Roundtable #10 – Bringing awareness to the circularity and longevity of fashion – Sustainability

Roundtable: Sustainability with Ross Rowbury

The English-language events will invite readers of The Japan Times to be guest speakers. Ross Rowbury (former representative of Edelman Japan), who has a deep knowledge of Japan and boasts a wide network both here and abroad, will sit down in the role of host with Japanese and non-Japanese to discuss their lives in Japan. Held once a month, the format of the roundtable will include time for panel discussions with the participation of the audience.

For our special speaker, Rowbury will welcome Haruka Sugihara, a Japanese-Belgian entrepreneur who was inspired by the traditional Japanese fabrics and the movement towards a sustainable future for fashion to launch her own contemporary fashion brand, RE:MONO.

The contents of Roundtable by The Japan Times will be published as an archive at a later date and will be introduced in the main paper of The Japan Times and the website of Sustainable Japan by The Japan Times.

Haruka Sugihara
Haruka Sugihara is a Japanese-Belgian entrepreneur. She was raised in Belgium and moved to Japan after graduating at the University of Antwerp. In Tokyo she set her goal on reconnecting to her Japanese roots and representing her family history as the granddaughter of Sugihara Chiune with the Sugihara Foundation.
Fashion design started out as a hobby motivated by her mother who is a jewelry designer and grandmother who was a couture seamstress. Inspired by the traditional Japanese fabrics and the movement towards a sustainable future for fashion, she launched her own contemporary fashion brand. Connecting old and new, east and west, RE:MONO aspires to bring awareness to both upcycling and the history of the traditional Japanese kimono whilst creating innovative and modern designs. RE:MONO’s mission is to bring new life to vintage and antique materials which are sourced in Japan and to bring awareness to the circularity and longevity of fashion.

Ross Rowbury
Ross Rowbury has observed Japan while living and working here for four decades. Commencing his career in finance in Tokyo in the early 1980s, he later moved into public relations and communications, holding senior positions at Gavin Anderson & Co. (now Kreab) and PRAP Japan. Most recently, he headed the Edelman business in Japan for 10 years until July 2020. Ross is studying to become a kataribe (traditional storyteller) of Japanese legends while doing freelance consulting for a number of firms on their Japan business strategy. He is also visiting professor of Asian marketing at Doshisha University in Kyoto.