DHL enters partnership agreement with CFDA

DHL has inked a partnership agreement with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) to be the American fashion trade organisation’s official logistics partner. The New York City-based CFDA is a not-for-profit organisation with a membership of more than 500 womenswear, menswear, accessory and jewellery designers.

“We are thrilled to be working with CFDA as a way to help industry players - from emerging designers to fashion industry leaders - find ways to strengthen their global reach and ensure they can meet the continually evolving and highly demanding needs of designers, manufacturers and consumers,” said Christine Nashick, chief marketing officer for the Americas Region at DHL Express.

As part of the partnership, DHL will co-sponsor and work with CFDA’s innovation partner, Accenture, on a study looking at the future of the industry’s supply chain to help fashion designers more effectively use global supply chains and shipping networks as key means to better target customer needs and elevate their brands.

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“We expect this study to be of particular help to emerging designers in helping them grow their business by adopting new approaches for their supply chain that are more in sync with customers’ shopping behaviour,” said Nashick.

“This is a great opportunity to bring a diverse set of expertise together to detail out a new approach for the value chain that can benefit all the participants. This vision and process can act as the foundation for a new ecosystem and communication platform of the future,” said Claudia Gorelick, head of business design at Fjord, design and innovation from Accenture Interactive.

DHL will also present several “CFDA Conversations,” which are live-streamed and filmed, with topics geared to a targeted segment of the CFDA membership. In addition, DHL Express will hold informal “office hours” meetings with member designers to showcase the company’s global leadership in logistics and e-commerce. As part of the office hours, one emerging designer will be named the winner of a DHL-branded logistics award, and will receive a year’s worth of discounted shipping rates as well as DHL mentoring services in import and export.

“The CFDA is committed to helping our members expand their businesses globally. Those efforts will accelerate greatly through our new partnership with DHL, which will aid both emerging and established brands alike,” said Steven Kolb, president and CEO of the CFDA.

The partnership kicks off with DHL delivering the seven-foot Trova statue to the Manhattan Centre’s Hammerstein Ballroom, where the CFDA Fashion Awards ceremony takes place on June 5, 2017. Considered the highest honour in fashion, the awards recognise outstanding contributions made to American fashion in womenswear, menswear and accessories as well as journalism, creative vision, personal style and lifetime achievement. DHL will also deliver the individual engraved Trova trophies to each recipient from the night.