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The now fashionable term "technological entrepreneurship" has also come to the fashion sphere. But if earlier innovations were the lot of large manufacturing concerns and factories (the introduction of new technologies is still quite expensive), now innovative projects are initiated even by very small teams. Startups that are actively being created are no less actively supported by business accelerators, venture funds and state development institutions.

The FashionNet project, initiated and inspired by Alexander Shumsky, President of the National Chamber of Fashion and head of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia, claims to be a pioneer in the Russian fashion industry. It was his persistent efforts that led to the fact that the topic of light industry became one of the key ones at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which sets the vector of economic development for the long term for the whole country. The important results of this session were the interaction with Russian universities in the field of personnel training for the new economy, the opening of the ASI Boiling Point in Ivanovo and the Foresight session planned for August 2017. Time will tell how things will turn out in the future, so we will still have a reason to return to this topic.

Innovations in light industry are also supported in Skolkovo. Technopark provides assistance to innovative projects in solving the most important issues for a startup, from the idea to its implementation, from the help of mentors and mentors to obtaining a Skolkovo residency, which, in addition to the image component, also gives the right to use a coworking or a separate office, participation in events held in Technopark, access to investors and the possibility of obtaining grants.

One of the most important and useful events in Skolkovo is StartupVillage (SUV), the largest startup conference in Russia and the CIS countries for technology entrepreneurs, held this year on June 6 and 7 at the Innovation Center and gathered more than 20,000 participants, including almost 4,000 These are startups, 1,500 investors. So there was no shortage of projects or investments, however, as well as interesting events of the business program held simultaneously at several venues. I had to strain myself to catch all the master classes and presentations I liked, as the program was really very busy. Despite the fact that technological entrepreneurship seems at first glance to be a dry and very complex sphere, sufficient attention has been paid to the creative industry: These are the events of the Creative City platform, and lectures by famous speakers from the fashion and design industry. In particular, one of the most interesting lectures was a speech by Miroslava Duma dedicated to the activities of the FashionTechLab Foundation. Miroslava spoke about the changes and challenges currently facing society and the economy, and about the important role of the new generation - Generation Z, as it is commonly called in international studies. The topic of new technologies that, without exaggeration, are changing the world was also touched upon: from eco-friendly methods of creating clothes to the use of renewable energy sources in all areas of production, including in light industry. "Think about the fact that the fashion industry is second only to the oil industry in terms of environmental pollution," the speaker stressed. The FashionTechLab Foundation, headed by Miroslava Duma, is engaged in innovative and technological projects in the fashion industry and operates in several countries of the world, including Russia.

The topic of new technologies in the fashion industry was continued by Anush Gasparyan, Director of the Educational Center "Management and Communication in the Fashion Industry" of the Higher School of Economics. In her lecture, "Technological innovations and fashion", she talked about the fact that innovations in the fashion industry exist at all levels: from the production of raw materials, ready-made clothing, retail to the media sphere. If we talk about innovative development in this industry, then the following areas are distinguished in it:

• innovations in fibers, yarn;
• the appearance of fabrics with new properties;
• technologies related to the production of the finished product;
• merging clothes with gadgets: clothes have an additional technological function;
• original haute couture collections created with or under the influence of new technologies.

Author of the text: Irina Karimova, head of the portal FashionEducation.ru , Senior Lecturer at the Department of Advertising Technology and Public Relations of Moscow Polytechnic University.

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