Sustainable fashion hit the catwalk on Thursday night as part of the “Why It Matters” Conference held by UVU and the United Nations. The show featured popular designers, including Lakshmi and Juan Pablo Socarrás.
Sustainable fashion hit the catwalk at Utah Valley University (UVU) on Thursday night as part of the “Why It Matters” Conference held by UVU and the United Nations. The conference focuses on the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which include consumption and production. The show featured popular designers, including Lakshmi and Juan Pablo Socarrás.
Conference organizers partnered with Women Together, an organization based in Spain that supports and empowers Colombian women to design and sell their art and fashion. Women Together founder Joana Caparros Masip opened the fashion show with remarks in Spanish about her organization’s mission and goals. The organization focuses on providing resources for single or widowed women who are the primary breadwinners of their households. It allows women to use their beading and weaving skills to build financial independence. “We think we want to be sustainable; this is the reality… we will continue to make these women able to weave their future [translated].”
Designer Lakshmi featured her Phoenix Collection, which was composed of abstract gold jewelry made of sustainable materials such as paper and roots. Describing her collection, Lakshmi said, “I want to convey a message of much love, of much respect for the planet, and of great care with it [translated].”
Closing the show was respected Colombian designer Juan Pablo Socarrás. His collection featured dynamic materials, shapes, and colors. Addressing the crowd, Socarrás detailed the importance of providing women with work opportunities and adequate compensation.
Former United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) staff member Susana San-Vargas supports Women Together and attended the show. When asked about the importance of sustainable fashion, San-Vargas said, “Through these designers, they’re working with the local communities — with the people that don’t have access to education. They give them hope, they give them access, and it lets them use their talent.”
OneMeta provided its cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology, Verbum, for the event to produce live language interpretation in 82 different languages.
