NEXT GEN ASSEMBLY 2025 MANIFESTO
The Next Gen Assembly 2025 Manifesto is shaped by talented students and young professionals from across the globe. United by a shared goal to advocate for the rights of nature and call for radical, systemic change — it invites reflection on how fashion can truly transform to value the living systems of our planet.
Led by Global Fashion Agenda and the Centre for Sustainable Fashion’s Fashion Values programme and supported by Target.
Developed through months of global collaboration across India, Australia, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and refined during Global Fashion Summit 2025 in Copenhagen, the Next Gen Assembly 2025 Manifesto serves as a guiding framework for reimagining fashion in alignment with the rhythms of nature. It stands as both a call to action and an invitation—to engage with its ideas, reflect on what resonates, and consider how collective shifts in values and mindsets can drive systemic transformation.
Download the Manifesto below to explore a more regenerative and life-affirming vision for the fashion system.
The Next Gen Assembly has also produced translated versions of the Manifesto in Spanish, Hindi, Vietnamese, and French, now available for download. These translations extend the Manifesto’s reach, enabling a broader global audience to engage with its vision for a fashion system aligned with the rights of nature.
Sanya Singh has always believed in the power of a well-told story. She first witnessed its impact in second grade, when a classmate shared that he prevented workers from cutting down a century-old banyan tree—by quoting words from a speech Singh had delivered. That moment shaped everything that followed. As a Creative Strategist with a strong background in mass communication, Singh uses storytelling to drive change. She’s explored how advertising influences behavior, from environmental campaigns to branding strategies. Her heart lies in fashion—not just as an industry but as a narrative woven through culture, identity, and sustainability. Singh has traveled across India, tracing the journey of textiles from artisan workshops to factory floors, seeing the beauty and the consequences of fashion's footprint. She wants to reshape these stories, creating campaigns that shift mindsets, inspire action, and make sustainability more than a buzzword. Because if words can save one tree, imagine what they can do for an entire industry.
Mel Corchado started designing clothes before she could even string together a full sentence. But as she pursued a career in fashion, she wrestled with how to reconcile her artistic and professional ambitions with an industry built on exploitation. A Brooklyn-based Boricua fashion designer, Corchado explores how fashion can challenge dominant narratives and shift consciousness in service of decolonization. Her research-driven practice builds alternatives to the fashion industrial complex through participatory methods like upcycling, skill-sharing, and relationship-building. Rooted in collaboration, care, and transformation, Corchado uses fashion as a vehicle for political education and social connection. She debuted her graduate thesis, Everything for Everybody, during NYFW SS24 at the Brooklyn Museum. A Parsons MFA Fashion Design and Society alumna, CFDA scholar, Teen Vogue Generation Next Designer, and Open Call 2025 Artist at The Shed, Corchado continues to shape fashion’s future from the inside out.
Thu Le is an expert, public speaker, and educator of sustainable fashion, and the Vietnamese representative of Redress – an environmental NGO on a mission to accelerate the transition to a circular fashion industry. From 2021 to 2024, Le founded and operated her sustainable menswear label, and showcased her collections in Hong Kong FW and Shenzhen FW. Her scope of work extends beyond sustainable fashion: in 2024, Le cofounded XAVAN Inc. - a design & communication consulting firm focusing on Vietnamese local systems and resources. Heading for lasting changes, XAVAN Inc. explores, connects, and facilitates Vietnam’s incredible wealth in culture and people.
Bronte Contador-Kelsall is an interdisciplinary designer and strategist dedicated to driving positive social change. With a background in political science and design, she combines curiosity, analytical rigor, and creative problem-solving to investigate complex, interconnected challenges. Contador-Kelsall views design as a powerful tool for systemic transformation and is passionate about fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders to tackle pressing issues - particularly within the fashion industry. She values building meaningful relationships and embraces learning and experimental approaches to drive innovation. Her experience spans the not-for-profit, education, private, and public sectors. Most recently, Contador-Kelsall has worked as a consultant, using co-design, strategic communication, and collaborative practices to drive transformation in the public sector.
Vibhuti Amin is an MA Material Futures student at Central Saint Martins, where she explores material innovation and biodesign for a sustainable future. In 2024, she graduated from Boston University as a Trustee Scholar with a Bachelor's in Chemistry with Honors and a minor in Visual Arts. With her interdisciplinary background in science and design, Amin explores how innovative materials and technologies can drive regenerative solutions for fashion. Through the Women@Dior and UNESCO program, her initiative, Recycle Rani, aims to combat climate change colonialism by improving recycling infrastructure and empowering female workers in Panipat, India. Her current work focuses on climate adaptation, exploring biomaterials that support resilient futures in disproportionately affected communities. Amin is passionate about bridging grassroots action with systemic change and is committed to challenging extractive practices, drawing from nature’s cyclical systems to foster a circular, equitable fashion ecosystem.
Rory Frost is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in International Relations at both King's College London and Sciences Po Paris. His research focuses on Environmental Policy and Global Governance, with a keen insight for exploring the links between political behaviour and climate change. Alongside his background in international affairs, Frost is an active sustainability advocate within the fashion industry. Falling in love with fashion through modelling and professional experience in the UK and abroad, he is especially interested in how nature inspires all forms of fashion from couture shows to our everyday wear. Frost has gained valuable experience within key aspects of the industry including communications and project management. He is determined to amplify his voice and platform to inspire real change in an industry that he is truly passionate about.
Maya Caine is a Master of Environmental Science candidate at the Yale School of the Environment, specializing in Industrial Ecology and Green Chemistry. With a background in corporate strategy, she has spent the past seven years building slow and circular fashion solutions. Caine co-founded Mive, a made-to-measure slow fashion marketplace, which later evolved into Mive Labs, a design consultancy advancing the circular fashion economy in her hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Currently, she is developing Helix, a circular fashion marketplace that traces the human memories and movement of garments with the mission of extending the life of pre-owned clothing.
Elise Giselle Dauterive is a Master's Student in Environmental Science and Management specialising in Business and Sustainability. She has a background in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a focus on plant sciences, and worked in native California plant protection for almost 2 years. Combining her scientific expertise with her life-long interest in fashion, Dauterive is focused on tackling textile waste through corporate sustainability initiatives and environmental policy. Her work explores circular economy solutions, material innovation, and waste management strategies to reduce the industry's environmental impact.
GFA Academy's Next Gen Assembly convenes talented students and young professionals in an impactful advocacy programme, enabling the next generation to gain access to the industry, have their voices heard and ideas nurtured.
The Next Gen Assembly (NGA) 2025 has brought together a diverse group of fashion designers, systems thinkers, social entrepreneurs, and storytellers from across the globe - united by one essential goal: advocating for the rights of nature.
GFA provides in-depth analysis, masterclasses and reports based on the latest industry data. GFA specialises in communicating complex sustainability content in a compelling and actionable manner and is responsible for leading industry publications such as the Fashion CEO Agenda, Fashion on Climate and Scaling Circularity.
Fashion CEO Agenda Toolkit – A curated directory of credible, actionable resources – including tools, guidance, and initiatives – that fashion leaders can adopt today.
The Apparel and Footwear Circularity Map showcases leading collaborative initiatives driving action across all stages of the circular fashion system.
Discover how the textile sector can shift towards sustainable models to enhance resilience and competitiveness.
