This month, I am working alongside DeFINE to bring an interactive event designed to speed up and scale fashion-tech startups in Europe. For those who are not familiar with DeFINE, it is a three year (2018-2021) collaborative project co-funded by the European Commission’s COSME programme that aims to foster a fashion-tech innovation network throughout Europe.
Taking place on 29th April 2021, the DeFINE Forum 2021 conference will be made up of innovators, incubators, financiers and game-changers in the fashion-tech space. Challenging the status quo by bringing, to the forefront, the opportunity to connect with progressive fashion-tech start-ups, the interactive event will be exploring strategies and ideas from experts in this space.
A Fresh Perspective on Fashion Tech’s Challenges and Benefits
Driven to challenge, connect, and create, the DeFINE Forum, organised by EBN and hosted on the virtual events platform Hopin, will feature high-profile speakers from the H&M Foundation, LVMH, Fashion Innovation Agency and more. As a moderator of the event, I look forward to highlighting strategies, examining technological challenges and discovering market opportunities designed to propel business innovations forward.
In the morning, the DeFINE Forum 2021 will explore the latest innovation and market trends in Fashion-Tech. When it comes to the growth of the fashion tech sector in Europe, innovation has brought much-needed improvements to the fashion industry. Although some of the technology is relatively still at the early stage, some fashion businesses can, through experimentation or knowledge-sharing, still reap some real growth opportunities from the new technologies. As European inventors, groundbreakers, and pioneers of tomorrow continue to drive forward the fusion of cutting-edge technologies with fashion with their fresh perspective, what are the challenges and the benefits of investing in these innovations.
The afternoon sessions will examine the best set of tools for supporting Fashion-tech start-ups, with a special focus on the support provided by incubators, accelerators, and policymakers (at a national and EU level). Navigating through the volatile fashion-tech space can require a tailored approach built on advice and guidance. Many transformative ideas have become great through support, mentoring and coaching from experts from the fashion industry, the startup scenes, and good policy. Exploring the importance of innovation and business support for fashion-tech communities, the conversation will focus on the key drivers aiding the evolution of fashion tech.
The DeFINE project aims to support the fusion of cutting-edge technologies with the European fashion and design industries. Over the past three years DeFINE has developed a network of incubators and accelerators, start-ups and SMEs, and financiers to form a European fashion-technology community where cross-sectoral knowledge can be shared, ideas can grow and transnational collaboration can be nurtured.
Whether you are an innovator, incubator, financier, early adopter or game-changer in the fashion tech space interested in exploring and developing new connections, we invite you to register your interest. We look forward to welcoming you to the DeFINE Forum 2021: Speed Up and Scale Fashion-Tech in Europe.