It's not every day you get to sit down with a proper fashion world icon and pick his brains for free! Dear listeners, you're in for a treat this week, as Clare meets the one and only Jimmy Choo. This magic name in shoe design is now professor - he runs his own fashion school, the Jimmy Choo Academy in London's Mayfair…
You might have noticed this idea gaining momentum. Ecocide refers to the mass damage and destruction of ecosystems – severe harm to nature which is widespread or long-term. The idea is to criminalise it. And it's happening! It's become national law in several countries with many more discussing it. In March, the EU passed a law that criminalises actions 'comparable to ecocide' - a revolutionary legal development; the first law of its kind to be adopted by a political entity with substantial global influence. In September, Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa submitted a proposal to the International Criminal Court for recognition of ecocide as a crime.
What does all this mean for fashion? Listen to find out!
Okay, brace yourselves...
Brands love to set sustainability goals. But what if it's all nonsense? What if net zero, the obsession with carbon, and the idea that renewables are taking over from fossil fuels, are all part of a fake green fairy tale that we tell ourselves because the alternative is too difficult to imagine. Or that corporations tell us so that they can keep on with business as usual.
WTAF? We know. It's... a lot.
Is it true? You decide, after listening to this week's guest.
Carole Collet on the role of a fashion designer today. Thinking purely about gorgeous clothes is so last season. Gone are the days when designers could consider only a collection, how it will sell and what the customer might be looking for.
Forward-thinkers are already beginning to take more holistic view and adopt a living systems approach. They’re asking questions such as, Can we make like Nature makes? How might fashion create nutrients instead of waste? How can we use biomimicry in sustainable ways? Program living systems to produce bespoke products? And, how can we build a truly regenerative system in place of the current regenerative one?
Happy Secondhand September! Six years ago Oxfam UK came up with the idea of using September to encourage people to: "Shop second hand to take a stance against fast fashion and dress for a fairer world." They say it's a moment to come together “to choose a more planet-friendly way to shop, and dress for the world you want to see." This week, Clare sits down with model-thrifter-filmmaker-activist Eunice Olumide, ahead of her walking in Oxfam's LFW show.
Iconic Australian fashion designers Pamela Easton and Lydia Pearson and their Easton Pearson label were known for their slow fashion approach. Think artisanal fabrics and embellishments, ethical production and made in India. But could they survive in the new fast fashion era? A frank discussion about the challenges of running an independent, slow fashion business in a fast fashion world.
Meet legendary thinker, innovator, disruptor and Cradle to Cradle hero, William McDonough. Architect, designer, thought leader, and author – his vision for a future of abundance for all is helping companies and communities think differently. He was the inaugural chair of the World Economic Forum’s Meta-Council on the Circular Economy and currently serves on the Forum’s Global Future Council on the Future of Environment and Natural Resource Security. For more than 40 years, he has defined the principles of the sustainability movement. This interview is a must for anyone who is interested in the circular economy, or indeed just cares about the future of our planet.
Sustainable fashion innovation steps up! Meet Katrin Ley, managing director of FASHION FOR GOOD - the world’s first sustainable fashion museum in Amsterdam. The organisation that was co-founded by William McDonough and set up to bring together the entire fashion ecosystem with incentives, resources and tools for sustainability. At its core is William’s concept of the Five Goods, which, he says, “represent an aspirational framework we can all use to work towards a world in which we do not simply take, make, waste, but rather take, make, renew and restore.”
Take, make, discard is so last season. Dame Ellen MacArthur is determined to change our economic system from linear to circular. In this inspiring interview with the former world champion sailor and current circular economy expert, we look at keeping products in the loop, designing out waste, and changing the way we make, sell and consume products such as fashion. But this is also a story of personal triumph, how to stay focused and set effective goals. It’s about having a plan - knowing which direction you want to go in is how you make stuff happen.
Common Objective has been described as a Linkedin sustainable fashion. Meet the British fashion change-maker behind it, Tamsin Lejeune.
Back in 2006, Tamsin founded the Ethical Fashion Forum, a London-based industry body for sustainable fashion. Her team also brought us Source, one of the first platforms to list sustainable resources and suppliers in one place. How much has changed since then? How far off is sustainable fashion from being the norm? What tools do we need do fashion better and connect as a community?
