Ngāti Tūwharetoa sustainable clothing designer Mitchell Vincent is heading to Bangkok this month for the the Global Sustainable Development Congress. Vincent debuted on the runway in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as a student designer, alongside shoe designer Jimmy Choo. Last year he returned to Kuala Lumpur for the South East Asia Centre of Asia -Pacific Excellence [CAPE] conference where he was invited to be a delegate for pakihi Māori [Māōri business].
Now he’s heading back to Thailand among 3000 global thought leaders and innovators to discuss urgent solutions to sustainability. The Global Sustainable Development Congress [GSDC] is co-hosted by Thailand’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation. Vincent says it is an incredible opportunity for sustainable fashion in New Zealand.
“To sit there and listen and hear what Southeast Asia has to offer with sustainability and also to see what responsibilities I can take on for our environmental impact and how I can reduce that for fashion.” The GSDC agenda for 2024 is to challenge the usual thinking on what higher education, governments, businesses, and society must do to help society meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Vincent said New Zealand needed to improve its response to sustainability in fashion.
“In the sense of staying away from the greenwashing side, making sure that those that are speaking on sustainability or, eco practices to make sure that they’re .
