Latin American Fashion Summit (LAFS) has become a powerful global platform for Latin American Fashion and Design created by renowned Latina entrepreneurs Estefanía Lacayo and Samantha Tams with the mission to elevate and enrich the Latin American fashion industry and make it more relevant than ever, It all began when they noticed lack of opportunities within the region that was receiving a growing international interest a project that once started exclusively as an annual conference is now much more than that.
The sixth edition of LAFS will take place from 6 to 8 November this year in the Design District of Miami, 3 days dedicated to all things Latin American fashion and more:
- INSPIRING CONFERENCES: Conferences by industry leaders and world-renowned fashion professionals
- NETWORKING EVENTS: For fashion, design, and beauty entrepreneurs
- THE LAFS POP-UP: An impeccable curatorship of the best of Latino design. This initiative is open to the public, who can make purchases directly in the pop-up, thus discovering a large selection of brands in one place. In addition, the Pop-Up will also feature the presence of some of the most important buyers and retailers in the world. Among those confirmed are Moda Operandi, Luxury Stores at Amazon, Net-a-Porter, Holt and Renfrew, Malva Department Store, Nordstrom, Shopbop, Revolve, and others.
- LUXURY BRAND ACTIVATIONS
- THE GLAMOROUS THEMED CLOSING CEREMONY GALA, the most fun night in Latin American fashion where the event announces the Pitch to LAFS winners.
One of the biggest impacts and a great differentiator of this event is precisely the Pitch to LAFS, which is an annual contest in search of the next great talents of Latin American fashion, only 9 are selected, this will be the fourth year of this competition.
There are 3 categories: Latin Designer of the Year, Accessories Designer of the year, and Social Impact Project of the Year, in this edition the finalists are:
Ø Latin Designer of the year: Maria Elena Villamil, Las sureñas, Faride Ramos.
Ø Accessories Designer of the year : Alta Shoes, Modern Monarchie, Paola Sighinolfi,
Ø Social Impact Project of the year: Mochacó, Felipe Fiallo, Escvdo
The 9 finalists will present their marks before a jury composed of a jury composed of the most influential names in the fashion world from CEOs, Fashion Directors, Buyers, Established Designers, Stylists, Editors, and Consultants. The jury votes on certain criteria and the winners get announced during the Closing Ceremony Gala in front of all the attendees, prizes include money, trunk shows with retailers, mentorship sessions but most importantly visibility.
The LAFS program is composed of panels and keynotes focused on the themes of Entrepreneurship, Wellness, Beauty, Leadership, Fashion Retail, Financial Literacy, Sustainability, and the most inspiring journeys to the top.
Women play a very important role for LAFS since the majority of attendees are women and many of the international speakers as well. So, in addition to being a fashion summit, it is also a space to meet the female leaders who are revolutionizing the fashion industry globally, in this edition 2023: Ginny Wright, CEO of Audemars Piguet Americas, Shira Sue Carmi, CEO of Altuzarra, April Hennig, Chief Merchandising Officer of Moda Operandi, Rickie de Sole, Women´s Fashion Director at Norstrom, many of the judges of Pitch to LAFS are women too, some of them are: Arielle Siboni, Fashion Director for RTW at Bloomingdales, Johanna Ortiz, Designer, Maria Williams Senior Buyer at Net-a-Porter, Silvia Tcherassi, Designer, Trisha Gregory, Chief Brand Officer at Luxury Stores at Amazon, Carmen Busquets, Entrepreneur, Strategic Investor, and Philanthropist among others.
Wellness and health topics were added to panels, among the experts who will be participating are Whitney Tingle, Founder & Co-CEO at Sakara Life, Tata Harper, Founder of TATA HARPER SKINCARE, Rodrigo Garduño, founder of 54D, and many others.
One of the novelties of this 2023 edition is the Breakout sessions, which are 45-minute discussions led by an industry expert and only a select number of LAFS Miami 2023 participants will have. They will be able to introduce themselves and ask the featured expert any questions they might have, the breakouts confirmed are: Creating Personalized Shopping Experiences by Sara Easley, founder & CEO MaisonMarché, how to Scale Your Business by CEO of Ulla Johnson, Donata Minelli, Hands on Entrepreneurship by Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Clerisy, Gilt and Glamsquad, Planet people progress with Carolina K and Taryn Hipwell.
The event is for anyone who has an interest in the fashion industry. LAFS has a hybrid format, people can enjoy the event in person in Miami or virtually, and students and buyers have preferential rates. LAFS is backed by great brands and personalities among them: Craig Robbins CEO and founder of Miami Design District, Shop with Google, and Mastercard.
For more information:
https://www.lafs.com/miami-summit-2023/
https://www.instagram.com/latinamericanfashionsummit/
