CO-ORGANISED BY REDRESS AND THE HONG KONG TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

Date: 21 January, 2015
Time: 11.30am-12.30pm
Location: Meeting Room N101B, The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Registration: Click here to register

E-Commerce: an exciting opportunity for sustainable fashion?

E-commerce is a booming market and customers around the world are increasingly walking away from shops and consuming from the comfort of their homes with the convenience of their phones. Within the rapidly expanding e-commerce landscape, apparel consumption already enjoys the largest sector share and is also anticipated to grow the fastest.

Can apparel e-commerce overcome some of the pitfalls currently experienced in traditional retail? Today’s far-reaching global customer base combined with ferociously fast changing trends can cause products to be ‘out of fashion’ before they even hit the shop floor. This leaves brands struggling to determine ideal order quantities, resulting in millions of unsold garments, financial loss and garment waste. Meanwhile, traditional fashion retail spaces are burdened by increasing economic and environmental costs to a business that is already struggling. Compounding the shop floor woes are fashion consumers themselves. Today, many consumers are more informed about style and sustainability and they wish to mirror their individual tastes by seeking personalised products whilst expecting to have more information about where their products came from.

So, can apparel e-commerce become an opportunity for sustainable fashion businesses? Can sustainable fashion businesses ride this e-commerce market wave whilst reducing their environmental impact and improving their customer relationship and experience?

This panel explored:

• Can a fashion business reduce their environmental impact through e-commerce?
• Can ‘made on demand’ products reduce waste?
• Can e-commerce make sustainable products more easily available?
• Can brands communicate more effectively with customers about product’s sustainability at online point of sales?
• How much of an opportunity is e-commerce specifically for sustainable fashion brands?

Panelists

Nin Castle, Founder and Creative Director, Goodone

Nin Castle is a London-based British-inspired fashion designer and the 2006 founder of multiple award winning independent fashion label, Goodone. Nin specialises in up-cycling and is famed for innovatively combining reclaimed textiles with new, locally produced British and sustainable fabrics. Her systematic approach to sustainable design has seen her launch collections for Topshop and Tesco.

Kei Chan, Head of Marketing APAC, Net-A-Porter

Kei Chan has over 14 years of experience in design, digital, brand communications and marketing. In her current role as Head of Marketing, APAC for NET-A-PORTER.COM, Kei oversees all marketing functions across Asia Pacific, including brand communications and marketing. Previously, Kei worked in a creatively driven global advertising agency in Shanghai, where she managed key accounts including Converse and Tiffany, and in Hong Kong she launched a boutique digital agency with a focus in online branding and communications. Kei was educated at Parsons School of Design in New York.

Ava Ho, Director of Marketing for North Asia, UPS

Ava Ho oversees Marketing Strategy and Brand for UPS in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Based in Hong Kong, she has close to 20 years of professional experience in a range of sales and marketing roles in high-tech and logistics. A hands-on leader, Ava has worked closely with clients to help them expand their business globally and is now responsible for marketing the UPS brand throughout the North Asia markets.

Tong Yeung, Director, TPASSION

Tong Yeung has a broad range of garment manufacturing and sustainability experience. Tong joined TPASSION, a garment manufacturer with 35 years of history, in 2011. Following this, he strengthened the company’s on-demand printing and fulfillment capabilities to give better supply chain support to online fashion businesses to achieve Just-In-Time. In addition, through their sister company, Mecilla Limited, Tong produces organic and in-conversion cotton in partnership with local farmers in rural China and Asia, following which he subsequently develops and designs the cotton fibres into textile products.

Moderator

Christina Dean, Founder and CEO, Redress

Christina Dean is a sustainable fashion advocate who founded Redress in 2007 in Hong Kong. She is a regular speaker at seminars, contributes opinion pieces and editorials to a wide range of magazines. She has received numerous recognitions, including Coco Eco’s ‘2010’s Most Influential Women in Green’ and by UK Vogue as one of the UK’s ‘Top 30 Inspirational Women’. Previously, Christina was an award winning journalist and a practicing dentist.