An international movement aimed at pairing up the best minds from the worlds of fashion and technology is opening a Dublin operation, with quarterly events planned.
Called #FashMash, which is one of the catchier hashtags doing the rounds, the Dublin events will be invite-only, helping people in both the fashion and technology fields to network.
Headed up in Dublin by Twitter’s Catherine Bennett and Minnie Melange’s Sinéad Burke, the Dublin leg now joins New York and London as early-stage cities looking to foster greater industry engagement.
Burke managed to squeeze in a talk at the Inspirefest Fringe last year amid studies and award-winning blogging, and she is back at the event to take to the main stage this summer.
The community behind the movement has more than 300 global members, each working in the fashion or technology fields, with everything from retailers to VC funds involved.
Dublin a natural step
According to its organisers, big name brands like Burberry, DKNY, Primark and Topshop are involved globally, with the Dublin events set to host people from Brown Thomas, Penneys and Arnotts.
It was originally planned for Dublin during last year’s Web Summit, with Twitter’s planned involvement back then continuing today.
“The fashion industry’s future relies entirely on its ability to embrace the role technology and digital media is playing, and the most impactful way that is going to occur is through collaboration,” said Rachel Arthur, founder of the global #FashMash series.
“Our intention is to facilitate those conversations and in doing so start helping to shape tomorrow. If there’s one thing we’ve learnt from our existing network in both London and New York, it’s that we are all facing the same challenges, but forging new paths is that much easier together. Ireland is a hotbed of talent and a natural next step for us to take.”
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