EFI at Fashion for Development Sustainable Goals Banquet in NYC
F4D’s Inaugural Sustainable Goals Banquet gathered international UN ambassadors, VIPs, fashion industry leaders, political influencers, diplomats and prominent climate change spokespeople to recognise 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.
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’s contribution here.
“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 greenwashing 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.
