WGSN to host Creative Futures Summit in 2015

WGSN will host the first annual Creative Futures Summit next year, focusing on trends in design, product, retail, marketing and consumer behaviour, in conjunction with its Global Fashion Awards, which is now in its first year.

The two-day event, organised in partnership with i2i Events Group, will take place from May 13-14, 2015, in London and will feature speakers including designer Patrick Grant, Liberty managing director Ed Burstell, Covetique chief executive Nicola McClafferty, Linda Farrow’s marketing director Tracy Sedino, and Gandy’s Flipflops co-founder Rob Forkan.

The summit will include keynote speakers and panel discussions on the new media and marketing landscape; what’s next for disruptive tech and marketing; emerging production rhetoric; experience design in retail; and future shopping frontiers.

Lauretta Roberts, founder and director, Creative Futures, said: “This is the first time world-class creatives will be gathered to uncover the New and the Next in design, product, retail, marketing and consumer behaviour.

“In my experience we’ve never seen a platform that enables creative leaders not just in fashion but across the style-led industries to come together to be inspired. We’ve developed an event with and for these individuals to create something truly unique.”

Following the final day of the summit WGSN will hold its Global Fashion Awards at the Park Lane Hotel in London. The awards celebrate companies and individuals across 21 categories, including design, buying and retail. The shortlist will be announced in January and will be judged by a panel of industry experts including Michael Herz, artistic director at Diane von Furstenberg and Eric Jennings, vice president and fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue.