Kai Henry (he/him)

Kai Henry is a new hybrid breed of corporate / cultural strategist focused on innovating organizational infrastructure to fit today's climate. He is one of the few C-Level executives who understand the interaction of Brand and Commerce.

He began his career managing superstars like Snoop Dogg and David Banner. Kai then developed lifestyle brands like Beats By Dre, SkeeTV, En Noir, Merry Jane, Sol Republic and many others serving as their Chief Creative and Strategist, spearheading most of their major ventures and projects.

Most recently, Kai served as the Chief Strategy Officer of FaZe Clan, overseeing strategy creative and Web 3 while working closely with the co-founders, talent and stakeholders to steer the creative hub that informed FaZe’s corporate decisions.

Krista Kim (she/her)

Krista Kim is a leading Metaverse artist, philosopher, co-founder of 0.xyz, and founder of Techism (2014), whose work explores the concept of digital consciousness. Her thought leadership had led her to create Metaverse hub + lab , 0.xyz, with Emmy-winning VR immersive director Peter Martin of Valis Studio.

In 2020, Kim explored the creative potential to utilize screens as digital instruments of well-being by creating 'Mars House': a completely virtual environment using her digital zen philosophy as the first “Metaverse home” for sale as an NFT in history. The piece received global acclaim and in March 2021 was the highest-grossing sale on an NFT on SuperRare. Krista Kim’s “Continuum” installation was featured in Times Square every midnight in Feb 2021, and has been acquired in LACMA’s permanent collection.

She wrote a Metaverse essay for New York Times, and was chosen by Louis Vuitton as a #Louis200 visionary; Krista is contributing Metaverse Editor for Singapore Vogue; Top 30 Most Influential People of the Metaverse by Read and Write Magazine; Architectural Digest AD100, NFTy50 by Fortune Magazine. Kim made an iconic collaboration with Lanvin in 2018.

In 2021, Kim collaborated with Lamborghini and Steve Aoki for their historic first physical/digital NFT auctioned at Sotheby’s, and she created the first Utah Jazz NBA Metaverse NFT project in history.

Her work is currently exhibited at Palazzo Strozzi Museum (Florence, Italy) and Fotografiska Museum (Stockholm, Sweden).

David Cash (they/them)

David Cash has curated Web3 shows, events, and activations seen by billions around the world.

Cash launched his company Cash Labs with over 6 years of commercial photo/video production experience. His personal photography and art direction work has been seen internationally in outlets ranging from Vogue to MTV to Netflix.

All of this, paired with having written a master’s thesis on the topic of NFTs and DeFi, makes Cash & their team uniquely qualified to produce the highest quality Web3 activations on the market.

Cash is currently the lead curator and conceptualizer of "Metaverse Fashion Week," A Contributor to Vogue Singapore, and an Advisor for many of the top organizations and artists in the Web3 space.

Cash Labs, deemed “the leading force in bringing Web3 endeavours to market” by Vogue, is a boutique innovation agency working principally with Fortune 500 companies holistically entering the Web3 space.

With clients ranging from Farfetch to the NBA, Cash Labs is one of the most trusted companies currently bringing Web3 projects to market.

Demi Karanikolaou (she/her)

Demi Karanikolaou is a London based luxury expert at the intersection of fashion and technology. Having worked for years with luxury clients and publications at Google, Demi is currently managing luxury fashion partnerships at the Amazon group. As a writer and editor, Demi's work has been published at Harper's Bazaar, Madame Figaro and other major publications, oftentimes moderating international panels at big fashiontech events and being a public speaker at TED X. She is also a part time professor, lecturing luxury marketing in the world's top universities, such as Harvard, ESSEC, HEC. Lastly, her own consulting firm is helping independent luxury maisons and Web 3 startups in London, Paris & Milan, build solid branding strategies. A self proclaimed Futurist and an evangelist of Web 3, she is always on the lookout for the next big thing in fashion.

Dio Kurazawa (he/him)

Dio Kurazawa is at the forefront of the war against waste in the fashion industry and is on a mission to minimise excess stock and implement sustainable practices within all areas of clothing production.

As Co-Founder of The Bear Scouts, an agency designed to help brands implement sustainable practices, Dio spends an incredible amount of his time researching and developing new processes and his eye for innovation is like no other. He is extremely passionate and, having worked in the fashion industry all his life, has devoted his time to advocating and implementing a responsible production line.

In addition to his work at The Bear Scouts, Dio is an advisor for the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, The Copenhagen Fashion Week, Sustainable Board Member at GANNI a/s and Board Member at Fashion Open Studio.

While he is a staunch advocate for change, it is always approached with kindness. His overall objective in life is to be kind and tackle sustainability in the fashion industry by educating us all on how we can do better. As an industry, we have learnt so much from him already and acknowledge that there will always be more we can do to improve.

Francois Souchet (he/him)

Francois is BPCM’s Global Head of Sustainability and Impact, where he supports clients in building and delivering ambitious impact strategies across the agency’s main disciplines worldwide.

Before joining the agency, he initiated and led Make Fashion Circular at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, establishing it as a truly disruptive force within the fashion industry, championing circularity.

He has a long experience in advising organisations across sectors and geographies on circular economy and strategy, through his work with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and before that with Accenture.

Morten Grubak (he/him)

Morten Grubak is Global Executive Creative Director, VICE / VIRTUE FUTURES In the last 12 months, Morten led the launch of Coca-Cola’s first NFT, founded VICE Media group's internal Innovation Lab: Virtue Futures, created a wearable report on digital fashion and established a Grands Prix-winning volunteer project to digitize Ukraine’s heritage.

Morten is recognised as a credible authority in the field, having co-authored The Screenwear Paper — the first global report on consumer attitudes to virtual goods — and constructed the Metaverse’s first architect-drawn HQ in collaboration with the renowned innovators at Bjarke Ingels Group.

With hundreds of media appearances a year, Grubak is an oft-requested speaker on culture-led brand action, creativity, and technology. Particularly in the web 3.0 space, where he stands out from the crowd by championing a cautiously optimistic approach to virtual worlds that considers them as a creative opportunity.

Morten never takes the stage first, often ceding the spot to younger and more diverse colleagues. Under his watch, the creative leadership of Virtue Europe shifted from an all white and all male group to a predominantly female, BIPOC cast.

Nina Patel (she/her)

Nina is a product and technology innovation leader with experience working with well known luxury retail brands such as Net-a-Porter, Harvey Nichols and Farfetch.

Nina started her career in consulting before pivoting to luxury fashion over a decade ago, having held various technical and operational roles exploring how tech will transform the industry.

Most recently at Farfetch, she led their internal Innovation Lab, which dreamt up the luxury retail shopping experience of the future and creating proof of concepts to bring it to life in physical and digital environments. The Lab initiated Farfetch's exploration into web3, the Metaverse and the world of opportunity it presents.

Nina is excited for digital fashion to revolutionise the industry, enabling many more creatives to showcase and monetise their designs through the digital world. Nina is passionate about empowering female and minority talent, serving as an advisor, investor and mentor to many incredible female founders.

Robin Douglas Westling (he/him)

Robin Douglas Westling, b. 1996, started working at the Swedish Fashion Council in June 2020 to lead the important work of a pilot study about "Racism, social sustainability and the lack of ethnic diversity within the Swedish fashion industry’'.

In 2021 Westling got appointed as the organization’s Creative Director, combining his role at SFC with his work as a freelance stylist and consultant for the biggest fashion magazines, brands and institutions in the Nordics.

Westling is a true visionary with a focus on bringing and developing emerging brands forward and fighting inequalities in the fashion industry.

Ryan Teng (he/him)

For the past twenty years, Ryan Lee-Teng has experienced multiple facets of the apparel industry. From retail buying to licensed apparel sales to managing global identities in action sports and the NBA, he found his way to a small start-up called CLO Virtual Fashion.

Now, with the past seven years of helping companies implement 3D from end-to-end, he finds the most joy in partnering with a brand or retailer to learn more, so we can be less wrong.

With a glass window to the fashion industry, he hopes to continue to push curiosity, transparency, and empathy to anyone who wants to join him on this vision.

Stephanie Bretonniere (she/her)

Stéphanie is an Impact Technology Catalyst and Founder & CEO of WE IMPACT.WORLD. WIW is an Impact Innovation Lab and Advisory Council powered by AI, Web 3.0, Data, and Collective Intelligence. Our mission is to empower governments and corporations to align with the EU Green Plan by designing Regenerative Industry 5.0 business models that comply with new EU Regulations.

We impact beyond the boundaries of Europe, working from Emerging and Developing countries, controlling third-party and data integrity, Corporate Sustainability, and Social Impact Due Diligence, designing specific tech solutions while fostering trust among all stakeholders, and acknowledging the global geopolitical and economic implications of corporate strategies.

Stéphanie is a member of the World Economic Forum Expert Network, sits on various Advisory Boards, and was recently awarded 2022 Top 100 Women of the Future. She also joined the 100 Davos Women for the 2023 World Economic Forum.

In 2021, during her TEDx talk, she introduced the Impact Hacking Model, and lately, Stéphanie became B Corp Leader.

Stevie King (he/him)

Stevie has worked at Purple for over a decade, overseeing the global Lifestyle divisions which includes art, design, food, travel, culture and real estate. This involves devising global brand strategies, creating and brokering commercial and creative partnerships and nurturing high level media relationships.

Prior to joining the company, Stevie worked in the music industry for 10 years, beginning his career in Tokyo in music promotion and brand consultancy. In 2006 he relocated to London for the role as event and marketing manager for record label, Modular.

At Modular, Stevie oversaw all album releases and curated monthly events in London, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin and Milan. In this role he worked with global brands, utilising music as a part of wider brand marketing strategies.

Stevie moved to Buckinghamshire New University for the position as Senior Lecturer of Live Music and Event Management, to lecture on the BA and MA courses before joining Purple in 2011.

Stevie now splits his time between LA, London and New York.

Teddy Pahagbia (he/him)

Teddy a.k.a Mr. Metaverse is one of the most influential people in the Metaverse. As a visionary thinker, a bold entrepreneur and a tech geek, his journey from an engineering background and having worked across many industries and government agencies, managing infrastructure, service design and digital transformation projects, has led him to the forefront of innovation.

After more than 20 years of a corporate life, he launched BLVCK PiXEL, a Metaverse and Digital Innovation Consultancy based in Paris, at a time when the topic was still unheard from the public. The firm operates globally by using an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of Technology and Anthropology, to unlock opportunities and create new ways in the digital age.

Besides advising the largest and most iconic brands in the world on how to future-proof their business model, Teddy is an advocate of the use of technology for the greater good of humanity.

He regularly speaks at business schools, prestigious universities and global tech events, spreading the word, evangelizing and educating on the future of the internet, commerce and socialization in a hyper-connected reality.

Tom Grogan (he/him)

Tom Grogan is a technologist, entrepreneur and lawyer.

Tom works with some of the world’s most innovative organisations, helping to transform their service offerings using the latest technologies. He carved his reputation as one of the world’s foremost blockchain lawyers, helping to shape governments’ strategies and advise companies on their implementations.

He now leads MDRxTech, the technology consultancy arm of The Mishcon de Reya Group, delivering “compliant by design” technology solutions with his team of software developers, management consultants, blockchain engineers, data scientists and designers.

Tom chairs the Blockchain chapter of Tech London Advocates, a leading industry network of technology leaders, entrepreneurs, and experts.

He has lectured at the University of Cambridge and UCL on policy, law and emerging technologies, and has addressed the EU Commission on its distributed systems strategy.

Zee Kilpack (they/them)

Zee Kilpack (they/them) has always had a passion for virtual worlds. Zee attended the University of Utah and received their undergrad degree in video game development.

As an art lead, they were part of the first student team to publish a VR game in the program. In this time, they came out as queer, left the LDS church that they were raised in, and joined in local activism.

During the pandemic, Zee was inspired to create Notta Genda, a drag king persona. Notta Genda brings a confident, high-energy, gender-bending experience to the stage. Zee has made appearances as Notta in their activism as well by joining marches, attending legislative hearings on anti-trans bills, and speaking on the radio against the current push for drag bans in the U.S.

In their tech career, Zee has continued to fight for inclusive representation and action by organizing queer and trans employee and charity efforts, establishing authentic diversity practices in character development pipelines, and driving the development of gender-inclusive character software tools.

Zee currently works as a Strategic Program Manager at Snapchat. They are, and will continue to be, a staunch advocate for the use of technology for advocacy and activism.