Fashion Sense: FORA.tv Presents the Women’s Wear Daily Global Sourcing & Markets Forum

Step into any American Apparel, H&M, Nordstrom or Gap and you’ll see a beautiful variety of style, color and material. Like most consumer products, women’s apparel takes a long and circuitous route from raw material to factory to retail store. In recent years, consumer demand for quality clothes is on the rise, as is the demand to know where clothes come from and how they are manufactured.

On October 7, FORA.tv will present the Women’s Wear Daily Global Sourcing & Markets Forum on demand. The forum is hosted by Fairchild Fashion Media, a unit of Condé Nast, and the leading source of fashion news and analysis for industry leaders and the global fashion community.

In this all-day, two-part conference, leading fashion industry executives will gather to speak on a number of different issues such as how major brands are sourcing material in an increasingly global economy, especially when consumers look for more and more locally tailored products, and how companies identify manufacturing sources that will allow them to maximize profit but minimize exploitation of labor. The conference will also review ways clothing retailers are currently breaking into increasingly competitive overseas markets.

Part one of the forum will focus on issues that impact the business of global sourcing and supply chain. Steven E. Lamar, the executive vice president of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, will join industry leaders from Levi Strauss, Pantone and other companies to discuss how materials are produced and then manufactured into clothing. American Apparel is one of the leading producers of casual cotton-based clothing in the United States and has been lauded for its vertically integrated business model that designs and manufacturers clothing out of a single factory in downtown Los Angeles.

In part two, the forum will address the opportunities and challenges faced by sales, marketing and operations professionals seeking to expand their global retail footprint. Cedric Provué, president of Estée Lauder International, and others will discuss how companies are trying to remain relevant in a competitive global market. Estée Lauder is a leading producer of accessories and perfume for both men and women, with vast experience breaking into unique international markets. The company was one of the first major fashion retailers to sell products in Russia during the Soviet era.

Watch the Women’s Wear Daily Global Sourcing & Markets Forum on demand at FORA.tv.