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.
If we can picture the zombie apocalypse, surely we can imagine a new economic system? Political economist and co-author of A History of the World in 7 Cheap Things, Raj Patel talks colonialism, oppression and the exploitation of nature, labour and energy - and how the patriarchy and capitalism drive it all. What’s the alternative, and how is fashion involved?
Are you what you eat? EPISODE 101 IS ALL ABOUT FASHION & FOOD. Have you ever thought about the water footprint of beef or olive oil? Or how far your food has travelled before it reaches your dinner plate? And what has all this god to do with fashion?
Meet Gung-Ho designer Sophie Dunster, food writer and photographer Sara Kiyo Popowa, and chefs Lauren Lovatt and Abi Aspen Glencross. Whether they’re vegan or just very excited about colourful vegetables; sure that what we eat can affect our mental health or just really keen on yummy food that doesn’t cost the Earth - these four female foodies are combining fashion with activism to put change on the menu. Bon appetit!
Welcome to our 100th Episode! This week's guest is Sinéad Burke, the Irish fashion journalist, activist and inclusivity advocate. Maybe you've watched her TED talk, Why Design Should Include Everyone, or heard about reminding the World Economic Forum at Davos this year, to ask: "Who is not in the room?" Probs you saw her on the cover of the Duchess of Sussex edited September issue of British Vogue.
This interview was recorded during London Fashion Week, so of course we talk clothes. These days, Sinéad sometimes gets about in custom-made Gucci, but that wasn’t always the case...What happens when clothes don’t fit you? When the world is not designed for you? Why doesn’t the fashion industry embrace the opportunity to cater to more shapes and sizes and abilities, why does it so often exclude, and how can we change that?
Should the government step in? Why do we need to "fix" fashion? Try because textile production consumes vast amounts of water. Because fashion contributes more to climate change than international aviation and shipping combined. And if current consumption levels continue, the industry could account for 25% of the world's carbon budget. Because our wardrobes are full of clothes we don't wear, yet we keep buying more and more garments, most of which are made from polyester and shed tiny plastic microfibres every time we wash them.
Because we buy fashion to throw it away.
This episode’s guest is Mary Creagh, at the time she was chair of the UK Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) and the Labour MP for Wakefield - the woman responsible for raising these issues with the British parliament in 2019.
How are you doing with all this climate news? Is it getting you down? This Episode to the rescue! It's all about climate hope and how we can feel more courageous and positive about our activism.
Meet climate activist, Anna Rose. She started forming environmental groups when she was a school kid. By the time she was at university, she, and her friend Amanda McKenzie, cofounded the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, which today has more than 150,000 members (Clare tells this story in Rise & Resist). Anna has been involved in leadership for Earth Hour, is on a bunch of important academic advisory boards and today works with an organisation called Farmers for Climate Action. But the reason you need to listen to her is that Anna has a long view on how to stay motivated with our activism . She talks about "hope as a strategic decision" and reminds us that we all have difference capacities that "it's only called impossible until it's done."
“Often I don’t feel brave, but I have to do things that I know are important,” she says. "I see courage as a muscle we can build up over time."
In this upbeat, inspiring conversation, we discuss where to begin, why courage is important, how to foster it and how we can use it to change the world.
Is it time we tore it all down? Extinction Rebellion (XR) is a grass roots activism movement demanding radical action on the global climate crisis. The group formed in the UK in October 2018 on the premise that trying to be a bit more sustainable, tinkering around the edges of the system but essentially carrying on with business as usual, will not save us from climate breakdown. They are calling on governments to declare a climate and ecological emergency, and to act immediately to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2025.
In this Episode, you’ll hear from some of the XR protestors who staged a “funeral” for London Fashion Week in September, then sit down with activists: Clare Farrell, Sara Arnold and Will Skeaping to find out why they think civil disobedience is the way to go, what to do about the scary science, and where fashion fits in with all of this.
Let’s come together for positive change
Sara Ali is a London-based luxury fashion consultant who focuses on Arabia and Africa. She started out in retail at Harvey Nichols and now advises retailers, brands and organisations on how to navigate the luxury fashion space with a modern, equitable, inclusive and inspiring mindset.
How does colonialism play out in fashion? And how can we encourage the fashion industry in general, and retail in particular, to be more inclusive? And when will fashion finally wake up to cultural appropriation and do better?
In this inviting conversation, we decode this sensitive subject and ask, Why don’t more conversations focus on it?
Harmful chemicals be gone! Have you heard the one about rivers turning blue outside of denim factories in China? Or being able to tell the colours of the season by looking at the waterways? Horrendous, right? But change is possible. Meet the Greenpeace activist who led the Detox My Fashion Campaign, which led to an industry-wide commitment to phase out harmful chemicals from fashion.
Meet Kirsten Brodde - the former science journalist on a mission to clean up fashion.
It’s time to tackle land use
The New York Times calls him "the poster boy for zero waste living". He's a florist, artist, restaurateur, architect, inventor and revolutionary thinker. Meet the man on a mission to convince us we can grow all the food we need where we live.
In this riveting episode, we discuss everything from how wasteful the floristry industry is to the microbial power of healthy soil to boost serotonin (yep, it can get you high apparently). What steps can we make to reconnect with the natural world? How might eating seasonally change our health, happiness and impact? Could we really grow all the food we need on the roof and walls of our houses and apartment buildings? What's the future of green cities?
