Driving Sustainable Change in the Fashion Industry: Insights from Activism, Innovation, and Leadership

Join us for an engaging conversation with two leading voices in sustainable fashion—Elizabeth Cline, author, journalist, and advocate for ethical fashion, and Federica Marchionni, CEO of Global Fashion Agenda (GFA). Hosted by Yale’s Center for Business and the Environment (CBEY) as part of the Moving the Needle Series, this event will explore the critical role of consumer activism, corporate responsibility, and policy in transforming the fashion industry.

From the rise of slow fashion to industry-wide efforts to tackle climate change and social inequities, Elizabeth and Federica will share their insights on the strategies and innovations that can drive meaningful change. We'll ask them about what they see as the future of fashion sustainability, the importance of collaboration, and how students, consumers, and professionals can contribute to this movement.

About our guests: 

• Federica Marchionni is the Chief Executive Officer at Global Fashion Agenda (GFA). Founded in Denmark, GFA is a non-profit organization with the ultimate vision to create a net-positive fashion industry for the people and the planet across the entire ecosystem. Before joining GFA, Marchionni attained leadership roles in Europe, the USA, and China. Marchionni was CEO and Board Director at Lands’ End and President of Dolce&Gabbana Inc. She is a guest speaker at high-caliber conferences and top academic institutions, including Harvard University and Stanford University, Financial Times, Fortune, and COP.

• Elizabeth L. Cline is a New York-based author, journalist, public speaker, and expert on consumer culture, fast fashion, sustainability, and labor rights in the apparel industry. Cline’s critically acclaimed 2012 expose, Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, was the first to reveal the impacts of fast fashion on the environment, economy, and society.  She served as the Director of Advocacy and Policy for the non-profit Remake to pass the California Garment Worker Protection Act (SB62) and to introduce the first modern fashion bill aimed at labor rights —the FABRIC Act—in Congress in May of 2021, introduced by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY-D).

*Please join us for lunch! We are committed to reducing waste at our event. Therefore, we ask that when you register, you commit to doing your best to attend.