FASHINNOVATION Conference Showcases Fashion’s Innovative Leaders During NYFW

Husband and wife duo, Jordana and Marcelo Guimarães, founded FASHINNOVATION to foster a collaboration around fashion and technology with the theme “Fashion is to Love”. They have held 3 conferences and are planning the 4th in Feb 2020. I attended the most recent conference in Fall 2019, which included 80 speakers and 600 attendees! It was amazing to see everyone talking about sustainability, the theme Fashion is to Love drives that home. Love = Sustainability.

It was clear from the beginning with opening speakers Susan Rockefeller talking about the need for Fashion Innovation in an era of urgency followed by a heartfelt speech by Fern Mallis about the need for inclusivity in fashion. Fern went further than just inclusivity and representation on the runways and advertising campaigns to say we need inclusivity in top level management and on boards!

After the opening remarks, the panel discussions started. There was a lot of lively discussion tackling much needed topics that we have to put a spotlight on in the fashion industry! FASHINNOVATION did an amazing job putting together the topics ranging from Fashion is Social Good, Fashion is Recycled / Upcycled, Blockchain and Sustainable Brands, 3D printing and minimizing waste, Fashion is Transparency, Fashion is Sustainable Supply Chains just to name a few. 

There was also a separate marketplace as part of the conference where brands could showcase their wares and connect with the attendees. On par with the theme Fashion is to Love, most of the brands featured had a message around sustainability.

The FASHINNOVATION team is putting together the next conference for Feb 2020 showcasing innovations and diverse themes. They are continuing to build out content on everything INNOVATION and are looking to expand Fashion is to Love globally!

Q&A with FASHINNOVATION Co-Founder Jordana Guimarães

Fashion Mingle: What inspired you and Marcelo Guimaraes to create FASHINNOVATION?

Jordana Guimarães: Marcelo Guimaraes  happens to be my husband. We are a husband/wife duo. He has always been in the entrepreneurship sector, assisting entrepreneurs with innovation scale. I have always been in the fashion industry (focusing on Public Relations), focusing on philanthropic causes. In the last 3 years, we had two baby girls and wanted to do something together. We then decided to merge our two worlds and Fashinnovation was born. 

FM: How many conferences have you had and what is the goal of these events?

JG: We have held three successful conferences and the 4th one is coming up on Feb. 5th, 2020. The goal with these events is to bring a community of like minded individuals, shaping the fashion industry and where it’s headed under our slogan of: “Fashion Is to Love” – we feel that although we focus on technologies, we try to see ways in which the technologies innovating in fashion, can start to re-connect individuals so that they can further collaborate and grow together. We believe this is the way!

FM: Tell us about your career in fashion marketing and PR. What experience facilitated your desire to create this conference?

JG: I have always been a connector – I genuinely love people. I believe this made it easier for me to get into the Public Relations and marketing industries. When I love something, I become a “walking billboard”. I believe being a publicist and marketing specialist for over 15 years, facilitated me creating the Fashinnovation conferences alongside my husband, due to the many contacts I created in the past and the new ones, knowing ways to approach them where I let them know the value we can give to them rather than what they bring to us!

FM: What are your upcoming plans to grow the mission of FASHINNOVATION?

JG: We will keep hosting the “full day” panel talks during NYFW always bringing diverse speakers to speak on diverse thematics – all showcasing innovations be it via women empowerment, inclusivity, manufacturing/production, sustainability, etc. We are always continuing to build our content so that eventually we have a platform that is the “go to” for everything INNOVATIONS. We will as of 2020 take it outside of the US and make our mission of: “Fashion Is to Love” global!

FM: How can the Fashion Mingle community get involved and help you achieve your mission?

JG: Through always allowing your network/community to know of our talks and events, so that we can keep growing our network in collaboration with you guys!

Jordana also is the author of the book “It Can Be You”, a project that aims to give a face to homelessness through the voice of social media influencers. You can learn more and support the GoFundMe campaign here.