Asos hosts multibrand sustainability and ethics conference

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 26, 2018

Fashion e-tail giant Asos is hosting an event called The Future of Fashion: Transformation through Collaboration in central London on Wednesday to “bring together brands and inspiring individuals to engage in some of the most important topics facing the fashion industry.”

 
The full-day conference includes senior representatives from the company as well as from third-party brands who sell via the platform, such as Levi’s, Adidas, Nike, Puma, PVH, Miss Selfridge, G-Star, Boohoo, Missguided, and Fred Perry, along with other industry specialists and groups.

The subjects being covered include key issues such as workers' rights, purchasing practices, transparency, the changing consumer, circularity and sustainable materials in order “to establish best practice and build common commitments for collaboration in these areas.”

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Mass-market fashion retailers are increasingly taking deep dives into sustainability and the ethics of their businesses as their customers are ever more focused on the way those businesses conduct themselves.
 
Asos CEO Nick Beighton said: “We believe the future of fashion is ever-changing, unpredictable but most of all incredibly exciting. By working together, we believe we can deliver a systemic shift in the way our industry addresses key ethical trade and sustainability challenges and proactively design a future we all believe in.”

The event is part of the firm’s ‘Fashion with Integrity’ corporate responsibility strategy, which focuses on the impact the company makes on people and the planet. 

In recent months, this has seen Asos releasing its second Modern Slavery Statement and co-hosting a Modern Slavery event at the House of Lords to identify and address shared risks in the apparel sector. It has also begun piloting a training programme for its designers with the London College of Fashion, as part of its 2020 Circular Fashion Commitments.