How is a yearning for the past impacting the wardrobes of Gens Y and Z? Why does gender-neutral and adaptive fashion need a stylistic shake-up? How are brands harnessing storytelling to attract values-led shoppers? And is upcycling really the solution to endless textile waste?
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Leanne Elliott Young is an industry lead, innovator, and highly sought-after commentator on the topics of fashion futures, digital innovations, inclusivity in tech, sustainability, fashion tech, and industry disruption. As the CEO and co-founder of the Institute of Digital Fashion, she works within strategic innovation for IRL x URL digital fashion creations and showcases. Young has spent 15 years inventing, incubating, and installing creative concepts for future-facing living and fusing the established with progressive, youth-centric points. Spearheading experiential marketing and strategy for Nike at the iconic Room 72, Young directed and rolled out experiences worldwide within the Global Entertainment and Marketing team.
Jordan Anderson is editor-at-large at NSS Magazine and online editor at Twin Magazine. As a fashion journalist and creative director, his work explores political themes in and outside the fashion industry including race, gender, identity, and brand and cultural ethics.
Dana Thomas is a fashion journalist and the New York Times bestselling author of Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes, Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, and Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Luster, all published by Penguin. She is also an expert in sustainability in fashion.
Rebecca Smith is the Head of Toolkit at Canvas8. With a background in psychology, she has worked with global clients such as Google, Nike, and Mars, exploring everything from what people want from a fake tan to Gen Z’s relationship with social media. Outside of work, you’ll find her binge-watching reality TV, listening to hyperpop, or with her nose buried in a fantasy novel.
Alex Strang is a senior insight editor at Canvas8 who used to be in a punk band that was signed, shaped, and spat out. He enjoys using his experience of being the product to help brands understand how to sell theirs. After studying philosophy and critical theory, he found his feet in the market research world and has been over-analysing consumer behaviour ever since, including his own. He can usually be found playing board games, watching Seinfeld, or trying too hard to make his daughter laugh.
