Fashion 4 Development Honors Ethical Fashion Leaders At Ladies Luncheon

Despite efforts for eco-friendly fashion globally, we still live in an era of fast fashion. This leaves workers underpaid, physically and mentally exhausted and landfills with an explosion of discarded garments. It makes sense that Evie Evangelou, the founder and president of Fashion 4 Development, chooses to honor conscious fashion leaders every year at her annual global gala.

This year, Fashion 4 Development will host the 12^th annual First Ladies Luncheon on September 24, the opening day of the high-level meeting of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

“The event will highlight a healthier planet with healthier, happier people,” said Evangelou. “If we lower our consumption and we’re more mindful, by not supporting fast fashion, by buying less, buying better, more unique and supporting ethical brands not only in fashion but overall lifestyle, the world will be in a better place.”

The honorees for this year’s event recognize Agents of Change in fashion, like Juliet Guo, the founder of Sandriver Cashmere, an ethically sourced cashmere brand based in Shanghai and sourced in the Alashan Plateau in Inner Mongolia.

“It’s important to care for others and help them to have a life of dignity,” said Guo. “This is my purpose to help women in the Himalayas by teaching them a craft and providing them work. Seeing that they are extremely happy because they have inherited the national handicrafts is my greatest happiness.”

It also includes Yue-Sai Kan, a well-known Chinese American TV host, entrepreneur and philanthropist known for bridging the gap between China and the United States, as well as Eva Orner, an Academy and Emmy Award-winning film maker and director with the most recent premier of the documentary Brandy Melville & the Cult of Fast Fashion, which traces the issues of fast fashion.

“We’ve come to a point, I think, where I question what the word ‘sustainability’ means anymore to people,” said Evangelou. “I know good things are happening, but there’s still a tremendous amount of greenwashing for the marketing power. That’s one of the main reasons that I select designers that are making smaller collections with local productions to showcase with the goal of inspiring consumers to follow in this direction. In 2024, more people are becoming more aware of what they buy and where it comes from.”

The honorees also include Amy Green, the co-founder of the Green Vision Foundation, who supports conservation initiatives that protect Africa’s threatened species and the environment, as well as Feed Projects co-founder Lauren Bush Lauren and her mother, Sharon Bush.

According to Sharon Bush, she has focused on generational philanthropy that brings together families.

“I had the platform to do good at helping others on a broader scale,” she said. “I took my children when they were young to soup kitchens and homeless shelters; they had to serve the soup and play with the children in the homeless shelters. We did this often and I think it really influenced them by making a difference in their perspective. They learned compassion.”

Bush Lauren funneled her philanthropic education from traveling with her mom for the UN’s World Food Programme into her company, Feed Projects. “With Feed, I saw the disparity that exists in the world and the fact that so many kids suffer, just because of what country and situation they’re born into, it’s a situation where they don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” she said.

Bush Lauren explains: “That’s why I created a brand that raises money and awareness to help feed kids in school around the globe in underserved communities, so they can take care of themselves, their families and their communities.”

Another honoree is Chantal Khoueiry, Chief Culture Officer of Value Retail and operator of The Bicester Village Shopping Collection. She leads the Unlock Her Future Prize which supports extraordinary women social entrepreneurs who align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Evangelou explains: “While policy makers and big corporations need to make changes, which is not happening as swiftly as it should, consumers need to be educated and understand what they’re doing in their daily lives, as well.”

Evangelou founded Fashion 4 Development in 2011 to support the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and the “Every Woman, Every Child” initiative in cooperation with the office of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.

Over the past 14 years, the organization has helped empower women entrepreneurs, support ethical fashion brands, preserve culture, create awareness of environmental issues and inspire solutions as well as bridge the gap between diplomacy and fashion, the arts and lifestyle.

Soon, Evangelou will launch “Global Runway,” a 400-page art book written by Stephanie Dillon and art directed by LDF Studios in Milan. The book will premiere with a fashion runway show in United Nations Headquarters in 2026, and will feature fashion designers from 100 countries selected by top international curators.

“It will visually represent our shared values and the humanity that connects us, celebrating diversity, tolerance, reconciliation and the preservation of culture,” said Evangelou.