ELLE and Gap Inc organized the Fashion Tech Forum, a one-day conference that aims to integrate luxury fashion and technology by putting up a search for the next big fashion tech startup.
The event will take place in the Pier 59 Studios in New York City on June 25.
Luxury fashion space big shot Karen Harvey was asked three years ago about turning the fashion industry into a more technologically savvy industry.
Harvey is a very reputable consultant who brought powerhouse executives and CEOs to fashion company giants such as Michael Kors, Gap, and Coach.
With this reputation, she put up to the challenge and came up with the Fashion Tech Forum (FTF) to bring technology and the fashion industry closer. This event features excellent speakers such as Sophia Amoruso of Nasty Gal, David Tisch of BoxGroup, and Michael Preysman of Everlane. All of these people have established their names in the digital fashion platform. Besides the speakers, the event will also hold a search for the next big fashion tech startup called the Founder of the Future Challenge.
The challenge lets startups submit their business plans or stage brands. Three finalists will be chosen to show their ideas to some of the biggest names in the fashion industry, retail and technology, such as Tisch, Coach executive chairman Lew Frankfort, and Rebekka Bay of Gap. The winner will get a $50,000 investment and a six-week mentorship.
Harvey said they are looking for a brand that would transform the fashion industry and make lives easier, whether it is a front-end brand or a back-end solution. David Tisch is a venture capitalists who has invested in fashion and beauty startups like Warby Parker, Harry’s and Fab. So, probably, he is looking for ideas like these startups.
