Our FOUNDER
“To safeguard the future of fashion, and create impact at scale, we must be creative, collaborative and circular."
Allow me to introduce myself.
I’ve spent the last two decades doing what I love: helping businesses launch, scale and thrive in the ever-evolving worlds of fashion and food. My journey began with just a laptop and a vision, and through hard work, determination, and strategic partnerships, I've achieved significant milestones in the fashion industry including a multi-million pound fashion sales showroom in London.
Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of launching, scaling, and acquiring companies across international markets. I’ve been fortunate to work alongside iconic names like Net-A-Porter, Selfridges, Harrods, and ASOS. My knitwear brand was sold in luxury stores across the UK, Italy, South Korea, and China. And during some of the most challenging times—macroeconomic crashes, Brexit, and a pandemic—I led the digital transformation of my family’s Sicilian food business, safeguarding its future. Most recently, I acquired the 147-year-old British eyewear brand, Curry & Paxton, with a consortium of investors.
Two years ago, my journey brought me to Italy, where my passion for innovation and sustainability in fashion was reignited. I immersed myself in the world of fashion tech, mentoring start-ups with industry leading accelerators, and saw firsthand the gap between visionary innovators and traditional fashion companies. While large brands are leading in innovation, smaller players are often left behind, lacking the resources, networks, or understanding of the ever evolving landscape of technology.
That’s why I founded Future Fashion Assembly—to change that dynamic. Ground in principles of discovery and visibility where service is central to everything we do, we work with both emerging and established innovators who have proven concepts, ensuring that the solutions we offer are tried, tested and accessible.
My mission is simple: community, connections and collaborations. I believe in driving positive change through innovation and collaboration, and I feel privileged to share that vision with you.
MEET OUR ADVISORY BOARD
An Assembly of Visionary Leaders with a Shared Commitment to Reshaping the Future of Fashion.
Mario Muttenthaler
Mario is a C-suite marketing leader with over two decades experience in building and growing brands globally. He is known for his expertise in brand management, digital marketing, and customer experience development.
Mario held senior marketing roles at a number of businesses including lastminute.com, NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER, where he led transformative marketing initiatives, spearheaded international expansion efforts, and fostered strong, customer-centric cultures. In 2021 he joined Remarkably, a B Corp certified Creative and Marketing consultancy, to lead the Marketing practice.
Mario is passionate about mentoring and developing the next generation of marketing professionals. His commitment to excellence and continuous learning has earned him recognition as a respected voice in the business community.
Outside of his professional endeavors, Mario is an advocate for sustainability and social responsibility, actively supporting initiatives that promote environmental stewardship and community development.
Rich Pemberton
Rich is always on the hunt for remarkable. Schooled in the arts he’s been an entrepreneur and creative communication strategist for over 20 years. With international experience, in Europe and USA, he’s worked for some of the biggest brands on the planet; in tech, E-comm, fashion, retail, hotel and leisure. He bailed on big agency life - the creative founder of Instinctif, and has been heads down working to build his own thing, his way, ever since.
Peter Lynes
Peter is a senior executive and board director with over 30 years of experience in consumer-facing industries, specializing in fashion, eyewear, and retail. He is known for his expertise in brand strategy, commercial growth, and international business development.
Peter has held leadership roles at iconic British brands, including 12 years at Fred Perry, as well as Oliver Spencer and Peter Werth, where he defined the brand positioning and drove commercial expansion. He has worked extensively with SMEs, scaling businesses to £50M revenue under private, Private Equity, and FTSE 100 ownership. His experience spans omni-channel business models, turnaround strategies, and global market expansion, particularly in North America, Asia (notably Japan), the UK, and Europe.
Having started in the fashion industry at the age of 17 he has witnessed and been part of fundamental change. He is committed to supporting the next evolution of the industry and bringing about the much-needed change to future proof our businesses.
Jalaj Hora
Jalaj is an engineer, systems design strategist, and visionary dedicated to integrating technology, design, and sustainability for human and planetary progress.
As VP of Product Innovation & Consumer Creation at Nike, he led upstream digital transformation, pioneering a sports science platform that merged athlete data with AI and machine learning. He also scaled a collaborative digital ecosystem across design, manufacturing, retail, and marketing while managing Nike’s sustainability tech portfolio.
Previously, as SVP at Burberry, Jalaj drove materials innovation, digital prototyping, and regenerative manufacturing, setting new industry benchmarks for sustainability. His global experience spans consulting, manufacturing, and retail across Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia.
Jalaj advises startups and investment funds, serves as Global Chair and visiting professor at Manchester Metropolitan University, and helped establish the Institute for Positive Fashion. He is the founder and CEO of Synthegrate, a San Francisco-based venture studio focused on climate, fashion, and wellness.
