What can you smell right now? Can you identify it? How does it make you feel? Is it fresh, bright, pleasant? Nostalgic? Disgusting? Prepare to have your mind (not your nose!) blown, as Susan Irvine decodes her fascinating work.
This week's compelling interview is with manufacturer Shafiq Hassan, of the Echotex manufacturing facility in Gazipur, Bangladesh. Clare interviewed Shafiq in London, in September 2024, a little over month after peaceful students protests in Bangladesh toppled ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, then presiding over an increasingly corrupt and authoritarian regime.
So what's next?
“Key moments in our lives are charted by the textiles we bring close to our bodies," write curators Rebecca Evans the Leigh Robb in the catalogue to a major new exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia, RADICAL TEXTILES.
New York, London, Milan, Paris? So last season! It's time to spotlight less discussed design centres. This time, Dundee, Scotland, which is home the two emerging menswear designers you're about to meet - both recent graduates from the Jimmy Choo Academy…
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…
She is author of How to be a Craftivist and the founder of Craftivist Collective. Sarah Corbett believes, “If we want a world that is beautiful, kind and fair, shouldn’t our activism be beautiful, kind and fair?”
This episode is a call to arms for fashion change-makers, a demonstration of the persuasive nature of gentle activism, and the wonderful idea that together we might stitch a rebellion, sweep out the status quo and usher in a fairer world in fashion and beyond.
Happy Earth Day!
As we gear up to Earth Day on April 22, we're thinking about living more lightly on the planet. This year’s theme is Protect Our Species, and one of the quotes that inspired it is from Rachel Carson, who said, “In nature nothing exists alone.”
Natalie Isaacs is proof of that. The super-inspiring Australian movement builder behind 1 Million Women went from being a one-woman powerhouse to harnessing the collective power of other women - heck, the whole of womankind! - to start a lifestyle revolution to fight climate change.
Who’s up for stopping our wasteful ways and reimagining trash as a resource? This week’s guest is proving fashion can be made entirely from recycled materials.
He is Javier Goyaneche, president and founder of Ecoalf, the Spanish clothing company that pioneers high-tech new materials made from waste.
If you’re a sustainability nerd, you’ve no doubt heard of Ecoalf. It was Spain’s first B-corp and Gwyneth Paltrow is a fan - a few years back she did a collab with them for Goop.
Have you heard that phrase from seed to garment? Probably, right? Because most natural textiles are grown in the Earth. But how often does fashion get its fingernails into the actual dirt?
We hope there are some gardeners listening this week, because our guest loves worms. Nina Marenzi has a Masters degree in sustainable agriculture, but today she works in fashion. Her organisation The Sustainable Angle puts on the Future Fabrics Expo in London, which is all about what she calls ‘diversifying the fibre basket’ - or rethinking fashion materials.
For many years, Sass taught at FIT in New York. She was the Founding Dean of the Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation. She has purple hair, is a dedicated thrifter and has her shoes made by hand. But actually, this is not an interview about a life in fashion...
In this conversation, we focus on how fashion shapes our collective image, and how and why we allow it to dictate culture, and often get it so wrong. Ethical fashion isn’t just about garment workers being treated right - it’s about the whole thing, including us: shaping culture in a responsible, respectful, empowering way. Not making women feel bad about themselves. Not plundering from other cultures without asking permission. Not perpetuating eating disorders. Not ignoring entire sections of society who need clothes too. Basically, not propping up a broken system that deserves to be rebuilt. That’s a lot of nots!
This episode is about purpose, co-creation and building a social enterprise with a friend. It's about fashion with a heart, and following your dreams.
Rosario Dawson and Abrima Erwiah are Studio 189, a social enterprise brand based between New York and Ghana that won the CFDA x Lexus Sustainable Fashion Initiative award last year.
The brand works in countries with valuable skills but little infrastructure and limited access to markets, to help build the creative economy of the African fashion industry.
You no doubt know Rosario for her film work - she was discovered aged 15 sitting on her New York stoop by Harmony Korine, who cast her in his cult hit, Kids.
You know the score - Stella McCartney does the eco things first. Whether it’s making all things green super-cool, proving non-leather accessories can compete with traditional animal leather in the luxury market, or bringing the circular fashion conversation mainstream, this fashion brand leads the way.
So who makes all this happen? There’s McCartney herself, of course - the designer is a visionary greenie. But no woman is an island. Claire Bergkamp, and her sustainability team, have her back.
Meet Stella McCartney’s Worldwide Sustainability & Innovation Director. A self-confessed fibre nut, Claire started out as a costume designer in LA before switching lanes to study sustainability in London. There, she found her calling.
VOGUE once called him a “high-end scavenger”. Meet Dutch designer Ronald Van Der Kemp - the "sustainable couturier" behind RVDK. Fans include Lady Gaga and Kate Moss, Emma Watson, Lena Dunham and Celine Dion.
While he was still in college, Ronald wrote a thesis on fashion and nature, and designed a collection using vintage materials. He then spent two decades working in luxury fashion for the likes of Barney's, Bill Blass, Guy Laroche and Celine.
Now he's come full circle. Today, brand RVDK - which shows at Paris couture week - focuses on sustainability, and uses reclaimed, vintage and archival fabric. Ronald describes his approach to couture as: “Dressing ageless strong personalities that expect exclusivity, originality and high quality.''
Change is possible
Mother of Pearl is a British sustainable luxury womenswear and accessories brand that celebrates individuality and authenticity. The brand was established in 2002 by stylist Maia Norman, then wife of artist Damien Hurst. Amy Powney joined as a paid intern fresh out of fashion school 13 years ago. Nine years later she became creative director.
Today it’s known for its dark florals, satin bows, polka dots, ruffles and outsized faux-pearl trims - you could never accuse Mother of Pearl of being homespun or beige. Amy’s putting the glamour and fun into sustainable style, and it’s winning her accolades. In 2017, Mother of Pearl (along with Palmer Harding) won the British Fashion Council/Vogue Fashion Fund Award.
Make way, it’s time for something new
Fashion schools everywhere are full of eco warriors and bright, brilliant kids who are determined to do fashion differently. London is the leader. Long known for its fashion creativity, this is the capital that produces the most vibrant student shows and earth-shaking emerging designers. The big international and Paris-based design houses look to London fashion schools like Central St Martins and London College of Fashion for their future stars - but many in this new generation are questioning the validity of the exisiting fashion system, and asking if they want to be part of it at all. Now is a time of reinvention - young designers will reimagine fashion and the way it works. The question is, how?
In this Episode, we’ll hear from 3 young London-based ones to watch: Bethany Williams, Matthew Needham and Patrick McDowell. Find out why they care about sustainability and how they apply it to their work, what they’re doing to combat fashion waste and redesign the whole system.
