COLUMBUS FASHION INITIATIVE
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Mission Statement
The mission of the Columbus Fashion Alliance (CFA) is to move fashion forward. Further, CFA seeks to enhance Columbus’s culture into one that equips, fosters, and supports emerging designers and brands in the ultimate quest to become and sustain Columbus as a regionally, nationally, and even internationally respected fashion hub.
About This Cause
By cultivating education, community, imagination, and opportunity, CFA strives to become a fashion manufacturing and innovation leader while building an alliance of stakeholders from across all domains of the fashion and retail ecosystem—from fabric and printmakers to suppliers and distributors; from boutique retailers to large retail chains; from large scale brands and manufacturers to individual makers; from teaching artists to up-and-coming designers and students. While fashion and retail remain a top industry, there is presently no skills-based curriculum offered for Columbus City School (CCS) students. In addition, colleges and universities that offer fashion and retail programs are often out-of-reach for CCS graduates--roughly 80% of whom are students of color and 30% of whom live in households at or below the poverty line. Furthermore, as large fashion brands have lost some of their original luster as consumers increasingly move from place-based shopping to online and virtual experiences, independent brands have an opportunity to enter the market and diversify the fashion economy–creating increased alignment with both consumer values and demand. While open and accessible to all, CFA emphasizes equity, diversity, and inclusion within the sector by intentionally engaging existing and emerging designers, producers, entrepreneurs, and artists of color. To this end, CFA’s initiatives further seek to achieve the following: • Support and convene stakeholders across the fashion and retail ecosystem in Columbus in order to advance equity and diversity in the field while fostering collaboration, innovation, and sustainability. • Ensure individuals of color who influence fashion have opportunities to be formally brought into the industry at all levels and properly compensated. • Provide access to the tools and resources aspiring and emerging creatives need to build their skills, knowledge, and brands including state-of-the-art equipment, instructional materials, and technology. The organization's four strategic pillars include: Learn, Make, Innovate, and Experience and the organization consistently provides financial, material, and equipment resources; classes; events; internships; retail experiences; and more in pursuit of its mission. Since its founding in late 2019, CFA has reinvested nearly $1 million in the community through programs and initiatives, and the organization’s comprehensive and multi-phased initiatives seek to achieve outcomes that directly align with the County’s vision to address racial economic inequality, advance wealth equity, and create a representative workforce.