Alexander Taylor is an industrial designer, innovator and creative director, who founded his design studio in 2002 and more recently, ATID, a sustainably conscious technical apparel label, in 2020. He creates product informed by research, development and considered collaborations, always working towards the most appropriate and innovative solutions. Taylor has been a consultant for adidas since 2008 and has developed technologies such as PrimeKnit, which was hailed as one of the most sustainable and innovate shoes produced by the brand. His studio collaborated on the adidas x Parley shoes presented at the United Nations Climate Change Summit in 2015 and he continues to be an Ambassador for Parley for the Oceans. He has developed new and challenging products for Hunter Wellington Boots and collaborated with Joachim de Callatay on Stella McCartney men’s footwear. Taylor has also designed furniture and lighting for some of Europe’s leading design manufacturers and his Fold Light was acquired by MoMA and the Chicago Institute of Design for their permanent collections. He has won the Designer of the Future Award at Design Miami Basel and was a visiting professor at the ECAL (2008-2016) and Royal College of Art (2013-2015).
Anna Balez is CEO and founder of Lizee, the software that gives brands and retailers access to the circular economy for their customers. This engineer, committed entrepreneur and passionate about innovation and industrial processes, is convinced that in 10 years the production of new objects will have been halved. According to Anna, the world of tomorrow will necessarily be a world of sharing in which consumption models will be more virtuous for everyone and more ecological.
Paul is a regular speaker on sustainable design and new materials. In recent years he has been a vocal advocate of circularity, lecturing at universities and talking at industry events. He is a member of IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment).
Paul has advised a number of NGOs on sustainability, packaging and the circular economy which led him in 2018 to found the Sustainable Design Alliance, an international alliance of sustainable design professionals working on global solutions for a healthier planet.
His area of expertise is raw materials, food & beverage, apparel and footwear. His particular focus is NextGen fibre recycling, composting, biomaterials, and new material development. Much of his work is mentoring businesses in the supply chain and disposal chain, including reuse and novel materials.
Felix is the Chief Commercial Officer and Co-founder of Reflaunt. Felix is an ex New York State lawyer who after practising commercial litigation co-founded several startups including Voicepolls and Votebox. Felix has extensive experience in growth, sales and online marketing.
Reflaunt bring “resell as a service” to brands and retailers allowing them to easily get into the second hand trade. Reflaunt provides several options, so retailers can find the best way to integrate resell as part of their customer journey. Reflaunt’s core product is the “smart button” (plug in) which integrate its self in existing customer account on the retailer e-commerce. The “smart button” allows customers to push products for resell on a network of third party platform specialised in second hand resell. Reflaunt can also help retailer set up a buy back program or consignment service. These services are made to be seamlessly integrated so brand and retailers can maintain the standards of their brand identity. Each model is built around a store credit scheme made to improve customer retention. Reflaunt’s aim is to allow brands and retailers to implement this new business model with ease and at a minimum cost.
Geraldine Wharry is a fashion futurist, futures designer, public speaker, educator and community leader whose foresight, cultural theory and future scenarios have been implemented by brands, institutions and innovation agencies. Through the school and community she founded, the Trend Atelier, she has dedicated herself to future’s literacy and challenging the role of futurists. Her thoughts on futures at the crossroads of boundary pushing design, systems change and planetary imperatives have been featured on global stages and by leading publications. As a fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and founding member of Fashion Act Now, Geraldine has dedicated herself to supporting systemic change, as well as social and climate justice.
Josephine Philips is the founder & CEO of Sojo, a startup re-inventing the clothing repair and tailoring industry. Having launched the UK’s first clothing alterations and repairs app in early 2021, Sojo now works with eCom fashion brands to help them reduce returns and increase circularity through an integrated and scalable repairs & alteration service.
With a 15+ year background of Textile Science & Innovation Management with Global Fashion Brands and a foundation of hands on textile knowledge from the factory floor to the design studio, Waji / Wajahat** understood the challenges of the global Fashion market and the relationship of the consumer wear to waste pile.
Waji is the Co-Founder of BIORESTORE, originally from Pakistan, now based in Stockholm, Sweden.
BIORESTORE is a patent pending home laundry Re-Tergent that renews, revives and restores old, worn clothing to new.
Frustrated by the lifestyle to landfill relationship to clothing, BIORESTORE was developed by a team of Fashion & Textile Industry experts as a simple, effective and sustainable way to prolong the life of garments, whilst reducing resource use & textile waste.
BIORESTORE is a H&M Foundation ‘’Global Change Award 2022’’ winning & ’’Norrsken Impact 100’’ nominated product, which was successfully launched on Kickstarter being selected as ‘’Project We Love’’.
With an UK & EU product launch in 2022, BIORESTORE is ‘What the planet needs, & your wardrobe favorites deserve.’
Conscious Innovator, Impact Entrepreneur and Transformational Mentor
Sara Simmonds is a Conscious Innovator Transformational Mentor and Founder Of The Sara Simmonds Product Innovation Consultancy. Sara pivots conscious leaders and their businesses to supercharge their impact by teaching them how to unlock their unique power and purpose, hone in on their hero products, and stand for innovation and meaning.
Sara is a Winner of Grazia Magazines award for Product innovation for The launch of Sustainable Fashion Brand Sharkah Chakra which re-imagined denim to be sustainable, hand made and conscious. Sara is a former head buyer for Harvey Nichols and River Island as well as being a global speaker and advocate for conscious consumerism.
Céline Dassonville is dedicated to fostering positive transformation of our economy and to act as a change agent of the environmental and social transition. She’s a supporter of an impact based and incremental change approach to reach sustainability.
She champions disruptive ideas that positively impact our world by working hand in hand with start-ups, NGO’s, ESS businesses and think tanks.
Born and raised in Nice, France, Paula has lived in Asia for almost a decade, studying at Hong Kong University and later moving to Singapore to start her career as a consultant in circular economy.
She worked on projects across Asia in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, Hong Kong consulting for MNCs such as Unilever, P&G and Danone.
Her dream is to make sustainability more mainstream and attractive for everyone through smart design and communications.