WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press

"By walking, we connect with the Earth" - Satish Kumar. Towards the end of 2016 two friends from Melbourne, Megan O'Malley and Gab Murphy went out for a walk. A year later, they made it home. Calling themselves Walk Sew Good they went on a epic adventure - walking 3,500 kilometres through Souh East Asia to collect and share stories from some of the people who make our clothes. They met with and interviewed more than 50 different people and organisations, made videos and wrote a blogs - and made friends. When they set out, Meg was a fashion fan, Gab not so much. How did they change, and what did they learn? And what's it really like to walk for 8-hours every day?This show was recorded live at the Planet Talks at the WOMADelaide festival.Our music is by Montaigne. She's singing an acoustic version of Because I love You.Follow Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspresswww.thewardrobecrisis.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We need to talk. And we need to listen. Fashion is supposed to be modern, cutting edge, leading the way. But is it? Or is it stuck in old-fashioned tropes that place white culture at its centre? Now is the time to shake things up and insist on representation and inclusivity, and we all have our parts to play. But what does diversity really mean? Are we headed in the right direction, and are we going there fast enough?In this week's Episode, we meet Kim Jenkins, a New York-based writer, educator and authority on the intersections between fashion, race and culture. Kim teaches at both Parsons, The New School and the Pratt Institute. She also sits on the advisory board of the Model Alliance.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.At Parsons, Kim developed a class called Fas

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.”In this interview, you're going to hear all about how he began, who he met along the way, what he's learned and how he his work has helped to change the way the world looks at older women and advanced beauty. We discuss love and loss, and refusing to give up and go gently into elastic waisted pants, and of course we talk about the enduring, uplifiting power of style.It's packed full of wisdom, but even better - it's packed full of Advanced Style ladies. From Ilona Royce Smithkin, who at 97 published a book on staying creative, to Jacquie Murdock, the former Apollo dancer who at 82 shot a Lanvin campaign, and so many more.How fab is our music? THANK YOU Montaigne

There used to be a stigma about old clothes. Whereas vintage was always cool for those in the know, until fairly recently plain second hand wasn't always so welcome. But this is changing: 30% of millennials have shopped second-hand in the last three months. Instagram is full of stylish people wearing second-hand gear. Fashion rental and resale sites are booming.In this Episode, recorded in Paris, we meet Fanny Moizant, one of founders of Vestiaire Collective, the French ‘re-commerce' site that's seeing 30,000 designer items offered for sale each week by members of its 6 million-strong fashion community. Imagine a cross between Net-A-Porter and eBay with a bit of Instagram thrown in, so you can follow and like your favourite sellers. 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 has heaps of great advice on female entrepre

Meet the Australian designer on a mission to save the planet one dress at a time. She's just been in London for Fashion Week showing her work at Buckingham Palace, no less. Livia Firth and Emma Watson lover her, and she's always in Vogue. No wonder everybody's talking about Kit Willow.Her KITX label is a sustainable fashion standout, established to do good as well as look good. Recorded at Kit's home in Sydney, this Episode offers a fascinating insight into what makes this revered creative tick. We cover everything from artisan craft, production hiccups, and authenticity and longevity in fashion to how trees talk to each other, and how to do your kids' slime stall sustainably. It's a joy, this one. Happy listening!How fab is our music? THANK YOU Montaigne. She is singing an acoustic version of Because I love You.Follow Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspressYou can find all our podcasts and shownotes here.Love the podcast? We have a Patreon page if you'd like to support us. We're also, as alwa

Meet British fashion's ruling King of Ucycling, and prepare to fall in love with his ideas.He's a Fashion Revolution favourite who shows both mens and womenswear at  London Fashion Week Men's. US Vogue says Christopher Raeburn  "totally relevant" and WWD notes that right now he totally captures the Zeiteist. True that, but this is no sudden trend-driven thing. Raeburn has been creating collections sustainably since he started out a decade ago.With his industry-leading Remade, Recycled and Reuse ethos, he is changing the way fashion works by using upcycled and deadstock textiles and repurposing army surplus materials. He's turned his studio into a place of learning, and loves a good repair, and baking bread, and watching Blue Planet, because, who doesn't?"A collaborative, creative fashion studio where daily design meets painstaking production, alongside monthly events, discussions and workshops." That's how Christopher Raeburn describes his work world. And what an intriguing

Welcome back! We're excited to kick off Series 2 with this inspiring interview with Gosia Piatek, the fabulous force behind cult ethical fashion label Kowtow.Decluttering, minimalism and the sustainable wardrobe are big themes in the ethical fashion conversation. But what does minimal design really mean? And what's it like to be an aesthetic minimalist with a partner who's a full-on maximalist?In this Episode, we discuss how to build a sustainable fashion business, and the pressures of running one between London, where Gosia lives, and New Zealand, where Kowtow is based.Gosia shares about her early life as a refugee from Poland, what it was like for her family to arrive in New Zealand knowing no one, and how she grew up a greenie.The story of how she began her label is fascinating and unusual. Find out how she built it up, according to her values and her interests in art, architecture, craftsmanship, landscapes and travel. And how to make clothes while making a contribution to Mother Earth - enjoy!THANK YOU f

London has Browns and Dover St Market, Milan has 10 Corso Como, New York has Jeffrey, and Paris had Collette. In Australia, the multi-brand designer fashion stores to know are Melbourne's Marais and in Sydney, Parlour X.This Episode is about independent high fashion retail, how it works and what it does, what's happening with bricks and mortar stores, and why we need them. You're going to meet the brilliant buyer, style setter and retailer Eva Galambos, who is Parlour X's founder.Eva is an expert on the business of fashion, and the changing landscape of retail. It's her job to partner with the brands she believes in to present their collections in store, and to choose the right stuff to stay ahead in a game that's been turned upside down in recent years by the growth of online and the rise of the flagship, where more brands are becoming vertical operations.We talk about who decides what's on trend, the purpose of fashion shows, and what happens on a buying appointment and in the Paris showrooms. We cover the

On any given night in Australia 1 in 200 people don't have a roof over their heads. Nasir Sobhani A.K.A The Streets Barber skateboards around Melbourne giving free haircuts and shaves to homeless people as a part of his ‘Clean Cut Clean Start' movement. Today, fashion and hairdressing live in the same world, along with makeup artistry, art direction, photography. The hair stylist on a shoot, for example, is just as important as the stylist, model or photographer. But the art of cutting hair is more fundamental, and more universally experienced, than those other disciplines.Grooming is an animal urge and an ancient art. Razors have been found in Bronze Age and ancient Egyptian ruins. In the middle ages, barbers served as surgeons and dentists; they were literally engaged in wellness and healing.These days it's more about counselling, though isn't it? You know the score. The intimacy of sitting in the hairdresser's or barber's chair, the human contact. Who hasn't told their hairdresser secr

Join ethical fashionista Clare Press as she asks, Do you suffer from affluenza? This week's guest, Australian economist Richard Denniss has the cure!Richard is the author of a fascinating new book called Curing Affluenza, in which he argues that there's nothing inevitable about our current mode of consuming.“The vast majority of humans who have ever lived (and the majority of humans alive today) would find the idea of using our scarce resources to produce things that are designed to be thrown away absolutely mad,” he writes.We've lost sight of true value and true cost of many of the things we buy. In this Episode we explore what led us here, and how the future could be about experiences rather than stuff. We ask, what's the difference between materialism and consumerism? Do we need to reshape the economy? And, of course, what role does fashion have to play?Check THE SHOWNOTES for links and resources from today's story.https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2017/11/10/curing-affluenzaLike what you h

Join ethical fashionista Clare Press as she asks, What's it like to be a garment worker in Asia making clothes for high street brands in Australia and the global north?This Episode explores one of the biggest issues around fast fashion and cheap clothing supply chains - low pay. Do we care? Do brands? And what's being done to campaign for a living wage and fair fashion?Based on CEO pay levels of some of the big brands in Australia, it would take a Bangladeshi garment worker earning the minimum wage more than 4,000 years to earn the what CEOs get paid in just one year...Check THE SHOWNOTES for links and resources from this ep, as well as how you can join the movement to make a difference.Our incredible music is by Montaigne  - it's an acoustic version of Because I Love You from ther album Glorious Heights.Like what you hear? Please consider reviewing the show sharing on social media.FOLLOW CLARE ON INSTAGRAM FOR ALL THE WARDROBE CRISIS NEWS!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Se

Vincent Stanley is Patagonia's Director of Philosophy. (Yes, that's a thing). He has been with the outdoor gear company since 1973, when his uncle, Yvon Chouinard, gave him a job as a kid out of college. Vincent is a deep thinker and passionate environmentalist, and a visiting fellow at the Yale School of Management. He's also a poet, whose work has appeared in Best American Poetry.With Yvon, he co-wrote the book THE RESPONSIBLE COMPANY, which is like a handbook for building a more sustainable business. Oh and hello! This is the guy who wrote the first copy for The Footprint Chronicles -  Patagonia's game-changing supply chain mapper -  and along with Rick Ridgeway, worked on the much-talked-about "Don't Buy This Jacket" campaign that Patagonia ran in the New York Times in 2011. This Episode is about the big, important issues facing our planet, and business, today: We discuss what's happening to our soils, loss of biodiversity, climate change, ocean acidificat

Have you got big ideas? Do you dream of starting a company that makes a difference in the world? Or working for one? Are you interested in how brands can create positive impacts in communities, beyond the boring, some would say broken, mainstream consumerism model? This Episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in social enterprises. Blake Mycoskie is one of the most successful players in this space, and in this interview he shares the story of his company TOMS, how he built it, and what it takes to succeed. Via its 'One for One' model, TOMS has given more than 75 million pairs of shoes to kids who need them, helped restore sight to more than 500,000 people, and supported safe birth services for more than 175,000 mothers.This Episode is full of vital insights for changemakers who want to use their powers for social good. We discuss the essential ingredients for getting a venture like this off the ground and making it grow, what it takes to suck it up when things go wron

New Zealand designer Karen Walker is one of The Business of Fashion's 500. Her brand sells in 42 countries, in prestigious stores like Barneys New York, and Liberty of London. She is a New York fashion week veteran, with some very famous fans. Everyone from Beyoncé and Rihanna to Scarlet Johansson, Alexa Chung, Lorde, Lena Dunham, Toast the dog, oh look everyone, wears her sunglasses.She also designs ready-to-wear, handbag, shoe and jewellery collections as well as homewares. Okay, Karen Walker is a hot brand...But what does it take to be an ethical one too? How can successful designers incorporate sustainability and social responsibility into their business models? Karen says "ethical values of responsibility, uniqueness, quality and connection, are at the heart of what we do." What does that look like on a practical level? Karen is engaging with all these issues. She is working with Baptist World Aid Australia on their Ethical Fash

Yves Saint Laurent, Loulou de la Falaise, Pierre Cardin, Chanel, Givenchy, couture, prêt-à-porter and vintage shopping in the Paris flea markets, this week's Episode trés chic.Meet Paris-based Australian-raised stylist and César-winning costume designer, Catherine Baba.Vogue calls her a “fashion eminence”. Vanity Fair? An “original”. Indeed that magazine just included her on its 2017 Best Dressed List.She is also an accessories designer with her own line of sunglasses, a massive vintage fan and a walking fashion encyclopaedia with a particular fascination with the history of Paris fashion in the 1970s. But best of all, she's a mad keen cycler. Could there be there a more glamorous eco-aware-transport influencer? Pas possible! Please do check the shownotes to see some delightful photos of her pedalling around Paris. Riding a bike to the fashion week shows wearing a vintage kimono, high heels or even couture? No problem, darling. &ldquo

Australia's GREAT BARRIER REEF is the largest living thing on earth. Visible from outer space, it's the size of 70 million football fields and is home to 400 different types of coral and more than 1500 species of toprical fish. It's a magical underwater garden. No wonder fashion is obsessed with its beauty.But climate change is killing the reef, and fashion, being a major manufacturing industry, has its part to play. About 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from the fashion sector.This week we meet Tim Flannery, internationally acclaimed scientist, writer, explorer and conservationist. Actual proper legend.Our interview was recorded at the Heron Island Research Centre 80 kilometres off the Queensland coast on an pristine part of the reef, undamaged by recent bleaching events.It's a very special opportunity to hear from an expert on the front line of climate change science about how the whole thing works, and what can be done about it. We hope you will share the Episode with your friends and

This week's Episode is little different from normal. It was recorded in September at a live Q&A event at the Wheeler Centre for Books & Ideas in Melbourne, and moderated by Madeleine Morris, a reporter for ABC television's 7.30. We touch on a whole lot of issues front and centre in an industry currently in overdrive, from slow fashion, overconsumption and waste, to what brands are doing about supply chain transparency, as well as Australia's move towards a Modern Slavery Act, the role of magazines in the fashion transparency conversation, and even how body mapping technology might reduce dead-stock.For more on these issues, don't miss the shownotes here.WHO'S TALKING?Clare Press, yours truly, presenter of the Wardrobe Crisis podcast.Clara Vuletich, a sustainable fashion consultant with a PhD in sustainable textiles, who has worked with clients such as H&M and Kering. Rebecca Hard, CEO of Sussan. The Sussan Gr

We live in a our throwaway society. "Landfill fashion" has become a phrase - we literally buy clothes to throw them away. With fast fashion brands dropping new stock into store sometimes as often as every week, we're consuming new clothes like never before. The average woman wears just 40 % of what's in her wardrobe, meanwhile it's cool to declutter. Or is it? Have you considered where all that "clutter" ends up when you remove it from your house?In this Episode, fashion model and Heart People frontwoman Rachel Rutt makes the case for making mending great again! Rachel is a mad-keen mender, weaver, knitter and sewing person. She is especially excited about patching up old denim, and wants to make that a craze - why buy pre-ripped jeans? "If you wear them enough, they will get there." Authentically aged denim is much more satisfying. By mending your clothes, you deepen your connection to them, argues Rachel.Listen to Rachel's story of being home-schooled, shaving her head as a kid, finding herself in modelling

Linda Jackson is an iconic designer who, with Jenny Kee, created a new visual language for contemporary Australian fashion in the 1970s, inspired by Australia's flora, fauna and landscapes.Until then, the Australian fashion industry had mostly looked outward, copying what Europe did. But Linda and Jenny shook that whole thing up, and the world took notice. In Sydney they engergised the fashion scene, collaborating with creative friends like Peter Tully and David McDairmid, who went on to become leading lights of the Mardis Gras movement. In Milan and Paris, they were photographed by Italian Vogue and made a big splash. In the US, they were key to Neiman Marcus's Australian Fortnight in 1986 and in London, three years later, to the V&A show Australian Fashion: The Contemporary Art.Linda opened her Bush Couture studio in 1982 and began collaborating with Indigenous women batik artists at Utopia Station.This Episode is about culture and respect, and valuing originality. It's also, broadly, about craft and te

Stephen Jones is the most extraordinary, the most famous, and the most marvellous milliner working in fashion today.This interview took place at the National Gallery of Victoria on the eve of the opening of the exhibition, THE HOUSE OF DIOR: SEVENTY YEARS OF HAUTE COUTURE.During John Galliano's tenure at Dior in particular, from 1996 to 2011, Stephen made some of the house's most jaw-droppingly fabulous hats.Stephen also designed hats and headpieces for the designers who came after Galliano at Dior: for Raf Simons and now for Maria Grazia Chiuri. He's collaborated with pretty much every other iconic fashion you can think of too, from Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo to Jean Paul Gaultier and Louis Vuitton. He's made hats for Lady Gaga and Rihanna, curated exhibitions of hats and written books on them.In terms of the sustainable and ethical fashion conversation, this story is all about fashion as high art and the celebration of the hand-made. No mass production here.But it's not just his own hats that fascin