PV x The Interline : Interview of Gilles Lasbordes

The Interline, an online magazine dedicated to the dynamics linking fashion and technology, has just published the very first edition of its Sustainability Report in collaboration with Première Vision. This study looks at the drive for sustainability in fashion and the practical reality of building tools and solutions to fashion’s most urgent challenge. In the introduction to this study, Gilles Lasbordes, General Manager of Première Vision, shares his views on the subject.

Gilles Lasbordes

General Manager, Première Vision

For more than 50 years, Première Vision has been at the heart of the fashion industry, hosting milestone events that bring the world’s brands, material suppliers, and manufacturers under one roof. A lot of the core business of fashion—the development of new creative collections, the forging of long-term relationships, the discovery of

new possibilities—happens under that roof, as you would expect. But so does a huge amount of active discussion, learning, and action around the industry’s biggest challenges. Right now, there is no bigger challenge than mapping, measuring, and managing fashion’s environmental and social footprint.


« We hear from the brands, the manufacturers, and the mills who come to our events in France, Europe, the USA, and China, that sustainability and eco-responsibility are at the top of their strategic agendas. »

Gilles Lasbordes
General Manager, Première Vision


We see consumers placing a significant emphasis on holding fashion accountable for its emissions, its waste, and the livelihoods of its workers. Even at a time where costs of living are high, and economic uncertainty is everywhere, the people who buy fashion are prioritising brands who don’t just articulate their values, but who take real action to support planet and people.

We have all watched regulators here in France, across Europe, in different states of the US, and elsewhere introduce legislation targeted at reducing the

footprint of fashion and other consumer products industries.

And many of those regulations have moved to adoption and enforcement quickly, with the AGEC law in France being an important example. And we all know, from looking at the world around us, that climate change is already having an impact on every stage of the fashion value chain–from putting entire production regions at risk, to changing the patterns of how people shop and how designers and brands plan their assortments.


« Add an unpredictable blend of economic and geo-political forces to the mix, and it becomes clear that fashion needs new solutions,
not simply to comply with reporting requirements and regulations,
but to secure a sustainable future.»

Gilles Lasbordes
General Manager, Première Vision


To help find those solutions, we established a new technology-focused segment of Première Vision Paris in 2023, and this summer we elevated that sector to be one of the cornerstones of our new Innovation Hub. There, we partnered with The Interline to lead the conversation around supply chain transparency, traceability, digital design and 3D prototyping, digital printing, blockchain, material digitisation and other technology solutions and services that are going to play a fundamental role in enabling fashion brands to create a competitive advantage

by adapting to supply chain, environmental, ethical, and omnichannel challenges. None of these issues will be solved overnight, but Première Vision is in this for the long haul. Through our professional events and through reports like this one, we believe in providing the platforms where the conversations and connections that secure fashion’s future will happen. And technology is going to be a major part of those conversations this year, next year, and beyond.

READ THE FULL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT