Your Voice, Our Future: 20 Years of Collective Progress
FIT’s 20th Annual Sustainable Business and Design Conference
Industry Disruptors
April 8 and 9, 2026
| Conference Registration |
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FIT community (faculty, staff, and students) |
General Public and Alumni Registration |
Featured Speakers
Amber Valletta
Supermodel, Actress, Entrepreneur, Activist, FIT Sustainability Ambassador
Andrea Baldo
CEO, Mulberry Group
Nalleli Cobo
Environmental Activist
Sennait Ghebreab
Program leader in fashion business, Istituto Marangoni London
Author; Contributor, Vogue Italia
Aleks Gosiewski
Founder and CEO, Keel Labs
Stacy Flynn
Co-Founder and CEO, Evrnu
Kate Sanner
Co-founder and CEO, Beni
Julia Bakker-Arkema
Associate Research Scientist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Learn More About Our Speakers and Presenters
Conference Overview
Since 2007, the Fashion Institute of Technology’s (FIT) Sustainable Business and Design Conference has built a global community of forward-thinkers
forging sustainable solutions. In April 2026, we mark our 20th anniversary with the
theme Industry Disruptors, celebrating two decades of progress by highlighting those transforming our industry
for the better.
Join us for two days of discussion and interactive workshops exploring new ideas, and the disruptions, challenges, and opportunities shaping sustainability in the fashion and creative industries. The following key thematics will be present throughout the conference:
- Innovation: Technologies and materials advancements that are pushing the industry forward
- Business: Strategies related to the circular economy and new global policy shifts
- Communication: Storytelling and narratives advancing climate action and practices
Schedule of Events
9:30 am
Conference check-in
Pomerantz Center Lobby
10–11:30 am
Preconference Workshops
*Registration info will be sent to registered participants only
- How Fungi Can Fix Fashion
- Exploring Microplastic Pollution from Clothing
- Weaving and Building Global Community and Collaborations
- Aligning Human Mastery for Textile Development
- Felting Processes with New York-Based Fibers
- Wardrobe Therapy: Sustainable Actions Through Personal Choice
- Communicating Climate Impact and Change via Documentary Film Production
11:45 am–12:45 pm
Opening lunch plenary session: Building a Sustainable Business
1 pm
Conference welcome and land acknowledgement
1:15–2 pm
Featured session: Voices and Activism for Change
2–2:30 pm
Voices and Images Communicating Climate Solutions
2:30–3:15 pm
Building New Industries: Innovation from Lab to Market—Seaweed Edition
3:15–3:20 pm Break
3:20–4 pm
Supporting the Shift: The CFDA, Circularity, and the Future of Fashion
4–4:30 pm
The Sustainable Material Revolution—What will you grow?—Gotham Foundry
4:30–5 pm
Intention to Implementation: How Leaders are Growing Sustainability Within Business
5–5:30 pm
Reimagining Fashion: Turning Vintage and Deadstock into Modern Design
5:30–7:30 pm FIT Changemaker Award ceremony and networking reception
9–9:45 am
Coffee networking
John E. Reeves Great Hall
9:45–10 am
Day 2: Opening remarks
10:30–11:15 am
Righting the Ship: Shifting Industry Behemoths Toward Sustainability
11:15–11:45 am
Unlocking Footwear Industry Transformation Through Collective Action
11:45 am–12:15 pm
Sustainable Practices and Museum Conservation
12:15–12:45 pm
Upcycling and Recreation Practices in Textile Design
12:45–1:45 pm
Lunch plenary session: Scaling Sustainability—Success Strategies from Startups to
Giants in Fashion
2–2:45 pm
Fashion Tech: Enabling Style, Reducing Waste
2:45–3:15 pm
Collaborations with Artisans: Weaving Systematic Change
3:15–3:30 pm Break
3:30–4 pm
Resale and Circularity: Diverting Goods from Waste Streams and Extending Product Life
4–4:45 pm
The Intersection of Fashion and Film: Human Footprint (PBS series), “Dressed to Kill” (episode)
4:45–5 pm
Closing keynote: How Fashion Wins the War on Waste
5 pm Closing remarks
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