Do you have a fab local cobbler or clothing alterations service? This episode is a reminder to thank them for being here and fixing our stuff. Meet mine - Roger Shoe Repairs…
Bobby Kolade is the designer behind Ugandan fashion label Buzigahill - which puts the politics of upcycling and waste colonialism at its core with the brilliant, provocative concept: Return to Sender.
Buzigahill's collections are made from items of secondhand clothing donated in the global north, and increasingly being dumped on the global south in unsustainable numbers. Why “return to sender”? Because much of Buzigahill’s clientele is in Europe and North America…
Fashion communication isn't just about the clothes. It's about how we talk to each other.
Meet Lou Croff Blake, a Berlin-based non-binary fashion practitioner, scholar, artist and community organiser. Their work merges queer theory with community-building, advocating for intersectional equity and amplifying the visibility of marginalised genders. Which sounds like a of words! Because it is. Carefully considered words chosen to challenge the dominant narrative.
British model Junior Bishop - who just so happens to be a wheelchair user - spoke at the Houses of Parliament recently, she called on the fashion industry to do more to tackle its disability access issues. Representation is an important first step, but we can’t stop there.
Bet you can think of a thousand places where career progress is affected by your postcode, where you went to school and what your parents did. And lurking behind all that: race, gender, sexuality, difference, not to mention how much cash you've got...It's time for a power shift.
Meet Rahemur Rahman, a British-Bengali artist, educator and designer who is determined to change the system, not simply tinker round the edges of representation.
Until 2020 Eva Kruse was the president of Global Fashion Agenda. With a background in TV career and Danish Fashion Institute, she founded the Cophenhagen Fashion Summit to coincide with United Nations summit on climate change that happened in Copenhagen in 2009 to address the most critical environmental, social and ethical issues facing our industry and planet.
Whether it’s the Oscars, Met Gala, GRAMMYS, Green Carpet Awards, social media is often full of who wore what. The red carpet has a huge influence on fashion and pop culture, designers, celebrities. But how much do you know about the job of a FASHION STYLIST? Meet New York-based fashion editor Laura Jones who is fast carving a niche for herself as sustainable fashion’s go-to creative.
In the sustainable fashion space, we often talk about reducing the negative impacts of production on people and planet, but Sébastien Kopp and his business partner François Morillion talk about having a positive impact on the environment and society. Not less harm, but active good.
Is it possible? How do you choose eco-positive materials to make sneakers? Can you make money doing it? Veja sneakers cost 5 times more than conventional brands to produce because the raw materials are environmentally friendly and purchased according to fair trade principles, while the sneakers are manufactured in fair factories. How do you balance the books? Hint: you give up advertising.
What are the challenges of working this way? And what are the rewards?
In this Episode, recorded in Veja's HQ in Paris, Clare speaks with Sébastien about these questions and more. We talk: vegan shoes, Made in Brazil, agro-ecological organic cotton and wild rubber. We cover the history of colonialism in the Amazon, the definitions of success and failure and how to reshape the economic system for the better. This is a fascinating conversation with a truly original fashion thinker.
Pro-fashion protest! Who made your clothes? In the last in our mini-series of in celebration of Fashion Revolution Week, the global not-for-for profit campaign that was established on the anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster to promote transparency in the global fashion industry, we meet Fashion Revolution’s Head of Policy, Sarah Ditty.
Sarah is based in London, and has a wealth of insights the big issues around ethical and sustainable fashion today, from modern slavery to living wages through sustainable fabrics and fashion waste to extending the life of our clothes. Why do these things matter? What can you do to help? How far have we come, and what sort of fashion industry would be like to create for our future? Find out how Sarah started out, where her passion for social justice comes from, what it was like to be a sustainable fashion blogger before that was an actual thing, and where she stored her excessive wardrobe before she saw the light...
How can we use fashion for good? The Social Outfit is an independently-accredited Sydney-based social enterprise and fashion brand that works with refugees and new migrants to provide first Australian jobs in the fashion industry, through a design and workroom, retail storefront in Sydney's Newtown, and online store.
We need to talk. And we need to listen. Fashion is supposed to be modern, cutting edge, leading the way. So how come it’s stuck in old-fashioned tropes that place white culture at its centre?
Now is the time to shake things up and insist on true representation and inclusivity, and we all have our parts to play. But what does diversity really mean in the fashion context? And why aren’t we changing fast enough?
Kimberley Jenkins is a writer, educator and authority on the intersections between fashion, race and culture. At the time of this recording, Kim was teaching at both Parsons, The New School and the Pratt Institute in New York. In January 2020, she joined the faculty at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, as Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies.
She specialises in the sociocultural and historical influences behind why we wear what we wear, specifically addressing how politics, psychology, race and gender shape the way we ‘fashion’ our identity. Plus she's a massive vintage fan, and a serious fashion history buff.
Growing old glamorously with Advanced Style. Photographer and author Ari Seth Cohen is the creator of Advanced Style, a project devoted “to capturing the sartorial savvy of the senior set.” He says, “I feature people who live full creative lives. They live life to the fullest, age gracefully and continue to grow and challenge themselves.”
Ari has a longtime interest in clothing and style and a lifelong affinity for his elders. When he was growing up, his late grandmother Bluma (a librarian) was his best friend; her “energy and attitude towards life” continue to inspire him. As a result, he couldn’t help but question the absence of mature faces in the lifestyle and fashion media. “I noticed a lack of older people in fashion campaigns and street style sites,” he says. “I wanted to show that you can be stylish, creative and vital at any age.”
In this interview, you’re going to hear all about how he began, who he met along the way, what he learned and how he changed the way the world looks at older women.
It’s packed full of charm and wisdom, but best of all it’s packed full of Advanced Style ladies. From Ilona Royce Smithkin, who at 97 published a book on staying creative, and still her makes her own false eyelashes, to Tziporah Salamon, who bikes everywhere because it’s the best way of showing off an outfit, and Jacquie Murdock the former Apollo dancer who at 82 shot a Lanvin campaign and many more.
Vestiaire is putting the love in preloved. In her first podcast interview ever, Fanny Moizant talked about what makes her tick and building the French ‘re-commerce’ site that’s now booming.
This interview is a must for anyone who buys or sells secondhand anywhere. It’s a ‘How to make it in fashion’ episode, a tech disruptor episode, an inspirational woman episode. Fanny is a working mamma and she shares wonderful advice on female entrepreneurship. She flew up in the South of France, and studied at Institut Français de la Mode Not surprisingly, she also has fantastic style. Fanny Moizant is super chic.
