The Beauty of Sustainable Luxury

Rita Almeida

Vice President - Strategy and Business Relations

Swarovski

Rita Almeida is a Luxury Retail Professional who graduated from Columbia Business School and is fluent in 4 languages (Portuguese, English, French and Spanish).

Rita has over 12 years of business experience in four different countries (Portugal, France, USA, United Kingdom), both in Strategic Consulting at The Boston Consulting Group and Luxury Retail at LVMH and Atelier Swarovski as a Global Managing Director.

Melissa Barrett

Managing Director, Sustainability Services

Accenture Strategy

Melissa Barrett is Managing Director at Accenture Strategy - Sustainability Services. She is a consultant working on innovative solutions to business sustainability issues to create shared business and societal value.

Melissa has a focus on strategy and innovative solutions for consumer goods and agriculture value chains and the communities and stakeholders they engage. She is the lead of Accenture's global capability on Trust, Transparency & Traceability and the lead for Sustainability with Consumer Goods Strategy Leadership Team.

Dorothy Maxwell

Sustainability Professional

House of Fraser

Dorothy Maxwell is a sustainable business professional with over 20 years international experience from the boardroom to the field. She works with businesses, government and NGOs as a special advisor, runs multi-stakeholder coalitions and delivers strategies to drive sustainable production, consumption and the transition to a green economy. Passionate about the need for clear communication on complex sustainability topics, Dr. Maxwell speaks at events and has authored multiple publications. Qualified with a PhD in environmental science and Masters in Environmental Economics & Law, her approach is to deliver practical results based on expertise and experience.

Carmen Hijosa

CEO and Founder

Ananas Anam

Dr. Hijosa is the founder and CEO of Ananas Anam Ltd, a Royal College of Art incubator-backed start-up in the U.K., has developed PiñatexTM, a natural textile, sustainably developed, that can be used as a leather alternative or textile in the fashion, accessory and upholstery markets.

Piñatex is a versatile non-woven textile that can be produced in large rolls in a variety of colours, finishes and thicknesses at a fraction of the cost of leather.