Together with The King's Foundation, the Fashion Council Germany invited guests to the historic Dumfries House, the foundation of His Majesty King Charles III, in Scotland to host the annual FASHION ZUKUNFT conference. Under the motto “PUSHING Boundaries”, industry representatives, students and pupils from Germany and the United Kingdom met to take part in workshops, panel talks and guest lectures. The overarching aim of the conference is to promote the exchange of industry representatives with the younger generation and to discuss possible solutions to current problems in the industry. Topics covered included craftsmanship, technology, diversity and circular fashion.

The trip was accompanied by 24 selected students from the GENERATION ZUKUNFT project, which the FCG is already implementing for the second year together with The PVH Foundation. The initiative teaches pupils from all over Germany about the ecological and social impact of the fashion industry in various teaching units in order to lay an important foundation for sustainable fashion awareness. Following three different lessons, the students were able to take part in a quiz to qualify for the trip to Scotland. The best 24 students took part in the FASHION FUTURE conference and spent the whole week taking part in various activities on the grounds of the Dumfries House. Apart from them, six other young designers of the FCG project FASHION X CRAFT were part of the conference.

The conference day was divided into “Youth” in the morning and “Industry” in the afternoon and particularly promoted intergenerational exchange. In the morning, the discussions focused primarily on the almost 150 students from the UK and Germany, who learned about local production methods, materials, producers and general facts about the industry in various activity carousels. Further input was provided in three panel talks and the SeaDyes brand presentation. Feedback was also given and problems in the industry were highlighted in the subsequent discussions. In the afternoon, the industry experts came together for round table conversations in which the problems, questions and possible solutions mentioned by the students were discussed. These included how to impart knowledge about the fashion industry to the younger generation, how to make it more accessible and how to make skilled trades in particular more attractive.

Scott Lipinski, CEO of the Fashion Council Germany emphasized: “We are very grateful that our partners The King's Foundation, The PVH Foundation and ebay make projects like this possible for us. Only together is it possible to take the right step in the positive development of the fashion industry. The focus of this year's conference was increasingly on cross-generational exchange and we were able to capture many valuable insights and solutions. I am already looking forward to next year, when we will be taking not just 24 but 48 students from all over Germany to Scotland.”

“The fifth Fashion Future Conference has shown how important it is to include the voices of the younger generation in the discussion about necessary changes in the fashion industry. As future employees and consumers, they will play a decisive role in shaping the system. The annual conference facilitates cross-generational dialog and highlights the priorities of the next generation for industry players. We are very grateful to the Fashion Council Germany and our industry supporters for facilitating this important knowledge exchange,” emphasized Jacqueline Farrell, Education Director of The King's Foundation.

In addition to the conference program, the 24 students had the opportunity to participate in a workshop initiated by eBay, where they upcycled pre-loved garments ordered on the online platform and thus extended their use cycle. During the workshop, the students learned a lot about the craftsmanship behind fashion and its production as well as about the appreciation and craftsmanship of textile production. They also exchanged ideas with experts to learn more about circular fashion.

The speakers of the FASHION ZUKUNFT conference this year were Ann Claes (Masjien), Anthony Burns (ACS Clothing), Beth Alexander (eBay), Clare Campbell (Prickly Thistle), David Bamber (Design Consultant), Graeme Bone (Designer), Jacqueline Farrell (The King’s Foundation), Jenny Holloway (Fashion Capital), Jessica Giannotti & David Farquhar (SeaDyes), Kasia Kucharska (Designerin), Maria Benjamin (Dodgsonwood Farm/The Woolist), Mark Hogarth (Harris Tweed), Rosie Gaunt (Manolo Blahnik), Sevil Uguz (PLATTE.Berlin) and Tamara Cincik (Fashion Round Table).

Further information about the initiative: https://www.fashion-council-germany.org/initiativen/fashion-zukunft