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.
For this episode, we’re in London visiting British journalist Tiffanie Darke to talk about her viral wardrobe challenge, The Rule of Five.
She’s also got a new book coming out in the US. What to Wear and Why, Your Guilt-Free Guide to Sustainable Fashion promises to get you "rethinking what clothes we buy, wear, and toss out, knowing that we can have a positive environmental impact while still looking good and dressing well”.
This one is refreshingly honest conversation with Danish knitwear designer Amalie Røge Hove about her much-loved label, A. Roege Hove, and the ups and downs of being an independent fashion business.
In the latest of our names-to-watch from CPHFW, Clare sits down with Finnish menswear designer Rolf Ektroth.
Last season, his hand-knits, made with Finnish yarn manufacturer Novita, were made available as pattern and yarn kits, so that home knitters could recreate his runway pieces. He loves macramé and hand embroidery, yet his collections have a modern street wear vibe that feels very polished.
If you're not in Copenhagen for fashion week, here's your (virtual) ticket.Over the next three episodes, we’ve got interviews with some of the most exciting new names to watch from the region. First up, Alectra Rothschild, whose show for her Masculina label was one of the most anticipated, thanks to last season's electric on-schedule debut…
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?
