MEDIA ADVISORY: MU to Host Textile and Apparel Production Summit

Story Contact(s):
Nathan Hurst, hurstn@missouri.edu, 573-882-6217

WHAT:

Policy makers, researchers, consumer advocates and industry leaders will gather at the University of Missouri to take part in the 2012 Textile Products Labeling Summit.  Speakers and panelists at the summit will address the problems and explore potential solutions facing current textile product labeling practices and regulations. Issues that will be discussed include transparency and objectivity issues related to social, community and environmental related claims, country of origin for apparel manufacturing, and care labeling.

“Consumers today are flooded with so many different messages by businesses through labels and claims as to why their products are better, greener,  or more socially responsible and sustainable than competitors,” Jung Ha-Brookshire, an assistant professor of textile and apparel management at MU, said. “This creates unnecessary confusion and misunderstanding surrounding various labels and claims. At the summit, we hope to propose comprehensive frameworks for current and future textile product labeling requirements and practices as well as industry-wide guides related to the sustainability impact of textile and apparel products.”

WHO:

William Kovacic, former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and current professor of law and director of the Competition Law Center at the George Washington University Law School, will deliver the first keynote address on Friday, Nov. 2.

Marie D’Avignon, a government relations representative for the American Apparel and Footwear Association, will deliver a second keynote address on Saturday, Nov. 3.

Approximately 40 policy makers, researchers, consumer advocates and industry leaders will participate in panel discussions.

WHEN& WHERE:

8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday, Nov. 2

9 a.m.-12 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 3

Reynolds Journalism Institute, MU Campus

NOTE:

Keynote speeches are free and open to the public. Working sessions and meal events are by invitation only. For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit: http://muconf.missouri.edu/textilelabeling/index.html

This summit is funded by Mizzou Advantage. Mizzou Advantage is a program that focuses on four areas of strength: food for the future, media of the future, one health, one medicine, and sustainable energy. The goals of Mizzou Advantage are to strengthen existing faculty networks, create new networks and propel Mizzou’s research, instruction and other activities to the next level.