WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press

As New York Fashion Week rolls around again, it’s the perfect time to listen to this interview with Hillary Taymour, founder of the much-talked-about NYC label Collina Strada. Collina Strada is produced locally in small runs, using mostly deadstock. They’ve been working with the Real Real to upcycle unsold items, and with Liz Ricketts at the Or Foundation to upcycle and divert T-shirt waste in America before it heads offshore, and ends up in places like Kantamanto Market in Ghana.Known for shaking up the sustainability conversation stateside, this CFDA/ Vogue Fashion Fund finalist is also often heralded for its work around diversity and inclusion, and championing representation in their shows, but Hillary has no time for that. She says, they simply cast their community; their friends and artists they admire. Whether that’s the label’s co-designer Charlie’s septuagenarian mum; the model Aaron Philip (self- described “a black woman in a wheel chair who happens to be trans”); or a musician like Dorian Electra - it's not that Collina is doing something radical. Rather, that the conventional fashion system is super out of touch.This is a candid conversation about going your own way, finding joy on creativity, and the frustrations of trying to be a sustainable fashion designer inside an unsustainable system.*Note: We've been saving this one up - this conversation one was recorded before the break after Series 7.Also before Alessandro Michele’s departure from Gucci was announced.Enjoying the podcast? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around.Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the surface, this is the story of Samorn Sanixay’s epic adventure to map Australia through a colour study of its natural eucalyptus dyes. Last year, she set out to do just that, spending a year travelling around the country collecting leaves from these wonderfully diverse trees wherever she went.But that's just the starting point of this feel-good interview with the natural dyes expert and co-founder of artisanal weaving studio Eastern Weft in Vientiane.Ultimately, this is a conversation about belonging, forming friendships and connections to country, and the idea that we have more in common than we think.Enjoying the podcast? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around.Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Forget Vogue. Sourcing Journal should be required reading of you really want to know how the business of fashion works. Clare’s guest this week Edward Hertzman founded this trade journal (now part of FairChild, which owns WWD) out of frustration that no one in media was telling the full story about how supply chains operate. A former apparel sourcing agent himself, with a degree in economics, the tough-talking New Yorker tells it like it is.In the garment game, suppliers and manufactures take most of the risks, while brands wield most of the power. “It’s a very one-sided relationship,” he says. Add in unfair purchasing practices (which are way too common) and downward pressure on prices, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster - as we saw during the pandemic. And who do you think has to invest in all these new sustainability initiatives brands are talking up? Often, it’s the manufacturer. Remember what brands always say: “Well, of course we don’t own the factories or the mills …”Can the industry change? Who's doing it right? What does a true partnership - as opposed to a purely transactional relationship - between brands and suppliers look like? And what should we expect to happen this year when the cost of living crunch meets the realities of overstocked warehouses? Because many brands, particularly in the US, says Edward, are sitting on giant piles of unsold stock ...Required listening for anyone working in the fashion sector.Don't forget to check the shownotes for all the links. Find Sourcing Journal here.Enjoying the podcast? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around.Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our first interview for 2023, we make the case for why Fashion’s New Year’s Resolution should be to slow the f*ck down...What does it mean to thrive in your career? How do you define success? Is that the same way that society, or your industry, defines it? Chances are there’s a disconnect. Because capitalism has been telling us for so long that it’s all about the hustle and the speedy output, that's become the dominant narrative. It's time you set your own pace. Fashion has a pretty terrible record on this, says Georgina Johnson, but it doesn't have to be this way. This inviting interview with the author of The Slow Grind is full of wise insights and practical inspiration.Don't forget to check the shownotes for all the links. Find Georgina on Instagram here, and at www.theslowgrind.worldEnjoying the podcast? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around. Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Turn it up for the holidays! As he publishes his latest book, Reflections, Clare sits down with the colourful genius behind Alternative Miss World, who believes life is too short for muted tones...Andrew Logan is an artist, sculptor, jewellery-maker, yoga devotee and one of legendary English counter-culture fashion eccentrics. He's also the founder of the Alternative Miss World event, which turned 50 in 2022. Billed as "a celebration creativity and beauty that goes beyond gender, age, race and sexuality", David Hockney was a judge at the first one in 1972, and over the years notable judges, co-hosts and contestants have included: Biba founder Baraba Hulaniki, Leigh Bowery, Divine, Jarvis Cocker, Derek Jarman, Grayson Perry, Brian Eno and the stars of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.This interview's got it all - from painting elephants for the Pirelli calendar in India with Zandra Rhodes, and going to Ozzie Clark’s fashion shows in the ‘70s, to developing a spiritual practice, communing with the trees ("They don't say much!") and absent friends.A high jinx conversation about finding and following your creative calling, fashioning the self with joy in your heart, and bringing the fun back to dressing up.Don't forget to check the shownotes for all the links.Love the show? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around. Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever worry that sustainability talk is so much hot air? Us too. So this week, we're focusing on... BURPS AND FARTS!Now that we've got your attention, this is serious topic. According to UNEP, methane has accounted for roughly 30% of global warming since pre-industrial times and is proliferating faster than at any other time since record keeping began in the 1980s. While it hangs around in the atmosphere for less time than carbon does, while it is here, it's more potent. Where does it come from? Livestock emissions account for about a third of human-caused methane emissions. And yes, there's a fashion connection thanks to leather and wool. What if feeding livestock a certain type of seaweed could help? It can!Meet Sam Elsom, the Aussie behind Seaforest - an environmental tech company set up to tackle climate change by the power of seaweed.Don't forget to check the shownotes for all the links.Love the show? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around. Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We hear so much about product in fashion; about the clothes, and the brands. Thankfully, we’re now starting to hear more about the makers, garment workers and skilled artisans behind the manufacturing scenes. But we still hear very little from the people and processes behind the raw materials.This week, we’re looking at wool, with a lovely interview with Tasmanian woolgrower Simon Cameron, who Clare met seven years ago while writing Wardrobe Crisis. Simon manages Kingston in the northern Midlands of Tasmania, near(ish) to Launceston. His father farmed it before him. In fact, the property has been it in the family for four generations. Now, as then, Simon shares the joint with wombats, wallabies, bettongs even Tassie devils, and mob of superfine Merino sheep. But the little things are just as important - the native grasses and wild flowers, which, here, are largely intact in some of the state’s last remaining pristine grasslands as they were pre-colonial invasion.What are the challenges of managing the land in this way? What’s life really like on the land? How is Kingston’s clip produced and what makes it so special? And what’s the story behind MJ Bale’s quest to make carbon neutral wool with Kingston as a partner?Love the show? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around. Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The race offshore hollowed out the fashion and textile industries in much of Europe, the US and Australia. But if you happen to live there, chances are you've got amazing fashion skills on your doorstep but you just don't realise. While much of the infrastructure has disappeared, the talent is still there. And still coming through. When Yoox-Net-A-Porter execs visited Dumfries House, Scotland to see how The Prince’s Foundation is working to inspire and upskill young people in the textiles area, they saw an opportunity: to support fashion graduates in luxury, small-batch production and produce a very special collection in the process. They called it the Modern Artisan project.This week, Clare sits down with Jacqueline Farrell, education director at Dumfries House, and three of the eight participants in this year's Modern Artisan programme - emerging designers Isabelle Pennignton-Edmead, Emma Atherton and Emily Dey.Who doesn’t love a royal connection? So yes, The Crown, but this is really an Episode about process - how do the clothes we buy get made? What goes into it?If you can sew, could you do it? This is a lovely listen if you are studying fashion or want to. Or if you’re teaching it. But everyone who sees designer gear only once it reaches the stores, should find this insightful.Love the show? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around. Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back! Series 8 is here ... finally! We're kicking off with a fascinating conversation about greed, excess, imagination, innovation, education and redefining sustainability for fashion. Phew.More exclusive than Chanel - because they barely produce anything you can buy? An anti-establishment fashion duo that works with royalty? Why not? Vin + Omi rewrite all the rules. They call themselves ideologists. They're also fabric inventors, creative thinkers and system-challengers. Now also feature film-makers. Hear about their manifesto, and why it includes this: “We believe it is not enough to produce a new textile or product, artwork or designs; we can do more by thinking about the origins and surroundings of each project. In our fashion work, we have no interest in following the planet damaging ways most current fashion business models are run.” Be inspired! Be outraged! Tell us your feedback, we can't wait to hear from you.Thank you for listening. Can you help us spread the word? Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.comFollow the brilliant Vin + Omi here and here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fancy wearing a dress coloured sunny yellow by daffodils or a shirt dyed blue with woad? This week we're talking natural dyes and the magic of textiles derived from plants for a special episode produced with Fashion Revolution and guest-hosted by Carry Somers.Carry's talking with garden designer Lottie Delamain and natural dyes expert Kate Turnbull. Together, they've created a garden for Chelsea Flower Show "to inspire visitors to re-imagine the link between what we can grow and what we wear, showcasing creative possibilities and innovative thinking around how we can use our resources to create more sustainable solutions." They say: "Throughout history plants have played a fundamental role in fashion – as dye, as fibre and floral motifs, connecting us to a place or culture. In our global world this connection has been lost. Today our clothing is likely to be created using fossil fuels and toxic chemicals, damaging human health and nature’s ecosystems."We say: we love the power of plants!Find out more about the garden here.Follow Carry on Instagram here, Lottie here, and Kate here.Don't forget to let us know what you think! As usual, further links are on www.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 What comes to mind when you hear the phase: power dressing? In the 1980s, it was big news in the corporate world - with woman in big-shouldered designer suits, showing the men who was boss. But using clothes to communicate your status goes back as far as fashion does. In Ancient Rome, it meant the right to wear purple. If you were a courtier at Versailles, it meant the finest brocades. Today, you might think that if you can afford it, you can have it, but as Kim Kardashian proved at the Met Gala last week - it’s still complicated. There remain many circumstances when other people try to tell us what we can and can’t wear, and what is appropriate. “There’s always been a way of using clothes as a powerful tool,” says this week’s guest, British costume designer Jessica Worrall. In her work costuming theatre and film productions, she uses clothes to signify what characters stand for and how they fit in to the storyline. Her latest project uses digital collage art to mash up Old Masters with high fashion runway. Have the power dynamics of fashion today changed since Elizabeth I of England’s sumptuary laws dictated how who wore what? You decide. Check out Jessica’s work here.Tell Clare what you think here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Earth Day is not about buying eco-friendly stuff. This year, we challenge you to put your feet in the grass or the ocean, and your credit card away (unless you’re using it to donate to an environmental charity). Let’s make Earth Day about raising our voices for better government policies to protect biodiversity and act on the climate crisis. Let’s make it about communing with the birds, insects, animals and the trees.Start here! Meet Dr Greg Moore - a botanist and 'plant mechanic' at the University of Melbourne with a specific interest in arboriculture. His passion for trees is centred around understanding how they operate and cope with their environments, and appreciating the benefits trees provide in urban spaces. In this Episode, Clare and Greg take a walk in the park to talk about the genius of trees. And you’re invited.Find all the links and further reading in the shownotes at thewardrobecrisis.com/podcastTell us what you think on Instagram @thewardrobecrisis @mrspress Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fashion Revolution Week 2022 begins April 18th. This year's theme is Money, Fashion, Power. Why? As Fash Rev's communications manager Ruth Macglip says in this Episode's intro: "The mainstream fashion industry is built on the exploitation of people and the planet, with wealth and power concentrated in the hands of a few. Basically, it’s time to reimagine the values at the heart of the fashion system and scrutinise what it is we’re really paying for.”You probably already know that the fashion industry has problems! Issues for garment workers range from low pay and unsafe working conditions through gender discrimination, bullying and intimidation, to a lack of social security or social safety nets when things go wrong. As they did - spectacularly - for so many during the pandemic.What’s the answer? Improve transparency and uphold rights, pay a living wage and ensure workers have a seat at the table while all this is discussed. In this enlightening conversation, Clare and her guest Ineke Zeldunrust, Coordinator of Clean Clothes Campaign, unpack how this might happen - and why it must.Find all the links and further reading in the shownotes at thewardrobecrisis.com/podcastTell us what you think on Instagram:@thewardrobecrisis @mrspress@fashionrevolution @goodclothesfairpay Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Can Fashion History Teach Us About Sustainability? Which fashion figures tower over the history books? Who’s fame stands the test of time, and who gets forgotten - and why? What can we learn from wartime rationing and the Make Do & Mend movement? How was life when home-sewing used to be the norm rather than exception? What new materials rocked the runways in the 1960s, and did disposable fashion originate with a faddish paper dress?This week, we take a look at some of the sustainability angles and moral dilemmas from fashion history’s archives, with American fashion historian Rachel Elspeth Gross. It’s a conversation is full of intriguing stories from fashion’s past, that might help make sense of the present – or encourage us to look at it in new ways.Find all the links and further reading in the shownotes at thewardrobecrisis.com/podcastTell us what you think on Instagram @thewardrobecrisis @mrspressFind Rachel @rachel.elspeth.gross Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How one company is turning greenhouse gases into a plastic alternative that biodegrades.As Scientific American points out, "carbon is the giver of life - your skin and hair, blood and bone, muscle and sinews all depend on carbon. Bark, leaf, root and flower; fruit and nut; pollen and nectar; bee and butterfly; Doberman and dinosaur—all incorporate essential carbon. Every cell in your body—indeed, every part of every cell—relies on a sturdy backbone of carbon." Carbon isn't a monster - although it's sometimes painted that way. Carbon dioxide, however, is obviously causing us serious problems. We can't keep pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Reducing emissions and switching to renewables are the obvious first ports of call. But might we also be able to rethink unwanted greenhouse gases as a feedstock - something useful that we could turn into a product?That's what this week's guest is proposing. Meet Mark Herrema, co-founder and CEO of Newlight Technologies, the company behind Air Carbon. He’s hoping this bio-based material will revolutionise the plastics industry. And Nike agrees...Find all the links and further reading in the shownotes at thewardrobecrisis.com/podcastTell us what you think on Instagram @thewardrobecrisis @mrspress Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We love to talk about our 2030 goals, but climate change is not some future worry – it’s here today. It’s already bringing more frequent extreme weather events, as we’ve seen in Australia recently. In late February, early March, catastrophic floods hit northern NSW and southern Queensland, after intense rain fell over the eastern seaboard. Rivers burst their banks, sending houses, roads, farms, and public buildings underwater. People died. Communications were a struggle. It some cases, it took days for the emergency services to arrive, and people were left to fend for themselves, rescuing their neighbours in whatever floated, and organising their own-off road vehicles and even helicopters.Three weeks later, it isn’t over for the thousands of affected. Beyond the mind-boggling extent of the clean-up lies a housing crisis. But this is not a gloomy interview. Our theme is radical hope. Meet Northern Rivers local Zoe Gameau, who shares how her local community, and women in particular, sprang into action to help and organise on the ground. And, yes, there’s a fashion angle – clothes take on a special meaning when you’ve lost everything.Find links and more in the shownotes here. Follow Wardrobe Crisis on Instagram. Clare is @mrspress Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you bought digital garments for your avatar yet? Would you like to? You need to listen to this! Moin Roberts-Islam is the Technology Development Manager at the Fashion Innovation Agency, at the London College of Fashion, and he’s here to answer all our questions.In this riveting interview, you’re going to hear him explain pretty much every entry level thing you need to know about how digital fashion works, why it’s exploding, what brands are doing, how gaming is involved, who is buying digital garments and why, plus we discuss the Metaverse and NFTs, and how all this relates to sustainability. Let us know what you think. Follow Clare on Instagram @mrspress @thewardrobecrisiswww.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On February 24th, Russia invaded Ukraine. The news headlines filled with terrifying stories of missile strikes on residential areas, hitting apartment buildings and killing civilians; of nuclear power plants being attacked and 1 million people fleeing country. What has fashion to do with all this? The morning that Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war was also the first day of Milan Fashion Week. And as the violence continued, so too did the fashion shows, next in Paris. Fashion’s Instagram feeds were unsettling mix of commentary on Kim Kardashian’s outfits and blue-and-yellow street style looks inspired by the Ukrainian flag. Some brands used their platforms to take a stand for peace. But solidarity only goes so far.How should fashion respond to war? What is our moral obligation? Saying you care about something is not the same as doing something about it, so beyond a social media post, how can an industry like fashion contribute meaningfully? Should brands the retailers impose their own sanctions on Russia and halt business there? What support do Ukrainian designers need? Is it okay not to speak out? And when does this become simply, as guest today puts it, common sense, or an expression of our common humanity.In this week’s Episode, Clare sits down with Venya Brykalin, fashion director of Vogue Ukraine to ask these questions and more. Want to help Ukraine? Please visit this website: https://how-to-help-ukraine-now.super.site/Thank you for listening. As usual, find further links and details on the shownotes on thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it mean to leave - voluntarily - your homeland, to make a new creative life in another country? How might the place you left behind and the new one you chose collide in your work? Thirty-five years after he left Koyoto and enrolled in East Sydney Technical College, with a big dream and small bag full of kimonos nicked off his mum, Akira Isogawa is an Australian national treasure. He's been the subject of major museum retrospectives, designed costumes for the ballet, and seen his work worn by supermodels, and championed by Vogue editors and influential buyers. But Akira is still as humble as they come.Clare sits down with the iconic Japanese-Australian fashion designer to discuss home, roots and the future, and past, of fashion. It’s a delightful conversation touching on the artist's creative journey and his collaborators, his long fascination with Japanese textiles and his approach to sustainability - which considers minimalism, recycling, repurposing and mending. Let us know what you think. Follow Clare on Instagram @mrspress @thewardrobecrisiswww.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you heard about New York’s proposed sustainable fashion law? It’s called the Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act, and if it is passes those behind it say: this groundbreaking piece of legislation that will make New York the global leader in accountability for the $2.5 trillion fashion industry. Supporters include the likes of Stella McCartney and Jane Fonda.So, why do we need it?If New York were a country, it would rank as the world’s 10th largest economy, bigger than Canada, Russia and Korea. You already know that the global fashion industry has major climate impacts. It is responsible for around 4% of carbon emissions (some say 10%). Meanwhile, supply chains remain stubbornly opaque, garment and textile workers continue to get a raw deal and fashion waste is a major polluter. And New York, as an iconic commercial rag trade hub, has the potential to play a powerful role in transforming things.This week, Clare sits down with Maxine Bedat, founder of New Standard Institute, one of the driving forces behind the Act. They discuss how it came about, what it hopes to achieve and whether it's likely to fly. Maxine is sustainable fashion pioneer, formerly one half of Zady and last year she published her first book - Unravelled, The Life & Death of Garment. Let us know what you think. Follow Clare on Instagram @mrspress @thewardrobecrisiswww.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we sit down with New Yorker Mara Hoffman to find out how she turned her namesake brand into a sustainable fashion leader, what makes her tick - from astrology and to the inspirational beauty of Mother Earth, and being a mamma thinking about the next generation.The MH brand does a bunch of cool stuff, like working with natural dyes and regenerative agriculture projects. There’s even a peer-to-peer preloved Mara Hoffman marketplace called Full Circle. They also work with a local social enterprise called Custom Collaborative that provides jobs and training for from low-income and immigrant communities.In this warm discussion, Mara and Clare discuss why we still need physical stores and spaces to connect is in ways that aren’t quite the same online. The burden of physical stuff,  the responsibility that comes being a designer today. And plants! And SATC legend Patricia Field. Enjoy! Mara is tops. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do we really believe that we can pursue infinite growth on a finite planet? Why would we even want to?This week's guest is Tim Jackson, the ecological economist who wrote Post Growth, Life After Capitalism.It's a very persuasive argument for a complete rethink of how we define success, and why we need a new type of economy, one that prioritises relationships and meaning, over profits and power. Tim sees this book as "both a manifesto for system change and an invitation to rekindle a deeper conversation about the nature of the human condition.” Sound good?What that might look like practically? How could we get there? On this Episode, Tim and Clare discuss all this and more, from how advertising fuels overconsumption and why big companies are banking on green growth, to the future of work, what a single universal income could do for us, and even a bit of fashion – by way of an 18th century philosopher.Head to our website for further reading and links.We hope you enjoy this thought-provoking conversation! Please consider rating and reviewing in Apple podcasts, and sharing the show with your friends.You can find us on Instagram here, and here, and Clare on Twitter, here.Don't forget to hit subscribe! New Eps every Wednesday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After two years of fashion weeks globally being more or less on pandemic pause, they're back. Last week the Paris couture shows drew crowds in the French capital. As we publish, Scandinavia is in the spotlight with Copenhagen's event. The big four are going ahead this month, albeit with a few big names missing and some format changes. London's will be a gender neutral digital-physical event, showing "menswear, womenswear and gender neutral collections" - after London Fashion Week Men's was cancelled in January. New York is planning with physical shows, despite Tom Ford having to cancel due to Omicron disruptions. And while the schedules for Milan and Paris womenswear have yet to be published, they are expected to include some heavy hitters, including Gucci in Milan. So, we ask – is this the start of everything going back to the way it used to be? Why shouldn’t it be? And what is the alternative? Do need fashion weeks at all? How can we reinvent them? What role could they play in sustainability? This week's guest is Cecilie Thorsmark, CEO of Copenhagen Fashion Week. Discover how she introduced pioneering new sustainability requirements as a condition of brands showing on the Danish runway, and what it takes to get the carbon footprint of an event like this down. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

And you thought Zara was fast fashion! Buckle up because new trends are landing daily if not hourly, as a new breed of online disruptor throws out thousands of styles a week to see what sticks. Brands like Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing and Fashion Nova are part of a new ultra-fast fashion era, but Shein is by far the biggest player.Worth a reported $47 billion, the Chinese company is now the biggest selling fast fashion brand in the US. But how does it work? What's the secret to its giant reach? And just how many items does it drop in a week?In our first episode for Series 7, host Clare Press sits down with the American journalists Meaghan Tobin and Louise Matsakis who, along with Beijing-based Wency Chen, spent six months looking into this, from every possible angle. From speaking to garment workers and interviewing shoppers to tracking down one young TikTok user who saw her vintage vest morph into thousands of copies, taking her personal photo along for the ride - without her permission.Let us know what you think. Follow Clare on Instagram @mrspress @thewardrobecrisiswww.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You've probably heard about degrowth, which is: "a planned reduction of energy and resource use designed to bring the economy back into balance with the living world in a way that reduces inequality and improves human well-being." (If this idea is new to you, have a listen to Episode 135 with economist Jason Hickel).Question: is it time to apply such thinking more specifically to the fashion industry? What would that look like?This week's podcast presents the ideas of a new fashion activist organisation called Fashion Act Now (FAN), born out of Extinction Rebellion. They are calling for "a radical defashion future" - their interpretation of: "the role fashion must play in degrowth. It is a transition to post-fashion clothing systems that are regenerative, local, fair, nurturing and sufficient for the needs of communities."They argue that the current system - which they call Fashion with a capital 'F' - is not only environmentally unsustainable because it's addicted to overproduction, but, in its current form, morally bankrupt being built on oppression."Defashion may sound negative," says FAN co-founder and former fashion journalist Bel Jacobs, "but we think of it as a movement of joy, possibility, liberation. It does not mean the end of beautiful clothing."On this podcast, you will hear from Jacobs, along with her fellow FAN co-founder, the activist Sara Arnold; Extinction Rebellion co-founder (a former fashion designer herself) Clare Farrell; anthropologist Sandra Niessen (who has researched the clothing and textile tradition of the Batak people of Sumatra, Indonesia, for almost 40 years); fashion museum curator and founder of Denier Shonagh Marshall; and New York-based stylist Samantha Weir.To take the Fashion Act Now pledge, see here.Follow them on Instagram here.Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/12/6/ep-152-fashion-act-now-is-time-to-defashion to read yours and #bethechangeThank you for listening to Wardrobe Crisis. Find the shownotes here.This is the final Episode of Series 6. See you in January 2022 for Series 7!Don't be a stranger - follow Clare on Instagram @mrspress @thewardrobecrisiswww.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than half of all the textiles use today are polyester. You will definitely have poly in your wardrobe, even if you prefer natural fibres. Synthetics are lurking everywhere, whether as polyester, nylon, or blends mixed with cotton. Poly is cheap, ubiquitous and it's not going away any time soon. It's also made from fossil fuels, doesn't biodegrade and most of it ends up as waste.Cyndi Rhoades believes recycled is the answer.A UK-based, US-raised activist turned entrepreneur, she founded Worn Again Technologies (originally called Worn Again) in 2005 - determined to make a difference and create a business out of solving the challenge of textiles ending up in landfill or incineration.Initially, she looked to upcycling. “It was really hard it make it work at scale, but also ultimately we weren’t solving the problem of textile waste," she says. "Once these second-life products were used, they would end up in landfill anyway. So we were only postponing textiles going to landfill. It made us realise that recycling at a molecular level was the solution.”From her formative days in London's early 2000s sustainable fashion scene, to living on a barge off-the-grid today, Cyndi has a long view on how this space has evolved and what's coming next.Ever wondered how virgin polyester is actually made? Did you know the recycled kind is almost always made from recycled plastic bottles, not textiles? How sustainable is it? How do we decide? It is greenwashing? Can we really make fashion circular? What would that look like? Why is it taking so damn long? This Episode is like a masterclass in material-to-material recycling.Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/10/16/ep-151-whats-the-story-with-recycled-polyester-cyndi-rhoades-from-worn-again-explains-all to read yours and #bethechange Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you unwittingly contributing to waste colonialism via your wardrobe choices? What happens to our unwanted clothes when we donate them? Overproducing and underusing clothes has far-reaching consequences, as this week's guest Liz Ricketts of The Or Foundation explains.Each week, around 15 million pieces of secondhand clothing arrive in the Kantamanto second-hand clothing market in Accra, Ghana - and 40% goes to waste.This is the story of how your old shirt or dress or pants might end up clogging drains in Accra. Or form part of a heavy rope of textiles in the ocean, or lurking under the sand like some dystopian synthetic sea monster. Or smouldering on a waste mountain in an informal dump that’s been on fire months.It doesn’t have to be this way - maybe your old clothes will get fixed up and sold on to live another life. It’s complicated, as are the solutions.What do you think? Let us know! We're on Instagram @mrspress and @thewardrobecrisis, and on Twitter @mrspressHead over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/9/29/ep-150-liz-ricketts-waste-colonialism-dead-white-mans-clothes to read yours and #bethechange Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you a special person? How self-obsessed are we, as a society? How and why do we compare ourselves to others? What makes us group-ish? Violent? Or community minded? How about narcissistic? And is that getting worse?This week's guest is the British author Will Storr, who's latest book is Status Game: on social position and how we use it. After reading one of his previous books - Selfie, How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us - Clare persuaded him to come on Wardrobe Crisis and share his ideas and research about what lies beneath our social media culture, power games, virtue signalling and obsession with getting ahead.Will is also the author of a book, TED talk and creative writing class called The Science of Storytelling.In this lively discussion, Will and Clare talk about everything from Ancient Greece to TIME magazine covers; the origins of the self-esteem movement to Instagram; narcissism, perfectionism, mental health and the origins of western individualism.What do you think? Let us know! We're on Instagram @mrspress and @thewardrobecrisis, and on Twitter @mrspressHead over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/9/7/ep-149-status-self-obsession-mental-health-amp-whats-really-controlling-how-we-act-will-storr to read yours and #bethechange  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everyone's talking about climate action and social change - but Fashion is still carrying on like it's 1999. The velvet rope! Exclusivity! Snobbery and barriers to entry that lock many young designers with new ideas, out. Fashion weeks alone are massive carbon emitters, before we've even considered production. Pre-pandemic, the carbon footprint of all the media, buyers, models and designers going to the big four fashion weeks (NY, London, Milan & Paris) over a 12-month period, was enough to light up Times Square in New York for 58 years!And you're no doubt familiar with fashion's unfairness, murky supply chains and lack of diversity. Change is due.But the industry seems determined to get back to business as usual. This week's guest, London-based Kenyan fashion designer Anyango Mpinga has other ideas. Digital presentations could change the game, she says. But that's just one piece of the puzzle. Fashion must find its heart again.In this inspiring conversation, Anyango and host Clare Press talk purpose, service and giving back - and how, in Anyango's case, coming from a family of strong African women has shaped her. The designer shares her advice for independents trying to be as sustainable as possible, and the broader industry that needs to do better on diversity and inclusion. Big Fashion - take notes!Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/8/16/ep-148-inspiring-fashion-anyango-mpinga to read yours and #bethechange Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you heard the one about throwing your clothes away being better for the planet than renting them?In this Episode, we get the real story on the study out of Finland that spawned so many clickbait headlines, then ask a British retail legend about what's driving the fashion rental boom. We hear from a purpose-driven millennial founder about what her company is doing to ensure rental really is a greener fashion option than buying new clothes; and learn the secrets of eco-friendly dry cleaning (which... is actually wet - who knew?).Featuring interviews with: Professor Jarkko Levänen of Lahti University of Technology; Jane Shepherdson, chair of My Wardrobe HQ; Victoria Prew, co-founder of HURR, and Dr Kyle Grant, founder of Oxwash.Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/8/13/how-eco-friendly-is-fashion-rental-really to read yours and #bethechangeThank you for listening to Wardrobe Crisis. Don't forget to hit subscribe! Find us at wwww.thewardrobecrisis.com & on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who's Shaping Sustainable Fashion's Design Future? Each Wardrobe Crisis series we present a new generation talent episode, spotlighting emerging fashion designers who are pushing sustainability forward.This time we’re talking with: a positive knitwear designer from Canada who’s ongoing collaboration with Post Carbon lab sees her creating living garments that photosynthesise as you wear them. A British fashion multi-tasker who works as a sustainable womenswear designer focused on deadstock materials, a freelance writer, model and stylist. And a community-driven womenswear designer from Brazil who is wowing with his artful, high-craft textile treatments - and challenging fashion’s obsession with youth while he’s at it.Meet Olivia Rubens, Joshua James Small and Joao Maraschin.This Episode is guest-host - Nina Van Volkinburg, fashion academic and co-founder of the Reture designer upcycling marketplace.Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/8/3/ep-146-whos-shaping-sustainable-fashions-future to read yours and #bethechange Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you feel about getting older? Maybe you’re so young it feels a world away? Or maybe you’re feeling it, and wondering where the time went?This week’s guest fashion influencer Lyn Slater has no such worries - she reinvented her career in her 60s, going from college professor to Instagram star and being described as “one of fashion's finest-dressed people”. Since then she’s been written about a thousand times as a sort poster woman for growing older stylishly. But now, she’s examining further what it means to be old, and what we think about that word, from old people to old houses to old things.In a recent post on her blog, Accidental Icon, she wrote: “I’m going to keep saying I’m old over and over until it drains all the pejorative connotations from the word and the exuberant proclamations like, ‘60 is the new 40’ which still seems to imply younger is better.”Does old still have a stigma? How does it relate to slow, slowing down, slow fashion, appreciating things that have been around a bit. Are we on the brink of a new-old revolution? It's time to have a conversation about how to be old!Thank you for listening to Wardrobe Crisis. Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/7/27/ep-145-how-to-be-old-with-accidental-icons-lyn-slater to read yours and #bethechangeDon't forget to subscribe! And if you listen in Apple Podcasts, please consider rating & reviewing. Love the show? Get in touch in IG @mrspress & @thewardrobecrisis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“The 21st century has brought a critical dilemma into sharp relief: we must stop shopping, and yet we can’t stop shopping.” - J.B MacKinnon Have you noticed that stopping shopping is trending? It used to be a very unusual challenge to take on, but fashion detoxes are going mainstream as people begin to question hyper-consumerism and look for ways to resist it.But what would happen if we all turned off the fashion tap tomorrow?And not just fashion - consumer goods in general. What if everybody stopped shopping all at once? The wheels of the economy-as-we-know-it would grind to a halt. There’d be mass unemployment, and potentially chaos, the most marginalised people would be worst affected. And what about all those small business, including the ethical and sustainable ones? What about your job? Could we find a balance between curbing our consumerist excesses while keeping afloat?In this must-listen episode, Clare quizzes author J.B. MacKinnon about his riveting thought experiment. When he started thinking about his central dilemma - that the planet seems to need us to stop consuming so much, while the economy seems to require us to keep doing it - no one could have imagined what was around the corner. Covid made the thought experiment real...Thank you for listening to Wardrobe Crisis. Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/7/6/ep-144-the-day-the-world-stopped-shopping-jb-mackinnon to read yours and #bethechangeDon't forget to subscribe! And if you listen in Apple Podcasts, please consider rating & reviewing. Love the show? Get in touch in IG @mrspress & @thewardrobecrisis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lock up your linens! Emily Adams Bode has designs on your grandma's tablecloths. And her quilts. America's favourite emerging menswear talent made her fashion name upcycling characterful old domestic textiles and dusty deadstock - winning a CFDA award and a Woolmark Prize while she was at it. The result is menswear with meaning, designed to be passed down the generations.This is a lovely quirky conversation about what inspires her as a maker and collector, the joys of upcycling and the layers of meaning in hand-worked and customised clothes. Thank you for listening to Wardrobe Crisis. Find our website here. Don't forget to subscribe! And if you listen in Apple Podcasts, please consider rating & reviewing. Love the show? Get in touch in IG @mrspress & @thewardrobecrisisHead over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/7/3/ep-143 to read yours and #bethechange Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back! Series 6 is here!The title of this episode asks you to leave your pre-conceptions at the door. There is no one way for a refugee to look, seem, dress and show up in the world. On World Refugee Day, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) asks us to honour refugees around the globe. To celebrate the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home countries to escape conflict or persecution. And so we are excited to bring you this extraordinary interview with Aminata Conteh-Biger. Aminata is an UNHCR ambassador in Australia. She's also an author, speaker and the founder of Aminata Maternal Foundation. We met when I hosted an event for her wonderful book, Rising Heart, at an organisation in Sydney that we both support called The Social Outfit.Like everyone who has listened to her tell story, I was deeply affected by it, but also by Aminata's spirit. She has endured some terrible things, but if I had to think of words to describe her they'd be about love, joy, generosity, fun, glamour, the sisterhood and activism. Aminata is a fabulous fashion fan, mum, women's rights and maternal health advocate, and, yes, refugee.She is the sum of her many parts - proof that we are not one story, even when that story is as big as hers.In 1999, during the civil war in Sierra Leone, the then 18-year-old Aminata was a kidnapped by rebel soldiers. She was held captive for several months, and finally freed as part of a negotiated prisoner exchange. When she fled to Australia, with UNHCR's assistance, she had no idea what it would be like. She arrived here with nothing and to had to start again.Trigger warning - this conversation includes reference to rape and details of violence. But ultimately this is an uplifting story about fleeing one home and finding another - and joy along the way. Thanks to Spell, this episode is proudly brought to you by The Climate Council. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While you were distracted by the latest luxury It-whatever (and the shiny, ridiculously expensive global marketing behind it) slow local fashion makers were carefully, quietly crafting their wares regardless - on a fraction of the budgets of the big fashion names.It's time to take more notice of them! Because if we don't support the independents, how will they thrive? Can small local makers compete with the big guys today, and should they try? Or is it time to build new networks that create a totally different playing field?Meet one woman going her own way - and sharing what she's learned along it.Simone Agius is the Melbourne maker behind Simetrie - a disruptive, hand-crafted accessories brand that's challenging norms.Thank you for listening to our "pass the podcast mic" series. We've loved making it for you. If you can help us spread the word, please do (we're indie too). A nice rate & review in Apple goes down a treat.Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/4/29/simone-agius-simetrie-how-to-handcraft-a-handbag to read yours and #bethechangeFollow us on Instagram here and here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

CALLING ALL TREE-HUGGERS! Nicole Rycroft founded Canopy Planet at her kitchen table in Vancouver with a small budget and a big idea - to protect the world's precious forests.20 years later, Canopy is one of the leading organisations fighting globally for last frontier forests and engaging business - including the fashion industry - to find alternatives to unsustainably sourced wood in their supply chains.Do we really use ancient trees to make trivial things? Try pizza boxes and party frocks. It's an outrage (and you'll hear Clare getting mad about it in this chat) but it's also an opportunity for change, and Canopy is doing something about it.This bonus Episode was produced in partnership with Fashion Revolution. The theme this year is Rights, Relationships and Revolution. Forests have rights too!Thank you for supporting our work. If you like this Episode, please share it - we appreciate your help in spreading the word.Find the shownotes & all things Wardrobe Crisis here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How big is sustainable fashion in Iceland? You might be surprised to find out.We also nearly called this Episode: The Secret Lives Of Sweaters. Listen and you will see why!In this fascinating, surprising conversation about funny jumpers and changing the world, you will meet Ýr Jóhannsdóttir - a textile designer, artist/activist upcycler from Reykjavik.With her label Ýrúrarí (and her huge Instagram following) she is making a name for herself using creativity and humour to challenge fashion's unsustainable ways. People want to have fun with fashion, she says, and if we can use that to get a serious message across, that's a powerful thing. Also up for discussion: Iceland's craft and wool tradition, appreciating the local, resourcefulness, tool libraries and the future of fashion as sharing. This is part of our "pass the podcast" mic series - the (extended) finale! Where we're telling listener stories. Love it? Please help us spread the word. If you can rate & review in Apple, we'd be grateful.Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/2/12/podcast-139-series-5-finale-part-2-fixing-unsustainable-fashion to read yours and #bethechangeFollow us on Instagram here and here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vintage and second-hand fashion is in the news more than ever before. It's set to eclipse fast fashion within ten years. The designer re-commerce sector is booming. But as shopping pre-loved becomes more aspirational, are those who rely on thrifted clothes being locked out?What's not up for debate, however, is that the piles of discarded fashion and textiles keep growing. The excess is real. Where it ends up, who pays the price, what that price should be, what's selling, what's not, what should be ... in this week's episode we address all this and more as our listeners take a seat in the interviewee's chair. Welcome to Part 1 of our #sharethepodcastmic finale, featuring vintage rental store-owner Ali Dibley on clothes with personalities; dedicated thrifter Julia Browne on the evolution of opshopping and street style photographer Liisa Jokinen on preloved's digital revolution.Find the shownotes here.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who else talks to their plants? This week's joyful episode is a love letter to what we grow - in gardens, allotments, veggie patches and pots on our windowsills the world over. But also what grows wild - in the woods, hedgerows, fields and scrub, the verges by the freeways, even the cracks in city pavements.Your guest host, musician and gardener Nidala Barker, talks with her friend and fellow green thumb, Kobi Bloom about connecting to Earth, respecting our Mother and the marvellous magic of plants.Up for discussion: How can learning more about plants and their wonder help us heal the planet? What exactly is a regenerative farmer or gardener (and how can you be be one)? What happens if we donʼt pull out the weeds? What can we do about food waste? And why is compost so often the answer to life's big questions?But first, here's Nidala singing good morning to her veggie patch... you could not make this up - but she does! Every day it's a new song. Ah, told you this one was a joy.Find Nidala on Instagram here.Find Kobi here.Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/2/8/podcast-137-the-magic-of-plants-organic-gardening-and-why-weeds-are-wonderful to read yours and #bethechange Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to another episode of series 5 - #sharethepodcastmicDon't forget to hit subscribe and if you value these conversations, please share them with your communities.Your guest host this week is Ayesha Barenblat, founder of ReMake, and she is in conversation with Nazma Akter, founder and Executive Director of the Awaj Foundation. Nazma has been fighting to improve workers' rights in Bangladesh's garment sector for 30 years - and she started out as a garment worker herself, aged just 11. Hers is a powerful, persuasive, brilliant voice from the workers' side. So why have't you heard it before?The answer is because fashion - yes, even sustainable fashion - operates with a power imbalance that too often shuts workers out. We rarely hear from the people who make our clothes, especially those in low-wage countries. Instead, we hear from brands talking about garment workers, or well meaning white people talking on their behalf. Mostly, we hear from those who make the decisions, rather than those who must live with them. But if we are to build a truly sustainable and ethical fashion industry, we must make space for the people who make our clothes.Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/1/28/podcast-136-ayesha-barenblat-interviews-nazma-akter-garment-workers-raise-your-voice to read yours and #bethechangeFollow ReMake here.Love the show? Get in touch in IG @mrspress & @thewardrobecrisis  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everybody's talking about degrowth. Does this mean we've finally woken up to the reality of climate breakdown and ecological collapse? Are we ready to challenge capitalism's obsession with GDP and perpetual expansion? If so, what's the alternative? And how can we apply this to fashion, beyond simply "buy less"? How might we reimagine the whole system, and rethink how we measure success?This week's guest host Nina Gbor interviews Jason Hickel about his new book Less is More - How Degrowth Will Save the World.Jason is a rockstar economist (no grey suits here) focused on global inequality, political economy, post-development, and ecological economics. He teaches at Goldsmiths, University of London and serves on the Statistical Advisory Panel for the UN Human Development Report 2020, the advisory board of the Green New Deal for Europe and on the Harvard-Lancet Commission on Reparations and Redistributive Justice.Follow him on Twitter here.Love the show? Get in touch in IG @mrspress & @thewardrobecrisisFind all the links and shownotes on https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meet Belinda Duarte, former athlete and educator, current inspirational leader, formidable female exec, proud First Nations Australian and the inspiration for Series 5 - #sharethepodcastmicJust in time for January 26th - a significant day in this country. It's time to #changethedateThere's so much up for discussion in this one - from Belinda's family story, to sustainability and Indigenous wisdom, raising strong young people, ethical leadership and how we can use sport and culture to move towards reconciliation.Find Culture is Life here.You can find extensive notes & links on what you hear at www.thewardrobecrisis/podcastEnjoyed the episode? Please share it! Tag us on Instagram @thewardrobecrisis @mrspress Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In March 2020, Grace Lillian Lee and Teagan Cowlishaw announced Australia's first ever Indigenous fashion council - First Nations Fashion & Design. In December, they held their first fashion show - Walking in Two Worlds. But don't expect just any old runway. This is a beautiful story about reframing the fashion discourse, connecting to country, and mentoring emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fashion talent.Grace is this week's #sharethepodcastmic guest host and she's in conversation with First Nations Fashion + Design ambassador - model Charlee Fraser. Charlee is a proud Awabakal woman and a beautiful spirt. She's also a Paris fashion week favourite with multiple magazine covers under her belt. Follow her on Instagram here.Find First Nations Fashion + Design here.You can find extensive notes & links on what you hear at www.thewardrobecrisis/podcastThank you to our sponsors Bendigo Art Gallery.  Enjoyed the episode? Please share it! Tag us on Instagram @thewardrobecrisis @mrspress Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Series 5, #sharethepodcastmicWhy are all eyes are on Indigenous Australian fashion right now? Try 60,000 years of sustainability... "We're the original fashion industry in this country," says this week's guest host Yatu Widders-Hunt of the vibrant, continuously evolving First Nations fashion and design sector.In this Episode, we hear from curator Shonae Hobson about her Piinpi exhibition - the first major survey of contemporary Indigenous Australian fashion to be undertaken in this country. And from designers Julie Shaw of Maara Collective and Teagan Cowlishaw of Aarli.You can find extensive notes & links at www.thewardrobecrisis/podcastEnjoyed the episode? Please share it! Tag us on Instagram @thewardrobecrisis @mrspress Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why does so much fashion still cling to strict men's and womenswear codes? Is the industry finally ready to shake off tired old binaries and embrace the trans and gender-nonconforming community? Or is Harry Styles' Vogue cover about as far as it goes?For this week's #sharethepodcastmic episode, sustainable fashion journalist Aditi Mayer is in charge.She's interviewing Alok Vaid-Menon about their new book, Beyond the Gender Binary. Alok is a gender-nonconforming poet, author, performance artist and designer.Up for discussion: everything from gender neutral fashion, to the limitations of representation to what it means to truly redefine beauty. Also, fashion has been largely silent on the rising wave of transphobia, says Alok, yet continues to draw inspiration from gender-nonconforming people.This episode is a powerful call to designers "take it as an ethical imperative to de-gender their lines" and to "everyone, regardless of your gender, to make this an issue."It's time for all of us to start asking difficult questions, say Alok. "Asking our favourite brands, our favourite designers: why do you continue to gender your product? What is the purpose of this? The next piece is, how are we subverting gender tropes in our own lives? Are we dressing to fit an idea of what women or men should be, or are we dressing for ourselves?" Here's Aditi on Instagram.Find Alok on their website here.Find all the notes https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this week's #sharethepodcastmic episode, Aja Barber is in charge.She's interviewing her friend, Kalkidan Legesse, founder of Sancho's - a pioneering Black-owned sustainable fashion store in Exeter in the UK.Sancho's sells ethical and fair trade clothing, gifts and accessories from sustainable fashion brands like People Tree, Armedangels, Lefrik and Just Trade. They also really innovate with their pricing accessibility - and you'll hear all about that in this interview.What else gets unpacked? Kalkidan's Ethiopian roots and how returning to Addis Ababa as an adult sparked the idea for Sancho's. The million racist micro-aggressions people of colour face in the fashion industry (and everywhere else), who gets the power, and how to be an ethical leader.Here's Aja on IG.Here's Kalkidan's own website. Here's Sancho's on Instagram.www.sanchosstore.coHead over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2020/12/2/podcast-130-aja-barber-interviews-kalkidan-legesse to read yours and #bethechange Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A note from Clare: Welcome to Series 5, Share the Podcast Mic. After everything that's happened this year, we wanted to shake things up and share the power of this beautiful platform with some of the BIPOC voices leading the conversation in sustainability and ethical fashion. So after this episode, I'll be passing the Wardrobe Crisis mic onto them. Each will interview a person of their choice. Your guest hosts are some of the most exciting, dynamic, inspirational voices working in this space today - as are their guests. I couldn't be more grateful to them all for sharing their experiences with us, and being part of this project. I'm excited to bring you this contextual episode with brilliant sustainable fashion writer, activist and stylist Aja Barber, before I pass the mic on to her as our very first guest host next week.It's all up discussion today: from allyship (when brands get it wrong & how to get it right) to fashion billionaires; white fragility, the dreaded Karens, and coddling vs. discomfort. We talk about how the system is rigged but we have the power to change it. Aja's vision for a sustainable fashion future? Press play to find out.Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2020/11/23/podcast-129-aja-barber-anti-racism-work-amp-sharing-the-mic to read yours and #bethechangeAja's on Instagram here.Follow her Patreon here.Can you help us spread the word about this series? Use the hashtags #sharethepodcastmic #wardrobecrisisguesthostsInsta @thewardrobecrisis @mrspress Twitter @mrspress  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For all the talk of inclusivity finally being taken seriously by fashion, the industry is way behind on many fronts. It basically ignores entire sections of the market, which makes no sense from a business perspective, and let alone a social one.Adaptive fashion is both an opportunity and a necessity - as this week's brilliant guest, author Keah Brown says, disabled people love clothes too. And they're tired of having to alter things that don't work for them. Accessible, adaptive design is the future, and forward-looking brands are taking note.Our chat covers everything from Keah's New York Fashion Week debut and how her hashtag #disabledandcute went viral to writing her first screen play and the finding joy in the everyday. This is an enlightening, bright interview full of inspiration. What a treat to have Keah on the podcast.Let us know what you think. You can find Clare on Instagram and Twitter.Keah's website is here.Do you follow us at @thewardrobecrisis ? Remember, you can read our magazine at www.thewardrobecrisis.com, you can sign up for our bi-weekly newsletters there too.Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2020/10/8/podcast-128-keah-brown-why-is-fashion-ignoring-disabled-customers and #bethechangeTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Philosophy! The Internet of Things! Irvin Penn! From not being Mozart to designing outfits for The Muppets, as a kid... It's all up for discussion in this week's ep with Levi's Vice President of Global Product Innovation, Paul Dillinger. Paul drove Jacquard by Google, so of course we talk about that, and the future of tech innovation in fashion particularly around wearables. But fundamentally, this is a conversation about why we wear what we wear, what fashion means and how we've used it across time to craft our identities. Oh, and sustainability.Basically, this is why we love to make podcasts. And Paul is the greatest. Enjoy!Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2020/9/25/podcast-127-paul-dillinger-future-fashion-philosophy-amp-wearable-tech to read yours and #bethechange Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.