Gran Canaria to host the 1st European Fashion Alliance Summit as part of Fashion Swim Week
2022-10-11
"At the beginning of my term of office, at a meeting between myself and the president, Antonio Morales, I told him that my dream was to achieve two objectives: for Gran Canarian fashion to be present at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Madrid, and to position Gran Canarian fashion in Europe. I would like to thank the work of the team for having achieved these goals," said the Councillor for Industry, Minerva Alonso, at the presentation of the programme of the 1st European Fashion Alliance Summit, which will take place this month in Gran Canaria.
The president of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales, highlighted during his speech that the island's institution and the European Fashion Alliance (EFA) are organising the first summit of the recently constituted European Fashion Alliance on our island on 19 and 20 October, "which will not only place the island of Gran Canaria at the epicentre of European fashion, but will also enable its participation and cooperation in a key network to promote fashion on our island".
Gran Canaria has entered the European fashion scene in its own right and, as a result of the contacts initiated both at the Berlin Fashion Week and in Italy with numerous industry players, has managed to attract attention to the island's catwalk as a benchmark for European swimwear and to host, as part of this event, on 19 and 20 October, the first summit of the European Fashion Alliance, a transnational organisation made up of European fashion councils and institutions from the 28 most influential countries in the sector, who are meeting with the aim of joining forces to defend the transition of the sector towards a more sustainable, innovative, inclusive and creative future and who will have the opportunity to get to know the business opportunities of the island and the catwalk itself first hand.
The summit will feature renowned speakers from across Europe and abroad who will give talks and workshops on four themes: education, sustainability, innovation and policy design.
In short, according to the Regional Minister of Industry, Trade and Crafts, Minerva Alonso, the aim is to promote the fashion industry, its players and activities, as well as business creativity and the capacity for innovation through the promotion that the Alliance itself can make, making it a "platform for the creation of professional networks and communication at European level", she explained, "so as to facilitate the transfer of information, know-how or best practices between all the member countries and their creators".
The result of the talks, workshops and presentations of successful case studies that will be offered on each of these four major themes, will be the actions that the Alliance will carry out in the future to achieve these objectives.
The president of the Chamber of Commerce of Gran Canaria, Luis Padrón, highlighted the close collaboration between his institution and the Cabildo, which in this case means "a great agreement in the international arena, a very important event that if we were to make a tennis simile, we could say that we will have the top twenty rackets in the world on the island, due to the influence of the people who will come to Gran Canaria".
Prestigious speakers who will get to know the island and the catwalk
The Cabildo has invited prestigious speakers such as Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth of the European Commission, and Ruth Reichstein, from the Advisory Council of the President of the European Union, Green Deal and New European Bauhaus (European Innovation and Sustainability Strategy). There are also members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, the Berlin Economic Senate, the Global Fashion Agenda, Pisco & Company and the Digital Fashion Group.
All attendees will have the opportunity not only to get to know the island with special emphasis on the business opportunities it offers, but also to experience the professionalism of the Gran Canaria Swim Week as a reference catwalk in swimwear fashion on the continent.
In addition, the summit, with top-level guests, will be an unprecedented opportunity to establish contacts and create a network that everyone will be able to take advantage of after the event.
Regarding the programme, the summit opens on the 19th at 9:15 a.m. with a speech by the president of the Cabildo, Antonio Morales; that morning, in addition to workshops and presentations by different organisations, there will be an interview with European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel by Bianca Lang, editor-in-chief of S-Magazin, on current issues for the fashion sector, such as the new European Bauhaus - a cultural initiative to create sustainable cities - and the Green Deal - strengthening sustainable and ecological structures.
In the afternoon, the Berlin Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises, Michael Biel, and Maria Luisa Martinez, Director of Public Affairs at the Global Fashion Agenda, among others, will present facts and figures on sustainability in fashion and textiles.
The following day, the Councillor for Industry, Trade and Crafts of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria will present the Gran Canaria Moda Cálida programme and the institution's strategy in the fashion sector, followed by a Gran Canaria Swimweek round table with the participation of Araceli Díaz, Director of Gran Canaria Moda Cálida; Pepa Bueno, Director General of the Asociación de Creadores de Moda de España and Begoña Cañete, Director of the International Department of the Gran Canaria Chamber of Commerce.
Ruth Reichstein, from the Advisory Council of the President of the European Union, Green Deal Commission and New European Bauhaus, will present the data and the EU's textile policy strategy.
Success stories on sustainability will include Cecilie Thorsmark, Director of Copenhagen Fashion Week, Simon Gryspeert, Project Director Flanders DC, and Jennie Rosèn, Director General of the Swedish Fashion Council.
Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council, Christiane Arp, President of the German Fashion Council and Steven Kolb, Director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America will speak on the role of Fashion Weeks in the modern fashion industry at a panel discussion.
All the guests will come to Gran Canaria Swim Week to attend the fashion show.
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