Featured Speakers
Nick Hahn Founder, Hahn International Ltd.
Nick Hahn has decades of experience working as a motivational keynote speaker, association executive for non-profit organizations, global apparel marketer, textile fiber merchandiser, and adviser to third-world farmers on supply chain competitiveness. During his tenure as CEO of Cotton, Inc., Hahn was inducted into the Apparel Industry Hall of Fame and was honored as one of the 25 Most Influential Leaders in American Textiles by Textile World Magazine. http://www.hahnmanagement.com
Amy DuFault
Editor-in-Chief, EcoSalon.com
Amy DuFault has been working in the sustainable fashion industry for more than six years. In addition to her work editing and writing about fashion, DuFault has worked as a representative for more than 15 fashion labels, co-owned an eco-boutique, done PR coaching for a number of fashion labels, and served as a vital connector and resource within the worldwide sustainable fashion industry. DuFault has been writing about fashion and design at such publications as Boston Magazine and Coastal Living, as well as appearing on ABC’s Emmy award-winning Boston news magazine Chronicle and NBC’s “Style File” as a fashion expert. When not falling in love with beautiful clothes, she can be found supporting green business, fashion, and community development, and dreaming of the day when she’ll overcome stage fright enough to get up and sing with her husband’s band. http://www.ECOSALON.com
Christine Helm
Enterprise Center Coordinator, Fashion Institute of Technology
Christine Helm is coordinator of the FIT Enterprise Center where she develops credit and non--credit programs for creative entrepreneurs and those who need to update their software repertoire. Sustainability, Social media, Web Analytics and SEO has become important to both groups. In both credit and non-- credit programs she has created online learning opportunities and a new program for emerging fashion talent, Design Entrepreneurs NYC, an extended online independent study. She earned an M.A. in Anthropology and Education and M.Ed. in Applied Anthropology at Teachers College, Columbia University. http://www.fitnyc.edu/6564.asp
Holly Henderson
Assistant Adjunct Professor, Fashion Institute of Technology
Founder and Creative Director, Simply Natural Clothing
President, Holly Henderson Consulting, LLC
Holly Henderson has been an adjunct faculty member at FIT since 1997 in the Textile/Surface Design program and has been involved in developing continuing education seminar programs and online courses in design, product development, and sustainability. She also teaches Fashion Technology at Buffalo State College. Henderson is a Fashion Design graduate of FIT who has worked professionally for global companies as well as in her own businesses for more than 30 years. She is an expert in industrial technology applications and creator of the first CAD studio in New York City in 1988. Henderson has also been involved with sustainable textile product development for many years and has strong interest in Made in USA initiatives. Being a nature lover and alpaca fan inspired her to create a sustainable fashion collection, Simply Natural Clothing, combining ecology with the latest in whole garment knit technology. “Technology and the environment have been my passion. It’s now that I see how the two shall meet.” http://simplynaturalclothing.com/
Georgia Kalivas
USA Representative, Institute for Marketecology (IMO)
Associate Adjunct Professor, Fashion Institute of Technology
Georgia Kalivas is a coordinator and inspector for the IMO, one of the most renowned international agencies for inspection, certification, and quality assurance of eco-friendly products. She performs third-party inspections for organizations wishing to be certified according to the Global Organic Textile Standard, the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP), and other organic standards, as well as for the IMO Fair Trade and Social Accountability standard, Fair for Life. Kalivas also teaches in the Textile Development and Marketing Department at FIT and is a founding member of the FIT Sustainability Group.
Rachel Miller
Artist, Educator & Researcher
Rachel Miller's work focuses on environmental patterns and how they interconnect with our own patterns of growth, departure, and rejuvenation. Using both the body and landscape as cynosure and subject, she coalesces topics from ritual, archeology, architecture, travel, textiles, and nature. Her works, which include sculpture, installation, performance and costume, examine the constant resurfacing of the past, and its integration with the present. Concurrent with her studio practice, Miller teaches and lectures at various institutions, including coursework in Sustainable Design in the Fashion Department at Pratt Institute, NY; Sustainable Design Entrepreneurs program at FIT in New York, and the Fiber Department at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She has also worked in India, where she has done extensive research, in addition to teaching textile design / fibers to university students. Miller's work has been published, commissioned, and reviewed internationally, and is included in both public and private collections. http://www.rachel-miller.com/
Chuck Stewart
President, Tumbling Colors
Chuck Stewart grew up in the shadows of Cannon Mills in Concord, North Carolina. He earned his B.S. in Textile Chemistry from North Carolina State Univerwity in 1977, followed by an M.S. in Textile Engineering from Georgia Tech in 1979. Stewart's father also graduated from NCSU and spent his entire career as a dyer for Cannon. Stewart's professional career includes positions as Technical Promotions Manager in Textile Dyes for Ciba Geigy; Technical Partner in FabriCare Garment Dye and Denim Laundry; Vice President of Technical Sales/Service for Wink Davis Dye Equipment; Technical Sales/Service Garment Wet Processing Chemicals at High Point Chemical; and Senior International Group Leader, Textile Enzymes for Novo Nordisk. Stewart started Tumbling Colors in 1999 as a technical resource for designers, retailers, textile fabric producers, and everyone else needing private wet development for color and finishing. http://tumblingcolors.com/
Shona Barton Quinn
Sustainability Leader, Eileen Fisher Inc.
Shona Quinn is the sustainability leader at Eileen Fisher where her work focuses on guiding the company’s environmental strategy. Her research is primarily focused on the ecological aspects of clothing. This includes exploring material selection, life-cycle thinking, and consumer behavior. Some specific projects include: tracking progress of eco-product (and their new recycled clothing project), joining BICEP (Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy) to support national legislation for meaningful climate legislation, partnering with dyehouses on chemical screenings, and sharing supply chain stories through short videos. Shona’s 15-year career with leading clothing companies, including Anne Klein, Calvin Klein Jeans, and Macy’s Specialty Stores, has provided her with a diverse background in the apparel industry, including work in fabric research, product development, merchandising, and buying. Shona received her bachelor of science degree in international trade from the Fashion Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in environmental management from Yale University. http://www.eileenfisher.com
Anthony Lilore
Founder, RESTORE Clothing
Anthony Lilore is a designer with expertise in fashion design, sustainability, process, and manufacturing. He is also a critic and mentor with more than 25 years industry experience spanning every aspect of concept development, branding, design, and production. Lilore is a member of the original Club Monaco design team in Toronto. He served as Director or Technical Design at Perry Ellis and is co-founder, designer, creative director, and producer of the innovative, versatile, eco-active lifestyle clothing brand RESTORE Clothing. RESTORE Clothing strives to provide accountability, transparency, and vetted supply/value chain for end-user "peace of mind." The brand's vision is to help people enhance their lives and those of others through mindful product choices. Lilore's awards include: Sustainability All Star - Apparel Magazine 2011 and Top 40 Innovator - Apparel Magazine 2009. http://shop.restoreclothing.com/
Jennifer Gootman
Executive Director, Global Goods Partners
Jennifer Gootman has ten years experience working with economic development and arts-focused non-profits and social enterprises. Prior to joining GGP, Gootman was the deputy director of City Futures, the non-profit parent of City Limits Magazine and Center for an Urban Future think tank. She has also worked as communications director for Art in General, a non-profit cultural organization in Lower Manhattan, and with Agora Partnerships in Nicaragua, where she planned and implemented a distribution and scaling strategy for a jewelry business that trains and employs disadvantaged youth. Gootman has consulted for the International Rescue Committee, ACCION USA, and Mumbai-based Dial 1298 for Ambulance. In addition to her work in social enterprise, Gootman designs and produces her own line of jewelry. Gootman received an MBA with distinction from NYU Stern, where she specialized in Finance and Social Innovation and Impact; she earned a B.A. from Harvard University, where she majored in History and Women’s Studies. http://www.globalgoodspartners.org
Lisa Hendrickson
Owner, The Hendrickson Group
With over 15 years of experience as a business strategist, Lisa Hendrickson is an idea generator and a solution provider to Fortune 500 companies, SMBs, niche luxury brands, and venture backed start-up technology ventures. Her focus on effectiveness and profitability helps companies maximize the value of their good ideas, great talent, and resources. Hendrickson's dynamic approach brings growth and profitability to companies by creating strategies, methodologies, products, and programs that drive innovation, employee, and client engagement. She is known for her simple elegant solutions that address complex business problems. http://www.thehendricksongroup.com/
Naomi Gross
Associate Professor and Assistant Chair, Fashion Merchandising Management, FIT
Naomi Gross developed FIT's credit-bearing Retail Management Certificate Program in conjunction with the National Retail Federation Foundation, which will launch in fall 2012. She also wrote, teaches, and coordinates the Sustainability in Fashion Merchandising course, encouraging students to use research skills to evaluate existing retailer/manufacturer sustainability engagement programs with the goal to pitch fact-based and substantiated proposed changes to senior management. Gross also teaches courses in Fashion Planning & Allocation, Fashion Inventory Management, and Retail Math Applications. She is co-advisor to the National Retail Federation Student Association (NRFSA) chapter at FIT.