WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press

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 fashion, lifestyle and media brand based between New York and Ghana, that won the CFDA Sustainable Fashion Initiative Award last year.They work 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 at 15 sitting on her New York stoop by Harmony Korine, who cast her in his cult hit, Kids. Since then she's been in major movies from Sin City to Men in Black to Rent. She's also an activist. In 2004 she co-founded Voto Latino, to encourage young Hispanic and Latino voters to become more politically involved. She sits on the board of Eve Ensler's V-Day's One Billion Rising, a global protest to end violence against

You know it: 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 has 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.Six years ago Claire joined the Stella McCartney brand to head up sustainability; she was a team of one. Today she runs a team based in London and Italy. Her work is disruptive and tend-setting - from rethinking traditional supply chains to working with startups on new circular materials, Claire is changing the way fashion is p

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 and Lena Dunham.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.''In this interview, recorded in his Amsterdam atelier ahead of his Spring ‘19 couture show, Clare and Ronald discuss the balancing ethics and integrity with glamour and fun. Yes, that is possible.Check out our shownotes. Links, pics and further readi

Meet London fashion star Amy Powney: an eco pioneer in polka dots and pearls, who grew up off-grid in a caravan and is simply not content to let fashion off the sustainability hook. Amy is the creative director of Mother of Pearl , a British sustainable luxury womenswear brand that celebrates individuality and authenticity.Known for its dark florals, satin bows, 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. But she's also dead serious about making change and acting now to protect the planet.Most brands don't talk about sustainability at all. Those that do, tend to stick to a few obvious, safe things. But Amy's all like, let's take over London Fashion Week, and convince BBC Earth to make a film about the environmental impacts of fast fashion. Let's talk seriously about the future of this planet of ours, about climate change, about water use and about what needs to happen to turn

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 the London College of Fashion for their future stars - but will they be seduced?Many in this new guard 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 are redrawing fashion and re-imagining the way it might work in future. In this Episode, we 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.Furthe

Welcome to Series 3! This Episode is a treat! It features Orsola de Castro, is one of the warmest, most generous, most knowledgable people working in sustainable fashion today. You may know her as the cofounder, with Carry Somers, of Fashion Revolution. But did you also know that she is the queen upcycling?In the that 1990s, after crocheting around the holes in a much-loved old jumper that she couldn't part with (although it was literally falling apart), she founded the fashion label From Somewhere. Her designs used only discarded, unloved, unwanted materials and turned them into the opposite: treasured, loved, wanted, and highly covetable.From Somewhere was stocked in stores like Browns in London, and Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, Orsola and her man Fillipo, who was also her business partner, did collaborations with the likes of Topshop, Jigsaw and Tesco. Later, they ran Esthetica, London Fashion Week's hub for sustainable for fashion.These days, Orsola teaches at Central St. Martins inspiring the next generat

Livia Firth is the Creative Director of sustainability consultancy Eco-Age, and the founder of the Green Carpet Challenge and Green Carpet Fashion Awards. She is a UN Leader of Change, a founding member of Annie Lennox's women's advocacy group The Circle, and was a co-producer on Andrew Morgan's ethical fashion documentary, The True Cost. Livia is also a warm and wonderful advocate for ethical and sustainable fashion, and an absolute treat to interview. We are so grateful to Livia for kicking off this, our brand sparkling new series 3 of the Wardrobe Crisis podcast!In Episode, Clare and Livia discuss what it means to be a fashion activist, and why the world needs more of us (yes, including you!). We cover the big stuff - garment worker dignity, living wages, social justice - and the glitzy stuff - influencers, social media and the power of fashion to change stories.Livia shares about her childhood growing up in Italy in a pre-fast fashion world, being “a ballbreaker” and starting a business with h

From front row to front bench? Why not? It's time we stopped considering fashion as simply fluffy. The industry is a giant global employer with serious impacts on the environment, and yet it is not traditionally associated with being active in the political arena or central to government policy.Our guest this week, on the final Episode of Series 2, is Londoner Tamara Cincik, founder of the British policy organisation Fashion Roundtable, who is derminted to change this. Her timing's pretty good.In the UK in June, the Environmental Audit Committe (a select committee of the House of Commons) announced it would be looking in to fast fashion, inquiring into the carbon, resource use and water footprint of clothing throughout its lifecycle, and looking at how clothes can be recycled, and waste and pollution reduced. Over the next few months, loads of industry insiders made submissions, and the mainstream headlines hummed with fashion and politics. It's about time, says Tamara, that fashion stepped up its engagement

“We truly believe in the power of fashion to present a pro-social message of inclusivity and positive identity." How's that for a vision statement? These are the words of Catherine Teatum and Rob Jones, AKA London fashion duo Teatum Jones.This year the British Fashion Council named them Positive Fashion Representatives. At London Fashion Week for Spring 19, they partnered with Youtube and Google in support of UN Women to present their collection: ‘Global Womanhood Part Two, 16 Days Of Activism.' Instead of a runway show, they held a roundtable discussion on fashion's +++ Watch it here.What role can fashion play in empowering women and girls? How can we modernise fashion and make it way more inclusive? How do we smash the idea that you have to look and be a certain way to qualify as beautiful, stylish, in fashion? How come fashion ignores disability - and keeps on getting away with it? Why do designers have a responsibility in this area, and how can they maximise their positive impact? In this

Meet Indian designer Ruchika Sachdeva of Bodice Studio, the Delhi-based label that took out the 2017/18 International Woolmark Prize .Join us as we discuss how to make it in fashion, and build a successful small business, sustainability, our need for connection and the importance of provenance and craft. We explore the rise of emerging Indian fashion talent (and no, it's not all Bollywood) and look at how can design offer solutions to fashion's waste crisis. A recent British survey found that 25% of women have clothes lurking in their wardrobe that can't wear because they no longer fit. Extending the life of a garment by an extra nine months can reduce its environmental impact by 20 to 30%. Ruchika's collections often feature tie fastenings, and moveable pleats and buttons because she wants these clothes to last for years. She also sees designing classics as a way to mitigate against waste. “If they're too much, too loud or too trend-based, you're going to get bored of clothes more e

Paul van Zyl is a human rights lawyer and ethical fashion entrepreneur, who 2009 he founded Maiyet, a luxury fashion brand with a social impact purpose.The idea was to “incorporate ancient traditions in non-traditional ways by partnering with artisans in developing economies and by sourcing material in ethical ways.” It's about creating opportunity, local entrepreneurship, prosperity, and dignity in, as Paul puts it, the places that need it most.Maiyet partnered with Artisans in Colombia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, South Sudan. They showed on the Paris fashion week schedule and they really helped shift the conversation about ethical fashion in the luxury space.But Paul is not your obvious fashion man. His grew up in South Africa during the apartheid era, and served as the Executive Secretary of South Africa's post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 1995 to 1998.In this interview we talk about what that was like and how it shaped him. We discuss the opportinities provided by the fashi

‘Single-use' was named the Word of the Year for 2018 by the Collins Dictionary. Now that we know the oceans are choking with plastics, disposable has become a dirty word. We also know, there is no away. Nothing that uses synthetic materials is ‘disposable' – it has to go somewhere. Out of site, out of mind is a total copout. But what about so-called "disposable fashion"?Single-use fashion is perhaps a stretch – but we're not a million miles away. Clothing usability is declining. Stats vary, but according the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the average number of times a garment is worn before it ceases to be used has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago. In the US clothes are worn for around a quarter of the global average. The same pattern is emerging in China, where clothing utilisation has decreased by 70% over the last 15 years ago.Do you know how much fashion we throw away?Clothing production about doubled during that time; we now produce around 100 billion garments a year. Of the

What was it like to pioneer ethical fashion before that was even a phrase? For 27 years, Pamela Easton and Lydia Pearson ran the iconic Australian fashion label Easton Pearson, known for its exquisite artisanal fabrics and embellishments, colourful exuberance and sense of fun.They are the subjects of an exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane, The Designers' Guide: Easton Pearson Archive - an invaluable resource for fashion students and fashion fans. It's also an important contribution to Australia's cultural history, which fashion absolutely should be considered a part of.In this interview, we discuss why this Aussie icon, that sold at Browns in London and Bergdorf's in New York, was such a big deal. Pam and Lydia decode their design and making processes, and detail how they started out on the business of fashion, and kept at it for so long.We talk about how they pioneered and centred slow fashion and ethical production in the Australian context, and also in India, where their main workshop was locate

What does it take to break through as an emerging fashion designer today? Do sustainable designers have the edge? Who are the names to know, now? Sara Maino is the deputy editor-in-chief of VOGUE ITALIA, and the fashion force behind VOGUE TALENTS, Vogue Green Talents and Who Is On Next?As she told the New York Times: “You will rarely see me at the big shows, those blockbuster events with a starry front row. That is really not my scene.” Instead, Sara combs the globe meeting students, attending independent shows and scouting under-the-radar studios and showrooms.In this Episode, recorded during Milan fashion week for Spring '19, Sara shares her insights on nurturing creativity and finding the next big thing. We discuss slow fashion, the pressures on young designers and the ways in which the industry can support new talent. We also hear from 4 new gen talents, who are changing fashoin for good - whether by choosing recycled and eco-friendly fabrics, re-energising age-old crafts or embeddin

Welcome to our 60th episode! Can you believe it? This week's guest also have an anniversary to celebrate as the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion turns 10. You're going to meet its founder, academic, designer, educator and all-round sustainable fashion legend Dilys Williams.This is a lively and thought-provoking discussion about how we might totally redesign the way the current fashion system works.We talk about the role of the designer, the role of fashion in all our lives and how commerce fits in. We discuss the importance of being critical thinkers, fashion rebels and outspoken advocates for justice. We touch on DIY, Margaret Thatcher, The Clash, and finding your fashion identity, but also big stuff continuing the conversation that's been running through this series of the podcast about how we stand with nature, and what our obligations are to it. How do we define our struggle for sustainability?Chat with Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspressTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING.Love th

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. We discuss why we should we view waste as a resource, and how we can transition to doing that. We talk about sustainable development, about look at how we measure society's success now, and how we might change that in future.As Bill and his co-writer Michael Braungart write in Cradle to Cradle, “In the race for economic

Katrin Ley is the CEO of FASHION FOR GOOD, an Amersterdam-based organisation that was co-founded by Cradle-to-Cradle's William McDonough. They aim to bring together the entire fashion ecosystem with incentives, resources and tools for sustainability.At Fashion For Good's core is McDonough'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.” In interview Katrin and Clare discuss what good looks like when it comes to clothing production and circularity. Case study: the first Gold Cradle to Cradle Certified jeans and T-shirts.There's a strong focus in this interview on innovation, new ideas and disruptors. We also explore this new age of sharing and helping each other, because, as Katrin says, if we want to change the fashion system, that's what it's going to take.Is the fashion industry really ready for serious

To say that Ellen MacArthur is a phenomenal woman is an understatement. In 2005, aged 28, she became the fastest person to sail solo, non-stop around the world. It took her 71 days, 14 hours and 18 minutes.You're going to hear what that was like, how she stayed focused and what she learned from it. The importance of goal setting really comes through in this interview. Ellen is obviously an incredibly determined person but there's a take-away for us all here: it's about having a plan - by knowing which direction you want to go in, that's how you make stuff happen.What's all this got to do with fashion? This is the story of how a world-record-breaking British sailor became an international advocate for the circular economy. How she created a platform, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, to encourage the global economy to transition to a system that designs out waste & pollution, keeps materials in use and regenerates natural systems. It's also the story of what that might look like, and how we can action i

Sometimes it can feel like sustainable fashion is a new thing, but pioneers laid the groundwork years ago. People like this week's guest, British fashion change-maker 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 & suppliers in one place.In the UK, it was Tamsin & her team who were running the sustainable fashion panel discussions and bringing the fledgling ethical fashion community together.How much has changed since then? How far off is sustainable fashion from being the norm? What tools do we need TO DO FASHION BETTER?Today, Tamsin leads a new project called Common Objective with that in mind. Think, a sustainable fashion matchmaking service, like a targeted Linkedin, or Tinder without the romance.In this absorbing interview we discuss what's going on with fast fashion and why the model is broken. We decode the d

How does an ordinary Aussie bloke go from motor-cross riding and working as a welder to setting up a social enterprise fashion business? You're going to meet James Bartle, founder of Outland Denim. This is a candid eye-opening interview about an extraordinary story.We talk about the tough stuff: Who gets trafficked, and who does the trafficking and why? Is it possible to empathise with their desperation?We talk about materials, and how organic and reduced waste is essential to the big picture. We talk about B Corps and value-driven business, the state of ethical fashion right now, & where the industry is improving and failing. Plus there's heaps of insights into how to set up, run and make a success of a sustainable, ethical fashion label.This is the last of 3 shows on modern slavery. Don't miss the previous 2. We've managed to make them accessible and even inviting. No mean feat for such a tricky subject.Chat with Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspressTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING.We are always grateful