Amid Industry Luminaries, Cascale Engages Fashion Students on Utilizing Higg Index To Scale Sustainability

Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, director of communications at Cascale, recently presented insights at the Arizona State University Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (ASU FIDM) Fashion Symposium 2025. Directed by Dennita Sewell, ASU FIDM reaches nearly 900 students across two campuses, incubating leaders with a full range of synchronous programming. The university also boasts opportunities at the Wearable Technology Lab in Phoenix, AZ, and the Fashion Futures Research Lab and ASU FIDM Museum in Los Angeles, CA.

At the Fashion Symposium 2025 event, which took place at the university’s cutting edge Fusion on First housing and workplace complex in Phoenix, industry leaders inspired a full house of students, including newly recognized recipients of the 2025 Fashion Scholarship Fund. Sarnoff shared her journey at Cascale and then detailed how the organization’s Higg Index tools can be used to Combat Climate Change and Support Decent Work for All.

In addition to Sarnoff, speakers included Jill Hub, senior design manager of women’s apparel at The Walt Disney Company, and Marrisa Wilson, creative director and founder of MARRISA WILSON New York, who took the stage to talk about their paths from art school to career. Beth Forsberg, VP and chief sustainability officer at Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona, explained what Goodwill is doing to close the loop on waste, and Sharleen Ernster, CEO and founder of We Are HAH, detailed her journey from Victoria’s Secret to founding the We Are HAH eco luxury swim and intimates line.

In conversation with Christina Frank, curator of the ASU FIDM Museum in Los Angeles, Jess Cuevas, art director for WILLY CHAVARRIA, shared how he ended up working with clients like Madonna. Later, Sewell was joined onstage by the legendary artist Ruben Toledo, who also collaborated with his late wife, the fashion designer Isabel Toledo. After her presentation, Sarnoff joined Ernster onstage to discuss sustainability in fashion with Danielle Testa, assistant professor and fashion business management track lead at Arizona State University.

The conversations were especially relevant to students when contextualized as part of a wider narrative. In conclusion, Cuevas said: “Fashion is what time looks like, it is the fingerprint of time. Love is the compass to determine what you do in life… Who would have thought that two Cuban refugees would go on to dress the First Lady of the United States? That’s proof the American Dream exists.”