Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI) has revealed its plans for the upcoming 2022 CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards, which is set to be held on September 25 at La Scala Theatre in Milan, coinciding with the end of Milan Fashion Week.

The event will be hosted in collaboration with the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) of the United Nations, with support from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The Sustainable Fashion Awards, the Oscars of sustainable fashion assigned by the Italian Chamber of Fashion, will return to the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 25 September.

The September appointment, which will take place at the end of Milan Fashion Week, marks the entry of new partners such as the United Nations Ethical Fashion Initiative, which together with the Chamber of Fashion, will study a preliminary due diligence framework to measure sustainability of the sector and award prizes.

A collaborare con Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana per questa quinta edizione del premio, che segue quella del 2020 andata in scena in versione digitale a causa della pandemia, vi è Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) delle Nazioni Unite, un programma dell’International Trade Center, che supporterà il premio anche con la creazione di due diligence ESG che misureranno la sostenibilità del settore per l’assegnazione degli award. Simone Cipriani, Direttore & Fondatore dell’Ethical Fashion Initiative, ha spiegato: “Assieme a CNMI vogliamo aprire la strada a una sostenibilità che sia trasparente e basata su un serio sistema di indicatori di performance. L’industria sarà pronta alla prossima legislazione EU sul corporate reporting con un sistema di Due Diligence ESG co-creato con l’industria.

Un concetto ribadito da Simone Cipriani, Direttore & Fondatore dell’Ethical Fashion Initiative, partner di CNMI in questo evento: «L’industria sarà pronta alla prossima legislazione EU sul corporate reporting con un sistema di Due Diligence ESG concreto con l’industria. Il tempo sta per finire se vogliamo fare azioni serie sull’ESG nella moda, e questa è la strada da seguire».

MILAN — After a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic and a digital-only event in 2020, the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana Sustainable Fashion Awards are returning IRL on Sept. 25 at the tail end of Milan Fashion Week with their fifth edition, to be held at

Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI), in collaboration with the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) of the United Nations, a programme of the International Trade Center and with the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Italian Trade Agency and Milan City Council, has organized the press conference for the presentation of the ceremony of the 2022 CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards, which will be held on 25th September 2022 at La Scala Theatre in Milan, at the end of the Milano Fashion Week.

La data da segnare sul calendario col pennarello rosso è quella del 25 settembre 2022. In chiusura della settimana della moda milanese si terranno infatti i Sustainable Fashion Awards in una cornice di assoluto prestigio come il Teatro alla Scala di Milano. Sono passati dieci anni esatti da quando Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana pubblicava nel 2012 il suo primo manifesto della sostenibilità.

I temi sono quelli cari sin dall’inizio alla Camera della Moda Italiana, con l’aggiunta di un focus sulla circolarità i 3 capi saldi cari alla Macarthur foundation: 1. Eliminare l’inquinamento, 2. Far circolare i materiali, 3. Rigenerare la natura, come ha spiegato Laura Balmond Project Manager per “Make Fashion Circular” alla Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

D’altronde, come ha sottolineato Simone Cipriani, Direttore & Fondatore dell’Ethical Fashion Initiative durante la conferenza stampa di oggi, «L’industria italiana nella moda impatto mondiale», fungere da esempio per gli altri settori è essenziale.

“La moda di alta gamma si produce per il 70 per cento in Italia – ha ricordato Capasa – ed è giusto che questa rivoluzione etico-sociale parta da qui. Il nostro è un processo di rinnovamento iniziato nel 2012 con il “Manifesto della sostenibilità” voluto da me e Anna Zegna.

L’Ethical Fashion Initiative ha l’obiettivo di creare e rafforzare le imprese sociali nelle economie emergenti collegando marchi internazionali con designer, artigiani e micro-produttori locali di talento.

All’interno del panorama moda che cerca sempre più di far fronte alle problematiche di disuguaglianza e di garantire uno sviluppo sostenibile, l’Ethical Fashion Initiative decide di porre attenzione sui giovani talenti africani rimanendo così in linea con i propri obiettivi.

The whole reason for going in the first place was a presentation that was taking place with the support of the Ethical Fashion Initiative. We’ve been part of them for going on three years now. What they wanted to do was to showcase African designers to the larger fashion market. We are expanding it to show how craft can live within contemporary design.There’s always such a weird misconception about craft and how there’s not enough refinement to it. The idea is to really shift that paradigm.

En 2006, el exejecutivo en marcas de lujo Simone Cipriani creó Ethical Fashion Initiative, una plataforma que une marcas de todo tipo con artesanos refugiados o en riesgo de exclusión, en su mayoría procedentes de África Central, pero también de Siria, Afganistán o América Latina. “Hemos regenerado el capital social de muchas familias”, asegura. Trabajan con Camper, Stella McCartney o Vivienne Westwood, y dan soporte financiero e industrial para alumbrar firmas propias, como Indego, una marca de accesorios y ropa de hogar creada por refugiadas burundesas.

In parallel, other Africa-focused initiatives are emerging. For example, Fashionomics Africa, an e-marketplace run by the African Development Bank and its partners, has launched a new sustainable fashion competition with a $6,000 prize. While the mission of UN-linked Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) is to help African-based designers set up in business. Working as an incubator, EFI aims to generate business opportunities while showcasing creativity and talent in a variety of sectors including art, photography, film and music. EFI works with private industry to strengthen Africa’s culture sector and boost the continent’s cultural exports.

The EFI, a public-private partnership founded by Simone Cipriani that falls under the United Nations umbrella, launched an accelerator programme in 2019. Alumni include 2021 LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Prize winner Lukhanyo Mdingi, from South Africa. This year its list of designers includes Laurenceairline, whose founder is based between Côte d’Ivoire and Paris; Kente Gentlemen, another Côte d’Ivoire-based brand; Kenyan womenswear brands Hamaji and Katush; Kenyan accessories brands Suave and Jiamini; Abidjan-based jewellery brand Ohiri; and Burundi’s Margaux Wong. Lukhanyo Mdingi and Kente Gentlemen declined to share sales figures. Laurenceairline predicts 20 per cent sales growth this year.

L’anno successivo, invece, abbiamo dato avvio a un progetto con Mygrants, “Fashion Deserves the World”, che, in un’ottica di accoglienza di migranti e rifugiati politici, ha lo scopo ultimo di agevolare l’inserimento nelle realtà industriali e creative italiane di nuovi talenti internazionali, mentre insieme a EFI (the Ethical Fashion Initiative – ITC) abbiamo lanciato il primo ESG Due Diligence and Reporting Framework per l’industria della moda, ospitando il Milan Climate & Fashion Talks, nel quale si è discusso il rapporto tra moda e crisi climatica in vista del COP26.

The ultimate goal is to create fair and safe working conditions and to encourage independent entrepreneurship, while giving visibility and credit to millenary techniques. When a garment is made by workers with a dignified trade and with a purpose, all that knowledge is reflected in the piece.

Cartieraè un laboratorio di Marzabotto (Bologna) che impiega e forma persone in condizioni di svantaggio, soprattutto rifugiati e richiedenti asilo, affinché imparino le tecniche artigiane da maestri pellettieri. Lavorano con materiali di fine produzione di grandi aziende della moda e sono parte del circuito Ethical Fashion Initiative delle Nazioni Unite.

For its first event at Paris Fashion Week, the Ethical Fashion Initiative, a partnership created under the auspices of the UN, held a party to honor young African designers. With the fashion world seeking to address issues of inequality and sustainability, the decision to shine a spotlight on these young talents was very much in keeping with the organization’s objectives and the industry’s desire for a new direction. Among the labels on show from across Africa were Hamaji, Katush, Kente Gentlemen, Laurenceairline and Lukhanyo Mdingi, representing ready-to-wear, and Jiamini, Margaux Wong, Ohiri and Suave with accessories.

Horizon: Ethical Fashion Initiative for African Brands ha svelato a Parigi, durante la settimana della moda, una selezione di brand di moda africana – prêt-à-porter, borse e gioielli – capaci di valorizzare l’artigianato, le culture e le potenzialità del continente africano.

Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) con a capo Simone Cipriani è da sempre impegnata a connettere le comunità di artigiani emarginati in località difficili e remote con marchi di lifestyle globali per offrire alle popolazioni un’opportunità per migliorare le loro vite e allo stesso tempo per accendere i riflettori della moda mondiale su skill artigiane, tradizioni, materiali e processi creativi che rischierebbero di andare perduti.

5 jeunes créateurs de la mode africaine à suivre de près cette année
Fondée par Simone Cipriani sous le patronage du Centre du commerce international, l’initiative EFI aide les jeunes marques africaines à se développer à une échelle internationale. Cette année, 9 créateurs issus du programme Designer Accelerator ont pu mettre en avant leur travail lors d’une présentation inédite, orchestrée pendant la semaine de la mode parisienne. Parmi eux, 5 étaient spécialisés dans le prêt-à-porter : Laurenceairline, Kente Gentlemen, Hamaji, Katush et Lukhanyo Mdingi.

The Ethical Fashion Initiative brought together its best and brightest at a soiree showcase for its first official event on the Paris Fashion Week calendar.

“This is the best group of designers we have accelerated,” said program chief technical adviser Simone Cipriani. “We wanted them to be here in fashion week because these people are not only designers, in their own countries they’re agents of change. We find that this new generation of creative talents have something to say in the world of today.”

The Horizon: Ethical Fashion Initiative for African Brands Fall/Winter 2022 presentation was held at The Norm in Paris, where nine designers, all based and producing in African countries, presented collections ranging from ready-to-wear, to bags and jewelry. This was the initiative’s first show in Paris, on the official fashion week calendar.

Designers featured included LAURENCEAIRLINE, KENTE GENTLEMEN, LUKHANYO MDINGI, HAMAJI KATUSH, OHIRI, SUAVE, MARGAUX WONG, and JIAMINI.

EFI creates and strengthens social enterprises in emerging economies to connect international fashion houses and brands with talented local designers, artisans, and micro-producers. They promote value in a virtuous circle that creates not just premium products, but also stable, dignified work, and creative and resilient women, men, and communities.

Polimoda ha assegnato, grazie a una speciale partnership con Ethical Fashion Initiative, tre borse di studio ad altrettanti fashion designer del Kenya, con l’obiettivo di creare una connessione tra le industrie della moda di Firenze e Nairobi. I tre designer kenioti del EFI Accelerator Programme si chiamano Katungulu Mwendwa (Katush), Louise Sommerlatte (Hamaji) e Mohamed Awale (Suave) e hanno ricevuto una borsa di studio per otto settimane di formazione specialistica presso il campus Polimoda.

The Ethical Fashion Initiative is a United Nations program that enables artisans in marginalized conditions to be a permanent part of the supply chain of some international brands and retailers. Speaking with The Ethical Fashion Initiative’s founder, Simone Cipriani, gives insight into the work of this UN program and the good it does worldwide.

Key to developing all of this has been Mdingi’s two-year involvement with the Ethical Fashion Initiative, the fashion arm of the UN spearheaded by Simone Cipriani. “It connects with different pockets of textile communities within Africa, Central Asia, as well as Haiti. The idea is to work with marginalized groups that focus on working with contemporary African designers such as our label, other African labels, and also labels abroad, such as Westwood,” Mdingi explains.

Ethical Fashion Initiative and Polimoda have announced a partnership that will award scholarships to 3 Kenyan fashion designers, building links between the fashion industries of Florence and Nairobi.

Ethical Fashion Initiative e Polimoda annunciano una partnership per l’assegnazione di tre borse di studio ad altrettanti fashion designer del Kenya, con l’obiettivo di creare una connessione tra le industrie della moda di Firenze e Nairobi.

Mdingi, one of the three joint winners of the Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize at the LVMH ceremony in September, was inspired by a recent visit to Burkina Faso, where he produces part of his men’s and women’s collections as part of a partnership with the Ethical Fashion Initiative.

The Kenyan designers will participate in 8 weeks of tailor-made training at the institution’s renowned campus in Italy.

Ethical Fashion Initiative and Polimoda have announced a partnership that will award scholarships to 3 Kenyan fashion designers, building links between the fashion industries of Florence and Nairobi.