A Focus on Fashion

As the world adjusted to more working from home and less socialising over the past year, how has the fashion industry adapted to keep current? Shoppers are focusing on brands that use sustainable fabric production and eco-conscious methods, whilst also being eye catching to keep up with social media attention. British fashion designers have been leading the way as major brands look at clever ways to stay current and relevant. Many of these brands also adjusted their production to help in the pandemic by making medical clothing, accessories for key workers and using furloughed staff to deliver items and meals to key workers. The Great British High Street has been forced to adapt as shoppers buying habits change. Will this all change once we are vaccinated?  

CWN are proud to spotlight some well-known, as well as upcoming names in fashion for this exciting panel event, welcoming speakers Erica Bourne, Chief People Officer from Burberry, Charlotte Ayoub, Marketing Director from TLC Sport and Joanna Dai, Founder and CEO from DAI.

What have the journeys been for Burberry, TLC Sport and Dai, what are their thoughts on the impact on their business and future fashion trends, and what can we learn from their business models to keep our own businesses current and relevant?

About our Speakers

Irene Macguire - Moderator

Irene runs Caulder Moore, a boutique creative agency specialising in fashion, wellbeing and beauty. Irene has spoken at a number of industry events from ISSC (International council of Shopping Centres), RPA, (Retail Property Analyst) Luxury Briefing, amongst others. She has also been an Op Ed contributor to Essential Retail.

Irene believes that, more than ever, fashion brands need to ensure that they carve out their own distinctive ‘emotional territory” and that it is vital, in order to gain cut through to be clear about who they are, and who they are for, in order to successfully establish, connect with, and grow their brand tribes, loyalists and advocates.

Erica Bourne

Erica is the Chief People Officer at Burberry, having joined in January of 2019.

Prior to this, Erica spent over 12 years at American Express where she held numerous leadership roles in HR and Corporate Development, her most recent being the Executive Vice President of HR Advisory Services and Market Enablement. During her tenure she specialised in the people aspects of business transformation, talent management and leadership development as well as M&A, working across London and the headquarters in New York.

Earlier in her career, she worked in the technology industry, in a Dublin based start-up as HR Manager, before moving to London with Deloitte’s Human Capital consulting practice.

Joanna Dai 

Joanna Dai is the founder and CEO of innovative womenswear brand, Dai. Dai delivers comfort-empowered performance for the modern woman, designing at the intersection of eco-certified technical fabrics, minimal aesthetics, timeless silhouettes, and purposeful versatility. The brand is a Certified B Corporation™ and committed to creating a positive environmental and social impact. Since launch in 2017, Dai has been on a tremendous growth trajectory and is a pioneer in sustainable materials innovation and tech-enabled fit and e-commerce experience.

Joanna is a US expat based in London and was previously an investment banker for 8 years at J.P. Morgan in New York and London. 

Charlotte Ayoub

Although having qualified in Law, Charlotte Ayoub now runs womens’ activewear brand TLC SPORT alongside her mother, where they provide quality, stylish and durable clothing to their customers at home and abroad. Founded in 1984, TLC has a varied and fascinating journey and with ten 10 experience in the industry, Charlotte has an extensive grasp of the business; from design and logistics to marketing and fulfilment.  

After graduating from the Goldman Sachs 10KSB Programme, Charlotte has successfully grown the business, breaking into retailers in the UK & USA, launching on national television, securing designer collaborations and overhauling the brand and website to keep up with the fast paced world of e-commerce.

Pricing

Member: tickets are free, however, have the option of making a donation to Wellbeing of Women (WOW) by choosing one of the Member 'donation' tickets.

Non-member: There is a nominal charge (a choice between a £10, £15 and £20 ticket price), with all money raised going to WOW.

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