HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ETHICAL FASHION FORUM'S 2011 SOURCE EXPO

[Ethical Fashion Forum]

Now in the aftermath of the SOURCE expo (17th and 18th October) the EFF offices are still buzzing with all the follow up excitement. Industry professionals, exciting and innovative traders, packed out seminars, consultancy sessions and a running SOURCE cinema were some of the highlights of the 2 day event. The spacious Sadlers Wells venue offered four floors filled with over 60 exhibitors, suppliers of ethical, fair trade and eco fabrics, components, and manufacturing services, as well as cutting edge design in the Designer Pavilion, all from all over the world. 

This year we launched the SOURCE Cinema, Consultancy Couch, and Info point and many visitors returned for the second day, unable to fit everything into one day.  The dedicated screening area on the ground floor which was the SOURCE cinema screened the EFF's EXCELLENCE training videos on 'Marketing and Sales', 'Business'  and 'Sourcing' as well as live demonstrations and previews of the SOURCE Intelligence database. 

SOURCE INFO POINT HEADED BY THE MEMBERSHIP TEAM.

The Ethical Fashion Consultancy (EFC) couch at the EXPO was a great success. They managed to do 45 consultancy sessions and almost 75% of those are interested in receiving a formal consultancy session with many companies interested in consultancy packages.  Running topics headed by our EFC experts such as 'Sourcing and Supply Chain Traceability' and 'Fashion Retail Strategy' meant one to one sessions filled up quickly.  As you can imagine, the next few weeks will be a busy time for the EFC.

Ongoing throughout the Source Expo was the intensive seminar program which highlighted specific industry movements and popular discussion topics such as 'The Cotton Debate' and 'India: Scaling up and Skilling up'.  The first day of seminars ended in a packed out panel discussion headed by four expert pioneers in the field of ethical/sustainable fashion - from Simon Ferrigno's cotton expertise to Summer Rayne Oakes, founder of Source4Style, an online platform connecting ethical supply with demand.  There was an engaging interaction between panel and audience, providing a fluid discussion on an array of topics surrounding the inevitable global movement of ethical fashion.

BACK ROW SEATS AT THE VERY FULL 'PRODUCING SUSTAINABILITY FOR THE HIGH STREET' SEMINAR. 

 Attended by industry buyers and educational institutions, the Source Expo this year was a huge success. To allow exhibitors and visitors to the Ethical Fashion SOURCE Expo to connect, liaise and share information, we’ve created a group on our network.

We’d like to thank everyone who attended or exhibited at the event, it was a great success and we couldn’t have done it without you all. 

Watch this space for more information on the event- including photo gallery, filming of seminars and of the event, networking group and more.