This week the Sustainability & Fashion Group presents one of its new members Stéphane Piot, Promotion IFM 1994 co-founder of PANDO” , a brand new eco-sustainabie fashion consulting company.

You will find here the link to the results of the study "Conscience de Mode" (broadcast from June 5th) as well as Stéphane's interview and the portrait of his company Pando.

"Stéphane Piot has decided to work with other consultants in eco-responsible fashion (Liya Korjova from Artek Ermitage and Leopolda Contaux-Bellina from Sed Nove Studio) in order to combine their strengths to lead the change in Fashion. Together they create he collective Consciences de Mode:

Conscience de Mode

The first action of the collective was a questionnaire released within the industry to understand how fashion handled the lockdown consequences. The questionnaire purpose was to conduct a study on post-covid-19 in fashion.

The results will be unveiled and analysed in a 30-minute video available since June 5^th to June 14^th.

To discover them, you just have to register, here for free, via the link 

CSR & FASHION - Post Covid

Interview - Stéphane Piot (28 April 2020)

- Hello Stéphane, you contacted us to share with the IFM Alumni the results of your Fashion Awareness study. We wanted to know a little more about you since you are in the final stages of launching your company. Pando is a consulting firm specialized in CSR (Corporate Social responsibility) that you co-founded with a former colleague who is now your partner.

Many alumni are interested in CSR issues and increasingly take them into account in their professional practices. We would like to better understand the place of CSR in your career path and how the decision was made to devote yourself completely to these subjects.

First, tell us ... can you identify when CSR came into your life?

When I was working in the luggage department, I quickly understood that considering pollution and working conditions in the overseas workshops I visited was a thousand miles away from what we would have expected.

Little by little, I tried with these suppliers to make improvements gradually. CSR entered my daily work without really announcing itself. And these very pragmatic initiatives were directly linked to my choices of organic and local food, of which I had been one of the early adopters. My action and my commitment grew slowly, one reinforcing the other ...

- Around you, do you see a stronger awareness of CSR issues gradually impacting your colleague’s life and choices?

The evolution is still very slow, but there are some unmistakable events

It would be too easy to still refer to the Rana Plaza today, but this event really acted as a trigger. It also seemed to me at the time when the Primark brand was established in France that the promotion of incredibly low prices products had shocked a large part of consumers. But all the initiatives ... The Copenhagen Summit, the Fashion Pact, Fashion Revolution, Fashion for good ... the speeches of Greta Thunberg ... the law relating to the duty of care and many other beautiful projects all come together reinforcing the same desire.

This multiplicity of actions from both brands and governments support sensitisation. And little by little, no one can ignore the facts any longer nor the ways to contribute, according to their possibilities, to a better balance.

Within Western countries, Made in Local remains a good indicator and many companies are beginning to develop manufacturing processes that are more open to a circular vision of product development.

However, fast fashion is still very present. One of the often-given reasons is labels. These labels are not yet sufficiently legible in clothing. Organic labels developed in the food industry should be models for our industry (the AB label in particular). They offer everyone a better power of appreciation of the choice they make, especially in the intimate ratio that each one weighs between the price and the "organic" reliability of the object...

And then sometimes it is technological changes that alone can change uses. Worldwide sales of virgin polyester are still very high because large-scale collection and recycling technologies at a competitive price are still developing. Only a global and systemic change could change the situation.

Very recently, the crisis has led some managers to express their willingness to exempt their companies from the CSR commitments that they have made to the European Union.

But I remain very confident. The slope is positive!  Very recently, the crisis has led some managers to express their willingness to exempt their companies from the CSR commitments that they have made to the European Union.The outcry was immediate. 

- In terms of CSR, what are the most recurrent demands of companies today? 

Allowing the brand to manage the right balance  between the fashion appeal it generates and the CSR assurance it represents is a major lever.

And as such, the fabric is a very strong ambassador. A communication about the textile fibre itself is today easier to understand by the consumer than any other information on the product value chain.

Furthermore, companies may need support to help their teams to develop a product design and development that integrates all the possible lives of the object. In our sectors, 80% of effective CSR actions in the short term take place at both ends of the product life cycle. At the very beginning for a Circular Design and at  by the time the product meets the customer. 

User integration is an essential lever: in other words, the correlation between the approach and the good acceptance of the approach by the user.

However, nothing should be neglected for all that. Some actions will have effects in the longer term. All the efforts deserve to be shared and communicated but some will have better short-term effects: Making the user aware of everything he need to know about the object, durability, recyclability, micro particles, the slightest pollution... The comparison with bio works perfectly.

- Do you find CSR approaches from other sectors of activity inspiring or do you find our sectors quite precursory?

The shift in the energy sector has been very important to support a more responsible turn.

The furniture industry has set up end-of-life channels very early on.

The automotive industry has been working on the life cycle, even if it means questioning its patterns and value chains. 

I would also like to see the opening up of couture coffee shop, along the lines of the Repair coffee shop that are being developed for household appliances...

- The IFM is committed to more sustainable development within the programmes and more generally to contribute to the awareness of the different actors in the sector. How do you contribute to this strong commitment ?

My links with the IFM have been developing for more than 15 years in connection with Executive Education. Little by little I am simply giving more and sustainable development courses and workshops.

The IFM is very committed to CSR through the Kering Chair with Andrée-Anne Lemieux and the coming year's programme is looking  as ambitious as innovative.

In the coming weeks, I will be working on new online training courses, for 4 modules. It is a pleasure to stay in touch with the IFM of course but to be honest, I love to contribute to increasing the CSR competence around me whenever I have the opportunity.

In the context of company audits and follow-ups to accompany projects, teams need very practical and accessible messages.

The subject is incredibly complex. It’s important to start with the specific history and challenges of the company. When the team is ready to start, you need to work with them very closely and to consolidate little by little in co-development.

- You have already mentioned how positively you approach the cohabitation of a great multiplicity of organisations, collectives and CSR initiatives. Beyond the convergence of all these approaches, how do you arbitrate your availability and your choice to contribute more to some than to others?

I follow very closely what the collectives test and develop. Good practices circulate. In my opinion, increasing the number of groups and media on sustainable development allows a better circulation of information. Everyone's involvement is stimulated by these circles of committed people who share the same vision and the same nature of conviction and authenticity on a daily basis. 

I am close to many of these circles and committed to Conscience de Mode through Pando. I will always be present for the IFM and remain very attentive to the alumni on these subjects of course!

Stéphane Piot 

06 63 78 12 19

Learn more about Pando :

Pando is a consulting firm in eco-responsible fashion that Laëtitia Hugé and Stéphane Piot (IFM94) have just co-founded. After 25 years in the fashion industry, the two friends, with very complementary experiences and skills, wanted to reconcile their values and actions to give meaning to our industry, with optimism, enthusiasm and respect. 

Respect is at the heart of all their actions and their raison d'être: respect for the planet, for people, for customers, for their convictions.

Transmission is an integral part of the project: transmission of their experience of the sector and their expertise in order to bring Fashion companies to embrace Sustainable Development with a level of autonomy adapted to their structure and strategy around the 4 fundamental criteria (ecological, social, societal and economic) of CSR.

Pando, "I stretch out" in Latin, directly echoes this transmission value.Pando is also the oldest tree in the world, or more exactly the oldest forest extending for 80,000 years over a single root system, in a virtuous circular mode.

To give meaning to our industry, Pando's CSR and Sustainable Development offer is based on 3 main axes: Diagnosing - Supporting - Informing 

https://pandofashion.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/pandofashion/