Lavinia Fernandes
CEO, Symolem-ID
Twenty years in fashion — luxury showrooms, buying and e-commerce, then an Executive MBA in Supply Chain Management. She founded Blu-Label in 2019 and has advised brands on product compliance since 2022.
LinkedInInaugural conference · ESRC Festival of Social Science 2026
Southwest Fashion Forum
What do your clothes really cost?
Unravelling the cost of EU compliance for fashion brands and retailers
Thursday 5 November 2026 9:30–13:00 PSP Innovation Centre, Porton Science Park, Salisbury SP4 0BF Free to attend, places limited
Convened byLavinia FernandesCEO, Symolem-IDDr Vinayak Sharma, PhDAcademic in Residence, University of Exeter
Why this Forum exists
Product compliance is now a condition of market access.
Fashion is becoming a highly regulated industry.
For UK brands and retailers, the cost of selling into Europe is changing fast. EmpCo, ESPR, Digital Product Passports and CSRD are shifting regulation from the company to the product. Many businesses have invested in sustainability strategies and impact reporting — but product compliance demands supply chain evidence that few can gather on their own.
Most fashion brands are micro businesses and SMEs that depend on access to the EU market. With more than 50 pieces of sustainability legislation now in force worldwide, knowing how to collect and present that evidence has become a condition of market access, not a nice-to-have.
The Southwest Fashion Forum exists to help regional companies get ready.
Join us on 5 November for our inaugural conference at Porton Science Park, just outside Salisbury, to hear how British brands are approaching product compliance, what European retailers will expect of their suppliers, and how to prepare for the new era of fashion regulation.
As part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science, we'll unravel the complexity of European legislation and set out plainly what EU Digital Product Passport rules will require of UK companies.
The Forum answers the two questions every brand and retailer is asking: what will EU compliance actually cost us — and what is the return on investing in Digital Product Passports now?
Your hosts
Who's convening the day
Dr Vinayak Sharma, PhD
Academic in Residence · University of Exeter
PhD in Circular Economy from the University of Exeter, where he lectures in the Department of Management, and has advised Defra, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and NHS England.
LinkedIn9:30–13:00
Programme
- Registration and coffee
- Welcome
- Opening address
- Panel: How UK brands are tackling traceability, product data and green claims
- Panel: Retailers — what changes on the shop floor and online, and what retailers need from their suppliers
- Short break
- Case study: a German retailer makes the decision to de-list a UK sustainable brand
- Final panel: which EU laws should apply to fashion, and how best to prepare for supply chain due diligence — with product compliance experts, law firms and consultants
- Close and networking
Programme subject to confirmation. No lunch is served.
Who should attend
Fashion brand founders and directors
Retail buying, sourcing and compliance teams
Sustainability and ESG leads
Regional manufacturers and suppliers
Supported by
Funded by an ESRC Festival of Social Science 2026 award through the University of Exeter.
Sponsorship
Sponsor the Forum
We are inviting a logistics partner to sponsor the inaugural Forum. Sponsorship includes speaking and branding opportunities in front of regional brands and retailers.
Enquire about sponsorshipPress and partners
Official event page
Covering or promoting the Forum? Use the link to this page — symolem.com/southwest-fashion-forum — as the official event page.
I'm attending the Southwest Fashion Forum
Salisbury
Venue
PSP Innovation CentrePorton Science Park
Porton Down
Salisbury SP4 0BF
Parking is available at the venue. The nearest railway station is Salisbury.
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