Index
IFFTI 2008
The Body-Connections with Fashion - 10th Annual Conference of the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes
Date: 8 - 9 March 2008
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Professor Margaret Gardner, RMITs Vice-Chancellor and President, welcomed over 250 delegates to the 10th Annual Conference of the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI) 2008, held at the Storey Hall complex. She considered the Conference theme 'The Body-Connections with Fashion' an appropriate forum to highlight fashion and its connection with other design related areas which she said are critical drivers for design practitioners globally. RMIT Fashion Program (HE) and the School of Fashion and Textiles (VET) together with IFFTI major sponsor, Pacific Brands, hosted a program of over 50 refereed paper presentations from international researchers, academics and practitioners, representing 15 countries and 30 educational institutions. Proceedings from the IFFTI08 Conference will be distributed at the 2009 IFFTI Conference in the UK.
Delegates were impressed with tours of the Fashion program facilities (city and Brunswick campuses) during which overviews were given of the undergraduate and postgraduate programs offered at RMIT.
At the Conference closing cocktail party at Federation Square delegates and the general public were treated to a display of the best of 100 submissions to the IFFTI08 Student Fashion Design Competition: 'Uncharted Bodies - innovative concepts beyond the frontiers of the known body' which were projected onto Square’s mega video screen. The winner, John Pountney, a 4th year RMIT Bachelor of Design Degree student in the School of Architecture + Design, completed and submitted his entry from Ryerson University in Toronto where he was on exchange in 2007. Pecha kucha-style presentations on the theme: ‘Innovation and Fashion Futures’ followed, delivered by Elaine Polvinen (Buffalo State College, USA), Patrick Snelling (RMIT University) and Trevor Little (North Carolina University, USA). Five researchers from IFFTI authorised institutions received travel grants to attend the Conference through the Junior Faculty Award.
Formal business concluded with the the IFFTI AGM.
Keynotes:
Sir George Cox (UK) is an IT entrepreneur, former Director General of the Institute of Directors and Chair of the British Design Council. He authored the 2005 Cox Review of Creativity in Business, commissioned by the UK Government.
Sue Morphet is Chief Executive of Pacific Brands, Australia’s leading marketer of everyday essential brands. An ASX-150 company, Pacific Brands is best known for its leading brands which include Berlei, Bonds, Clark’s, Hard Yakka, Hush Puppies, Holeproof, Sheridan and Tontine.
Cameron Lamperd is the Product Manager, Wetsuits, for the market-leading surfing wetsuit brand, Rip Curl.
Sir George Cox (UK)
IT entrepreneur, former Director General of the Institute of Directors and Chair of the British Design Council, Sir George Cox is the author of the 2005 Cox Review of Creativity in Business, commissioned by the UK Government: a fundamental review now highly regarded for its recommendations being adopted by UK businesses and motivating a cultural shift in how they operate. How can businesses face up to the challenge of a world that is becoming vastly more competitive? Sir George Cox claims creative capabilities lie at the very core of a business’s ability to compete. Enterprise that fails to be sufficiently creative is simply pouring more energy into prolonging yesterday’s ideas. Innovation isn’t something confined to a company’s R&D unit. It’s a mindset that needs to permeate the whole of a company’s activities. Competition is going to get tougher. The only answer is to be more enterprising and more creative. ‘Sir George Cox is a corporate chameleon with a unique skill set honed over a varied and strong career. Cox is no art college aesthete, but someone who views design through the pragmatic eyes of business.’ ( www.50lessons.com )
Sue Morphet, CEO, Pacific Brands (Australia)
Sue Morphet is Chief Executive of Pacific Brands, Australia’s leading marketer of everyday essential brands. An ASX-150 company, Pacific Brands is best known for some of its leading brands which include Berlei, Bonds, Clark’s, Hard Yakka, Hush Puppies, Holeproof, Sheridan and Tontine. It has a workforce of over 9,000 people and generates close to $2 billion in sales annually.
Prior to her appointment as CEO in 2007, Sue was Group General Manager for Underwear & Hosiery at Pacific Brands, the biggest operating group within the business, generating sales in excess of $600m. She joined Pacific Brands in 1996 as General Manager of Tontine – the first female GM within the business – before taking on the role of General Manager of Bonds in 1999. Her strengths are in marketing and brands, and under her leadership, the team at Bonds relaunched the icon brand, more than doubling sales. Bonds is now one of the Top 10 most recognised brands in Australia.
Sue’s working life commenced in school teaching before moving to run a number of family businesses. From there she worked in marketing roles within a number of large food and fashion companies. As well as managing her professional career, with the help of her husband Barry of 30 years, she also enjoys time spent with her family. She believes her greatest success is her three children. Her advice is to make mistakes, learn from them and give everything your best shot.
Cameron Lamperd Product Manager, Wetsuits, Rip Curl (Australia)
Cameron Lamperd is the Product Manager for the market-leading surfing wetsuit brand, Rip Curl. The company has a strong focus on Research and Development and has a long history of industry firsts in wetsuit design and performance, none more significant to the global surfing market than Rip Curl’s latest major project - the world’s first power heated wetsuit. Having grown up on the Victorian coastline, Cameron enjoyed an active surfing and competitive upbringing. A surf industry career beckoned and at the age of twenty-one he was appointed Marketing Manager for Dragon Optical, an action sport sunglass brand. This role quickly moved to a General Manager role and then to a company Directorship. Cameron then moved to the Gold Coast, to take on the mantle of General Manager of BASE - Boards and Surf Equipment Pty Ltd, formed from the merger of 4 of Australia’s leading surfboard brands to create Australia’s largest and the world’s 3rd largest surfboard manufacturing and management group. After a successful set up of the BASE company and with a young family, Cameron moved back to his Victorian homeland and commenced with Rip Curl. Now assigned with the task of taking Rip Curl wetsuits success even further, the group has some exciting projects on the go that will mean even greater improvements to the performance of surfing wetsuits.
Related information
IFFTI’08 presenters biographies (PDF 324KB 21p) (Opens new window)
IFFTI’08 Abstracts (PDF 380KB 23p) (Opens new window)
IFFTI’09 Schedule of parallel sessions (PDF 105KB 5p) (Opens new window)