On the 11th and 12th February Head of LCF Professor Frances Corner was a speaker at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, at an event in celebration of women and girls in science.
Kering's Marie-Claire Daveu, Professor Snežana Savić from the University of Belgrade, Professor Sun Xuefei from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, and Ms. Mariana Gatti from Box1824 joined Frances on a panel moderated by H.E. Ambassador Francisco Duarte Lopes, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations. The panel aimed to shed light on the role of science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills for fashion and sustainable development programs. Before the discussion, Professor Corner showed a film showcasing LCF's work in science, research and supporting sustainable businesses.
Over the past 25 years, the United Nations has highlighted the serious gender gap that affects science, and it has now become a priority of many countries and international political institutions. However, the advancement of women and girls in science has stalled, and has started regressing with a widening of the gender gap in science. Reversing this trend and recognising the rightful role of women in science both as change agent and recipient of support in science is very important in order to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by all countries.
The Science of Fashion for Sustainable Development
Film by David Betteridge
On her blog Professor Frances Corner said:
Female talent pipeline for high-growth sectors and geographies should be the main investment target to attain the most effective returns that help achieve the SDGs. The United Nations and World Bank have proven that investing in women is smart economics and can help accelerate sustainable development since women more than men reinvest their earning in their families and communities. They also tend to create business and innovate with purpose.
Fashion embodies human pleasure, creativity, social codes and technologies that have enabled societies to prosper, laid burdens on the environment and caused competition for arable land. No single actor, action nor technology is sufficient to shift us away from the environmental and social challenges embedded in the fashion industry - nor to meet the demands for sustainable development of society at large. However, scientific and technological developments are important for progress towards sustainable fashion.