UN’s Most Prominent Figures and VIPs Attend F4D’s Inaugural Sustainable Goals Banquet in New York
(New York, October 22, 2021) - Last evening F4D’s Inaugural Sustainable Goals Banquet gathered international UN ambassadors, VIPs, fashion industry leaders, political influencers, diplomats and prominent climate change spokespeople to recognize the importance of sustainable fashion and lifestyle practices. The dinner was held at the Pierre Hotel in New York City, with 60 notable guests in attendance including the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, Italy’s Ambassador to the UN, Maurizio Massari, Anthony Scaramucci, UNFPA Deputy Executive Director Diene Keita, Emanne Beasha, Harold O’Neal, Prada Group’s Marcelo Noschese, Peter Dupont, Breanna Box, and photographer Steven Klein. The evening was presented by host Evie Evangelou, who welcomed the guests and gave remarks on education and agenda setting on sustainable living issues, circular economy and the official launch of the global campaign "Sustainable Living is the New Fashion".
To kick off the night’s program, UN Ambassador of Italy, Maurizio Massari received a warm welcome as the banquet highlighted the importance of Italy’s participation in the UN's activities on the growing commitment and contribution to the pursuance of sustainability objectives.
“The achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals can only be possible if Governments and Institutions build credible partnerships with the civil society, the private sector, the young leaders and all the other social and economic forces of our societies. It also starts with our personal engagement as individuals. Italy, in partnering up with the United Nations for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, adopts a whole-of-society approach to make every stakeholder accountable. More than 400 Italian companies, as members of the Italian Network of the UN Global Compact, committed to advancing their business in full compliance and promotion of the SDGs and Human Rights. Moreover, the Italian Government regularly submits to the United Nations Voluntary National Reviews on sustainable development. Our post-COVID National Plan for Resilience and Recovery – in the context of the “NextGenerationEU” - broadly mirrors the 2030 Agenda, allocating nearly 70 billion Euros for the ecological transition (more than 30% of the total resources of the Plan) - Italy Ambassador to the United Nations, Maurizio Massari.
The banquet opened with a video featuring artist Milla Bubliy, and was followed by a video about ocean pollution. Renowned photographer Fadil Berisha and artist Milla Bubliy showcased their collaboration, Phoenix, in the form of an art projection.
In a video message, Livia Firth, F4D’s long standing Goodwill Ambassador, presented her latest collaboration with director Andrew Morgan for Eco Age’s documentary series, Fashionscapes. The new episode uncovers how fashion’s big chance to embrace circularity and escape a destructive take-make-and-waste model is being undermined by greenwash and oil, and why circular fashion is worth fighting for.
Citizen T, founded by artist Stephanie Dillon, presented unique hand painted jackets and recycled tees made in collaboration with Burnett New York and inspired by UN’s urgent commentary, ‘Code Red for Humanity’, and dangerous conditions around climate change.
During the evening, guests had the chance to enjoy a curated plant based menu by Il Gattopardo while they had the opportunity to observe new sustainable fashion collections by Burnett New York, Linea Pelle’s “A New Point of Materials”, ReClothe and natural beauty brand Bestir Apotheca.
The evening welcomed several influential guests from the world's top fashion houses, including Prada Group’s CEO of the Americas, Marcelo Noschese and Ferragamo’s US CFO Lorenzo Velardo, whose company released the following statement for the occasion:
“At Salvatore Ferragamo, sustainability has always been present as a behavioural model to be followed without compromise, and today sustainability is deeply integrated in our business strategy. This dedication to creativity, beauty, people, and planet, has been amplified over the last years, with numerous initiatives in the social and environmental fields. Among other initiatives, particular attention has been given to the introduction of responsible processes and responsible materials for our products; we have consolidated our tradition of experimentation, discovering and including alternative, regenerated, and circular materials in our collections”.
Simone Cipriani, a notable UN figure, was introduced by Evangelou. As a leading voice in the growing global movement for ethical supply chains, he spoke on the alliance between EFI and the United Nations, illustrated by a video on said issues.
WATCH SIMONE CIPRIANI VIDEO HERE
Dr. Sweta Chakraborty, globally recognized risk and behavioral scientist and expert on global climate change introduced Honorable Sherri Goodman, Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate and Security and Kathleen Rogers, President of Earth Day Network. Under her leadership, EDN has developed a significant role in advancing the new green economy and has emerged as a dynamic year-round policy and activist organization.
WATCH KATHLEEN ROGERS VIDEO SPEECH HERE
Evie Evangelou presented partner of the evening, Sanovita, a German company dedicated to designing the future to sustainably optimize soil, seeds, plants and prevent hunger, deforestation, water crisis, climate change, and biodiversity loss. The message featured founder and CEO Harold Breinlinger and promoted sustainable agriculture, land re-cultivation and healthy food production.
In a video message, Fulvia Bacchi, CEO of UNIC Italian Tanning Association and Lineapelle, highlighted the strong commitment of the Italian tannery industry towards the SDGs by the United Nations. This dedication is embodied by two high-quality projects: “A New Point of Materials by Lineapelle,” - the presentation of selected responsible and innovative materials, launched at Lineapelle and The Italian Cultural Institute of NY - and the support of the restoration of the tannery in the Pompeii site. Fabio Finotti of the Italian Institute of Culture in New York closed the evening’s speeches talking about the new way to experience fashion and the industry’s rebirth to be accompanied by our own interpretation of music.
The evening then concluded with the incredible performances of star pianist Harold O’Neal, who performed two of his own inventive classical piano pieces and then accompanied prodigious voice and talent, Emanne Beasha, who gave her personal soprano reinterpretations of three songs, from All The Sound of Music to Bryan Adams’ Everything I Do.
F4D partnered with the world's largest social network on climate action, We Don't Have Time (WDHT) to tap into its impressive network of active core members across 140+ countries with a 25M+ monthly social media reach.
For further information, in regards to F4D and the event’s partners please see below:
About Fashion 4 Development:
F4D is a private sector global platform founded by Evie Evangelou in cooperation with the Office of the UN Secretary-General in January 2011 to support the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and “Every Woman, Every Child”, the initiative spearheaded by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. F4D promotes positive social change with initiatives in over 20 countries and builds upon the core leadership principles of the 4Es: Educate, Empower, Enhance and Enrich. F4D’s mission is to activate creative partnerships and harness the power of the fashion and beauty industries for sustainable economic growth and independence of communities worldwide, through the expression of fashion. In 2015, F4D committed to support the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals with a significant focus on sustainable lifestyle practices for a healthier world, preservation of culture and women’s & children’s empowerment.
Special Thanks to:
United Nations Mission of Italy
Italian Institute of Culture New York
The Pierre Hotel
Non-Profit Organizations and Partners:
Eco Age
EFI
A New Point of Materials by Lineapelle
ReClothe
C.L.A.S.S. Ecohub
We Don’t Have Time
Switch 4 Good
Citizen T
Burnett New York
SanoVita
The Harmonist
Vets International
EVENT PHOTO GALLERY:
https://dam.gettyimages.com/assignments/f4d-sustainable-goals-banquet
Photo Credit:
Eugene Gologursky and Dave Kotinsky for Getty Images
For more information, please contact Elena Schelfhaut elena@violettagroup.com
