Austin’s annual South by Southwest (SXSW) festival brings together industry executives across entertainment, media and fashion for a week of programming including panels, film premieres and workshops.
On 8 March, Vogue Business hosted a dinner for those in town, in partnership with the UK’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT), at Soho House Austin. Attendees across the fashion and beauty industries from companies including LVMH, Tapestry, Estée Lauder, L’Orèal, Vestiare Collective, Adidas and Unilever mingled with entrepreneurs and business leaders, before sitting down for a meal accompanied by a short talk with speakers Samata Pattinson, founder of cultural sustainability organisation Black Pearl, and Shelley Zalis, founder of media and experiential company The Female Quotient.
Photo: Bailey Toksoz
Following a short introduction from Jamila Saidi, head of commerce, culture and lifestyle at DBT, Vogue Business US reporter Madeleine Schulz sat down with Pattinson and Zalis as guests made a start on their meals. From their perspectives as leaders in sustainable fashion and business, respectively, Pattinson and Zalis shared their views on the industry shifts across their careers, as well as their ambitions — and hopes — for a more sustainable and equitable future.
Pattinson founded Black Pearl as a bid to get more people on board with sustainability, after working at the intersection of the fashion and entertainment industries, most recently as CEO of Red Carpet Green Dress (RCGD). “After years and years of this campaign [for sustainable fashion], I still found people saying, ‘I still don’t feel a connection to the subject,’” she said. Pattinson realised that a reason people feel disconnected from the conversation is due to the absence of cultural lenses. “We haven’t been saying: ‘How does sustainable fashion speak to someone who has less disposable income? How does it speak to someone who’s disabled? Or how does it speak to someone who’s in a rural place, or a village, or a city? How does it speak to people across youth culture?’” It’s about fostering understanding and making people feel welcome, she said.