The British Fashion Council strengthens British Fashion in the global economy as a leader in responsible, creative businesses. It does this through championing diversity, building and inviting the industry to actively participate in a network to accelerate a successful circular fashion economy.
The Institute of Positive Fashion is the engine for industry change and demonstrates the BFC’s commitment to climate action. The IPF activates across a global network to convene the industry, government, academia and other stakeholders to develop industry-wide transformation programmes of change to accelerate outcomes.
Through the IPF, the British Fashion Council is working on a 10-year strategy to enable the industry to reduce climate and societal impact in line with UN goals. The strategy will comprise adaptation of business models and working practices across the whole industry.
The Circular Fashion Innovation Network (CFIN)
The Circular Fashion Innovation Network (CFIN) is an industry-led programme led by the British Fashion Council (BFC) and UK Fashion and Textile (UKFT) in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to accelerate the UK towards a Circular Fashion Ecosystem.
The fashion industry is a very significant part of the UK economy, contributing £29 billion to the UK gross domestic product (The Economic Impact of The Fashion Industry, Oxford Economics, 2022). However, it is estimated that the consumption of new clothes in the UK is higher than any other European country (The Circular Fashion Ecosystem Report, Institute of Positive Fashion, 2021). High consumption is coupled with low usage and large amounts of waste - there is therefore an urgent need to convene stakeholders and enable an actions-oriented forum to further the sustainable fashion agenda.
IPF Forum 2023
On Thursday 20th April 2023, we hosted our third annual Institute of Positive Fashion Forum (IPF Forum) at 180 Studios, 180 The Strand, London. The event addressed the fashion industry’s most pressing climate-related challenges and saw key industry players, strategically convened from our expansive global network, come together to explore how to accelerate a circular fashion economy in the UK.
The action-oriented day-long event consisted of a series of visionary keynotes and panel discussions followed by ‘hack’ sessions, designed to bring together peers across the industry to collaborate for collective outcomes and fast-track positive change. This year’s event included the third iteration of the 2023 Innovation Showcase and a display from the Student Fabric Initiative which showcased student designs from BFC Colleges Council member universities using deadstock fabrics, powered by The Materialist. The IPF Forum’s Delivery Collaborator, Deloitte, led a workshop which focused on how businesses can embed low carbon practices into the supply chain. TrusTrace also led a workshop, which provided businesses with the tools to create successful traceability programs.