The First Edition of the Sustainable Luxury Conference took place on May 17th, 2021.
The conference topic was “The era of Luxtainable,” and four guest speakers shared their perspectives and thoughts on this topic.
Rossella Ravagli
A pioneer in CSR and professional career trainer for CEOs, managers, and stakeholders, Rossella started the conference by sharing her thoughts on the topic of “luxstainable.” Rossella Ravagli is a passionate woman whose mantra is ‘sustainability as a balance,’ a strategy that all luxury companies should adopt to assess, measure, monitor, and improve conditions in the global supply chain. She focused on implementing sustainable business strategies and commitment to increasing awareness and knowledge about the social and environmental approach. She has been working in this field for 24 years and remains passionate about changing the mindset of the luxury world toward a stronger and more engaged relationship with nature.
Her speech and her experience inspire all the attendees.
Jessica Kruger
The founder of LUXTRA was our next guest speaker. Jessica sells accessories manufactured in Italy, made of vegan leather materials such as apple skin, apple, or pinatex (stemming from pineapple), some of the most innovative materials in the sustainable market. Her business is a certified B corporation, a Peta-approved vegan. She has been awarded Drapers for Fashion and Accessory brand runner-up 2019, which are certifications not easy to reach for a new brand. She talked about the difference between a linear approach and circularity by explaining that we produce, use, and throw away in the linear economy. In a circular economy, the approach is about reusing things as much as possible, and when they become circular, they will never be thrown away. To know each level of your supply chain is crucial, she said, to be responsible. Good 2 of 2 manufacturing and communication is essential for her company, as is traceability and quality, which are the essence of her business.
Christine Sintermann
Christine is the co-founder of D3CO, the world’s only producer of 100% natural and
environmentally-friendly furniture, without plastic or toxins and completely biodegradable. She is passionate about creating products in harmony with the future of our planet, green living, and sustainability and is looking for beauty and creativity in all of her ventures. She has been an entrepreneurial and highly creative person, involved in sustainability for many years, largely driven by passion and innovation. During her speech, she mentioned that the company is in its 7th generation of sofas, showing devotion and dedication to a specific reason that we will soon consider responsibly.
Ines Bensalah – was the last guest speaker at the conference. Ines is a young designer who created the ecoresponsible-Monegasque brand Inessa creations in 2019, winning multiple international awards. Merging human fashion power and sustainability, she created her authentic brand focusing on empathy with customers.
Inès Bensalah
Born in Monte Carlo, INESSA Creation stands for a bold, unique, authentic, and environmentally friendly approach to fashion, thanks to the artisans producing locally with special attention to raw materials, traceability, and quality. The artisanal production that allows only a limited series of products makes the brand even more unique. Inès Bensalah wants to convey her passion for sustainability, contribute to local communities, organize events, and support different associations. Inessa Creation is starting its international journey, thanks to the support of the LVMH incubator.
The International University of Monaco, together with its MSc students in Fashion and Event Management, extends a big thanks to the guest speakers for their availability and efforts to share their insights with us. We also want to thank the many participants that attended the conference. The idea is that the conference will be held annually, meaning that the 2nd edition of the Sustainable Luxury Conference will be held in May 2022.
The “Era of Luxtainable” conference recording is online on the IUM Youtube Channel.
Congratulations to the students from the MSc in Luxury Management program for the organization of such an event.
“Sustainability is one of the priorities for the Principality of Monaco. Our country is a kind of laboratory for innovative sustainable projects,” said Dr. Annalisa Tarquini–Poli, Program Director of MSc in Luxury Management at IUM. “The International University of Monaco is part of this ecosystem, and we have fully embraced this philosophy. We have not only integrated sustainable courses in most of our programs, but we also offer our students the opportunity to work on real projects as part of our experiential learning approach.
“This Sustainable Luxury conference is not only part of our promise to offer real projects to our students but is our engagement and modest contribution to support the role of the Principality to develop a sustainable consciousness.”
If you would like more information our program, please look at our website.
Feel free to also contact the Admissions Team directly at admissions@monaco.edu