The first edition of the Costa Rica Fashion Summit will take place August 3 and 4 at the Real Intercontinental Hotel in Escazú and it is held in conjunction with the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

“We believe that Costa Rica has plenty of talent to share with the world and showing our support to local designers through the Costa Rica Fashion Summit is our way to contribute on their road to international exposure”, says Ricardo Menendez, General manager at Real InterContinental Hotel San José.

This business forum imitates formats that take place in cities like Barcelona and Copenhagen, it’s a non-profit initiative that promotes sustainability in the fashion industry. Different personalities are invited to take part in a series of conferences and panel discussions

“The event will address ethical concerns including social justice, corporate responsibility, environmental sustainability, slow fashion and consumer empowerment”, explains the Costa Rica Summit Facebook page.

Carmen Busquets, Stefan Siegel, Araceli Graham, Karla Martínez de Salas, Gerfried Gaulhofer and Natasha Berros, Andrew Tomlinson are just some of the invited speakers.

Costa Rica Fashion Summit shared some of its guest’s position regarding fashion and sustainability:

London-based Andrew Tomlinson is a set and production designer whose work encompasses fashion, film and photography. Andy has collaborated with the world’s most prestigious fashion photographers, “I think in today’s world it’s simply irresponsible to not be conscious of sustainability”, says Andy. “The difficult thing is that the regulation has to be done by yourself as the fashion world is by tradition highly wasteful. Once upon a time there was even actual kudos to be gained from being over-extravagant”, he continues. “Fortunately I think that this kudos can be replaced today by an honest, conscientious approach to what materials are being used and where they are sourced from”. Andy believes that it’s our own responsibility to know how things are made and to make sure that disposal is done correctly.”