanja Kliewe-Meyer from Like a Bird, Marco Schütte from the EK Service Group and Ricarda Mohr from the town of Herford in the panel entitled Sustainability at the point of sale – How do I explain it to my customers?

After that, Mimi Sewalski from Avocadostore and Maike Gossen from the TU Berlin will be exploring the conflicting priorities between revenue growth and a reduction in consumption in the interest of sustainability in their talk entitled ‘Don’t buy these trousers – Fashion brands between sufficiency communications and the need to sell’.

This season, Fashionsustain will once again feature a Showcase, an exhibition that focuses on fashion start-ups, technology providers and products to market fashion. As well as Bcome and My Shoefitter, which will be on the Fashionsustain stage, packaging specialist EnvoPap will launch its latest circular packaging system for the fashion, retail and e-commerce industry made from waste products from agricultural fibres, which are recyclable and compostable and therefore completely biodegradable. They will also be joined by retail platform Staiy and WeDress Collective, a clothing rental service with a local approach.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)