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Fashion Network
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fashion Network
Fashion Talks 2025 in Antwerp explores fashion's future and media impact
Last week, Antwerp strengthened its status as a fashion metropolis with Fashion Talks and the four-hour fashion showcase by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts 2025. The event combined the conference and showroom format with the Academy's final shows during the summer for the first time. Organiser Flanders DC (District of Creativity) plans to expand this emerging fashion week format starting in 2026. Going forward, Fashion Talks will take place annually alongside the Academy's final shows in June, replacing the previous biennial format. The Belgian Fashion Awards will continue to be presented each autumn, alternating between Antwerp and Brussels, as Cools announced at the Arenberg Theater. During the Fashion Walk—a curated city route featuring temporary showrooms by Antwerp-based designers—visitors also discovered three emerging talents from the DACH region: designer Marcel Sommer from Tübingen, Florentina Leitner from Vienna, and bag and accessories designer Marie Bernadette Woehrl from Schrobenhausen, Upper Bavaria. All three designers have chosen to work in Antwerp, drawn by the city's creative energy and the strong sense of community in its fashion scene. Detailed portraits of each designer will appear in the coming weeks. But what insights did Fashion Talks 2025 offer? 'The fashion industry is the one that literally touches people most closely—and that will never change,' said Pascal Cools, managing director of Flanders DC, in his opening speech at the seventh edition of Fashion Talks. The event took place at the Arenberg Theater on Arenbergstraat for the first time, moving from its previous venue at the historic Handelsbeurs. Around 450 industry professionals attended the event. On stage, Patta co-founder Guillaume "Gee" Schmidt spoke with host Dominique Nzeyimana, while legendary stylist and creative director Karen Binns discussed her career with podcaster Recho Omondi. Simon Gryspeert of Flanders DC moderated a conversation with fashion CEOs Ann Claes (CRG) and An Kluft (Pluto), who shared troubling observations from a recent trip to Ghana, where large volumes of used textiles continue to accumulate in unmanaged landfills. In addition to supply chain challenges and persistent concerns around sustainability in fashion production and consumption, the Fashion Talks program also addressed media-related topics. Speakers explored how to enter the industry as an influencer or content creator, as well as the often tense relationship between these newer voices and traditional fashion media. Flanders DC brought an ideal guest to the stage in Hanan Bešović. His Instagram account @ideservecouture—well worth following—has earned a spot in the BoF 500, even though the Croatian-born designer only began posting his sharp-witted fashion commentary during the pandemic in 2020. His outspoken posts have placed him on the blacklists of several designers and luxury brands. Still, he accepts this with humor, as he explained to curators Elodie Ouedraogo and Elspeth Jenkins during a lively discussion at the packed Arenberg Theater. Bešović first discovered fashion in 2010 through YouTube videos. The first show he ever watched was Alexander McQueen 's Plato's Atlantis, which he viewed only because Lady Gaga's Bad Romance video was scheduled to premiere at the end. That moment sparked his passion for fashion. Soon, designers such as Marc Jacobs, Olivier Rousteing, Jean Paul Gaultier, and John Galliano for Dior filled his screen. 'I didn't know much about the designers or the brands. I only knew they existed—but not that each had its own story,' he recalled. Bešović attended his first live fashion show in 2022: a Valentino couture presentation in Venice. 'There's a legend that at least one person cries at Valentino shows—and in this case, that person was me,' he admitted. He views his work as a content creator as fundamentally different from that of print journalists. 'I just go and talk.' Bešović also noted that print media can face credibility issues due to advertising relationships. 'You won't read honest criticism in Vogue. If I want an honest opinion on a show, I turn to social media.' Yet ironically, Vogue has already interviewed him. 'That's how it goes,' he said with a smile. Are influencers themselves beholden to brands? 'I always speak my mind. I'm not afraid. Brands don't have to invite me to their shows. I have wifi at home—I'll watch the show anyway,' he said. Brands often provide scripts when collaborating with influencers on paid content. 'I understand their perspective, but no one knows my content better than I do. I know what works, and I tend to work better with brands that understand that.' Bešović also acknowledged that print journalists enjoy greater access to designers. 'There are 700 people at a show, but maybe only 10 who get to go backstage and speak with the designer.' At the same time, he pointed out that social media offers far broader visibility. 'Without social media, we wouldn't know Robert Wun or Benchellal.' His advice to aspiring content creators applies to anyone in the media field: 'Do what you like. Don't follow others—find your own path. Do your own research, and go where no one else goes.' Later in the day, Bešović returned to the Arenberg Schouwburg stage to interview Charlotte De Geyter, co-founder and creative director of womenswear label Bernadette Antwerp, during the closing session of Fashion Talks.
Fashion United
25-04-2025
- Business
- Fashion United
Communicating about ‘sustainable fashion' is greenwashing, new chatbot Josie proposes alternative
Antwerp – Sustainability expert Jasmien Wynants and solicitor Judith Bussé have joined forces to combat greenwashing. They are doing so with 'Josie', a chatbot that extracts vague or misleading information from your Instagram posts. According to the European Commission, half of what companies write online about sustainability is incorrect. 'Ready for my baby shower?' It sounds like a post from your newly minted niece or nephew, but it is indeed a professional invitation that Wynants and Bussé circulated via LinkedIn. Today, on Fashion Revolution Day, they are christening Josie, an AI agent for questions about greenwashing based on ChatGPT. They call her a love child. 'Judith and I have known each other for a while. We both worked for Flanders DC,' Wynants explained. 'If I have a legal question about greenwashing, I know that I can go to her law firm Pivot Law.' With another former colleague from Flanders DC, technology expert Ann Claes, Wynants founded the fashion agency Masjien. The entrepreneurs provide advice and workshops to companies, including on greenwashing. 'In it, I explain which words you should avoid in your sustainability communication and emphasise that you should always be able to prove the information you share,' Wynants said. Words such as 'sustainable', 'ecological' or 'responsible' appear to be out of the question. These would imply that fashion companies 'do not have any negative impact on the environment and the climate, which is impossible'. At least, that is how the Federal Public Service Economy reasons, which checks in Belgium whether statements about sustainability are correct. According to the European Commission, half of the sustainability claims on websites are unproven, vague, unclear or deceptive. 'Heavily polluting industries, such as the fashion industry, must ensure that their environmental claims are correct in relative terms,' an official from the Economic Inspectorate emailed to a well-known web shop for children's clothes and other baby items last year. The proposal is to speak of 'less harmful to the environment' instead of 'environmentally friendly'. 127 Companies checked for greenwashing Wynants also received that advice during her work as an independent sustainability advisor at the fashion brand Xandres. In April 2022, the company was checked for misleading sustainability communication. At the end of 2022, it received a warning in the post. Xandres is not alone in this. The newspaper De Morgen and the news website Apache were able to speak with 12 fashion companies between May 2023 and April 2024, seven of which were checked. Five of these also received a warning. The Federal Public Service Economy does not say which companies it checked and warned. Since 2021, there have been 127 checks, which go beyond just the fashion sector. Of these, 66 companies received a warning. In the case of one company, a report was drawn up and a transaction was made, spokesperson Lien Meurisse emailed. 'As a consumer, you think that greenwashing always happens intentionally, but that is not the case,' Patrick Desrumaux, the then chief executive officer of Xandres, testified about this in De Morgen. 'It's about small wordings that we didn't think about before.' If you want to communicate about certain materials, Wynants gave an example in business magazine Trends. You must 'always explain what the fabric is exactly, what certificate you have of it and why it is better than another fabric'. Wynants was already wondering how much information the customer has in a message. 'Suppose you have to do that under every Instagram post, then no one will read it anymore.' AI fuelled with Belgian and Dutch regulations To support companies, Wynants wants to go beyond the advice that she gives to companies one-on-one. 'Because I was increasingly asked questions about greenwashing, I developed a workshop about it, based on the legal framework. Now we have tried to make that information even more accessible, via the AI chatbot. That way, I don't have to visit your company, but you can work with the knowledge yourself, at all times.' Wynants and Bussé had the idea of unleashing AI on this subject almost simultaneously. Wynants still thinks that is crazy. 'We were sparring about the subject on the phone and then it turned out that we were playing with the same idea. On a beautiful summer day in the south of France, everything came together nicely.' At that time, Bussé had already made a first attempt to create a chatbot. 'It is an AI agent that works on the basis of ChatGPT, but in a closed circuit,' Bussé explained. Together with Wynants, she wrote a prompt that ensures that Josie knows what to answer to questions about greenwashing. For this, she is fuelled with her own expertise, European and national legislation and specific guidelines from the Federal Public Service Economy, but also the Dutch consumer authority ACM. She knows which information to prioritise and how to deal with it. Especially useful for marketers and copywriters Wynants notices that companies have become afraid to communicate about sustainability. 'Companies that have been checked have become more careful, which in itself is a good thing,' she said. But it would be a shame not to talk about sustainability at all anymore, because then we are back to square one. Moreover, not all companies have had a check. 'You keep encountering terms such as 'eco collection', 'responsible collection' or 'sustainable fashion'. That makes it difficult. There are companies that don't know that this is not allowed and accidentally continue to do so. As long as that continues to happen, it is confusing, especially for your marketing department. Why are they allowed to do that and we are not?' Josie can support sustainability managers in conveying the right messages about the ecological and social impact of fashion brands. In practice, however, marketers and copywriters are likely to be the main users, Wynants thinks. 'Anyone who works in a marketing department is busy bringing a message to the outside world. They cannot be experts in all fields. We cannot expect marketers to know everything in detail. Sometimes there is a new colleague, or the company works with a freelancer. Having to go through all the regulations first is not easy. But having to address your sustainability manager every time is actually not necessary either. Josie makes it a lot easier for a marketing department.' You can now have the sustainability page on your website or an Instagram post quickly reviewed by AI, instead of by your colleague. 'For me, this is an example of how AI does not take jobs away, but is an addition to someone's job. Because you don't have to address your sustainability manager every time. And you remain creative as a marketer.' Since the matter is sensitive, there is a chance that a proposal to adjust Josie will come across as technical. 'But then you can ask to write it less dry, as you would ask ChatGPT, or rework it yourself and that way you can regain your creativity.' Governments applaud initiatives such as Josie The Federal Public Service Economy says it is "aware of companies that assist traders in reducing their environmental impact and in marketing it to the outside world", spokesperson Lien Meurisse emailed. Although she does not recommend any specific tools, she emphasises that she "applauds initiatives that lead to increasing awareness about greenwashing". The ACM, in turn, welcomes "all ways that lead to companies making better and easier good sustainability claims", press officer Dorith de Jong emails. 'An instrument that supports companies in this can certainly be of added value. Of course, it is important that companies themselves critically assess whether the outcomes are correct and desirable.' As a fact checker, Josie is already a lot safer than the 'ordinary' ChatGPT, Bussé believes. 'She does not scour the entire World Wide Web, but remains limited to the relevant regulations,' the solicitor said. Although there is a disclaimer with every request for help: Josie does not give strategic or legal advice. 'If you have received a warning for greenwashing, it is still better to ask for human legal assistance,' she thinks. Josie works with a subscription. For 29 euros per month, you can use the chatbot and you also get access to an online academy, for which Bussé and Wynants have recorded tutorials about greenwashing. This article was co-created with the support of the Flemish-Dutch Journalism Scholarship and the Pascal Decroos Fund for Special Journalism. This article was translated to English using an AI tool. FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@
