BFC Fashion Forum

The American model Tess Holliday speaks to ELLE UK Editor in Chief, Farrah Storr, about her journey overcoming negative attitudes to her appearance in order to realise her dream. The pair also share ideas on how to succeed at your chosen career in fashion and harness the positive power of social media.

Friends Julietta Dexter, founder and chief growth and purpose officer at ScienceMagic.Inc, and designer Anya Hindmarch talk about how to build forward-looking, conscious entrepreneurial endeavours and the importance of kindness and sharing values when it comes to solving environmental issues.

Sustainability advocate Wilson Oryema leads a discussion with Allbirds sustainability manager Hana Kajimura, fashion designer Phoebe English and fashion designer and textile researcher Rosie Broadhead, on the danger of toxic chemicals on our skin, experimenting with live bacteria, creating the lowest carbon shoe imaginable and making natural dyes from locally-sourced avocado stones.

Gabriela Hearst, the creative director of her namesake brand and newly-appointed creative director at Chloé, speaks to journalist and contributing editor at British Vogue, Ellie Pithers about her pioneering environmental initiatives in sustainable luxury and circular fashion, and shares what it was like dressing First Lady Jill Biden for the inauguration.

Stylist Amanda Harlech and designer Erdem Moralioglu MBE spend the eveningsharing stories and discussing everything from the value of the British craft industry and forward-looking solutions for designers to their favourite decade in fashion.

Hoor Al Qasimi, creative director of Qasimi and president and director of Sharjah Art Foundation, speaks to her friend John Akomfrah CBE, the artist and film-maker, about social responsibility in art and culture, and how it can relate to fashion.

Rosh Mahtani, the designer of jewellery brand Alighieri, and Supriya Lele, designer of the eponymous clothing label, speak to Gianluca Longo, style editor at British Vogue, about how personal history shapes their approach to design and their efforts to express brand values through their work.

Irish designer Richard Malone speaks to Nell Kalonji, the stylist and senior fashion editor-at-large for AnOther Magazine, and Berni Yates, the fashion and textiles lecturer, about how aspiring fashion students can get started and find a voice, regardless of their financial situation or upbringing. Focusing on the importance of community and friendship, they share their own stories of overcoming financial and emotional obstacles on the path to professional fulfilment and share advice on how others can do the same.

Stella McCartney OBE has a powerful, passionate message for young people working in fashion today. This episode explores Stella’s own creativity, activism and the iconic brand that has pioneered sustainability in fashion for the past 20 years. In a heartfelt discussion with the journalist Alex Fury, she shares stories from her personal experience about her upbringing and how her family encouraged her interests; her adventures as an apprentice in Paris and London; how she coped with bias and stuck to her beliefs; and the innovative tech and engineering companies she’s working with in her continued efforts to challenge the status quo.