Crash Course Fashion

Latest Episodes:

Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Laura Balmond: ‘Circularity Isn’t a Product, It’s a System’ Mar 08, 2022

Show notes

Motivated by the threat of limited resources and a growing concern among consumers about the environmental impact of their purchases, the fashion industry is embracing the idea of circular fashion. However, without an industry-wide, agreed-upon definition, the concept of a circular fashion system has become distorted as more and more brands apply the term in their marketing.

In this episode of Crash Course Fashion, hear SFF founder Brittany Sierra in conversation with Laura Balmond, Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Fashion Initiative Lead, to discuss what makes a circular product, the government’s role in accelerating the industry’s transition to a circular economy, what's needed to enable circular systems across markets, and more!

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Neiman Marcus Group’s Ali Mize on the Role of Multi-Brand Retailers in Leading Sustainable Transformation Jan 14, 2022

Show notes

Sustainability is no longer optional. Environmental concerns have exponentially grown over the past few years resulting in sustainability increasingly becoming a deciding purchasing factor for customers — both fueling brand loyalty and determining spending habits. Shoppers want sustainable products, and heightened competition has put pressure on brands and retailers to respond by championing the causes that matter most to their customers. Engaging in the sustainability conversation for many multi-brand retailers has meant adding curated “edits” of items created with more sustainable materials and methods o their sites and expanding additional services that cater to the circular economy. Multi-brand retailers occupy a unique position in that they sit between producers and consumers. As ‘gatekeepers,’ how can retailers go beyond curated edits to accelerate industry-wide change and raise sustainability standards across the industry by using their power to encourage the development and manufacturing of more sustainable products? How can they use their influence and interactions with consumers to promote mindful consumption and end-of-use strategies How can multi-brand retailers go beyond curated “edits” to accelerate industry-wide sustainable change? In this episode of Crash Course Fashion, hear SFF founder Brittany Sierra in conversation with Ali Mize, Director of ESG, Belonging, & Corporate Philanthropy of Neiman Marcus Group, to discuss how retailers can use their power and influence to encourage the development and manufacturing of more sustainable products while promoting mindful consumption and end-of-use strategies.

Luxury Fashion's Resale Playbook with Fashionphile's Sarah Davis Jan 06, 2022

Show notes

For Fashionphile’s founder and president, Sarah Davis, selling pre-owned luxury isn’t new. An integral player responsible for pioneering the re-commerce approach to luxury, Davis began selling handbags on eBay as a law student in 1999. Now, more than two decades later, Fashionphile is the largest online platform for buying and selling luxury handbags and accessories in the U.S.

Despite the pandemic, the luxury resale sector was estimated to be worth $25-$30 billion in 2020, proof that the stigma once associated with buying pre-owned items is fading fast. Ripe with opportunity, some luxury brands see resale as a vehicle to attract younger customers, boost sales, access data, and reinforce their sustainability credentials.

However, for some, the rewards of the secondhand market don’t outweigh the challenges. While there’s a good case for luxury brands to embrace resale, many are reluctant to capitalize on the booming pre-owned market, concerned that resale could cannibalize the sale of new products. Fakes and stolen goods being smuggled into the resale market are also a concern as this could lead to market saturation that brands worry could dilute their exclusivity. For others, the potential financial rewards of resale don’t outweigh the complexity of implementing the logistics necessary to own their customer experience.

As sustainability continues to grow as a priority for both consumers and companies, it’s clear that luxury resale is here to stay and those who don’t actively engage are missing out on business and brand-building opportunities.

In this episode of the Crash Course Fashion podcast, SFF founder Brittany Sierra speaks with Sarah Davis about the future of luxury resale and how high-end brands can capitalize on the booming market by creating a comprehensive, data-driven strategy that brings meaningful value to the customer resale experience.

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Short on time? Here are a few timestamps to get straight to the goods:

12:02 How the pandemic has impacted luxury resale.
15:50 Why brands are reluctant to get into resale.
18:50 Why luxury brands shouldn’t be concerned with market cannibalization.
24:30 How Fashionphile uses tech to accurately authenticate products.
34:47 How luxury brands can get started with resale.
44:17 When does a Chanel bag ever end up in a landfill?
51:20 What’s needed to encourage customer participation in luxury resale
52:35 Today’s shopper buys investment pieces/what it means for a brand if your brand doesn’t do well in the resale market

Why Psychology and Human Behavior Are Key to Enabling Customer Participation in the Circular Economy with For Days Founder Kristy Caylor Nov 23, 2021

Show notes

At the root of fashion’s most pressing problems like climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution sits overproduction and overconsumption. Each year, an estimated 100 billion garments are purchased, and 92 million tonnes are thrown out. The truth is, we’re making and buying more than the earth can sustain. Motivated by the threat of limited resources and a growing concern among consumers about the environmental impact of their purchases, brands are looking to circular fashion as a solution to fashion’s most pressing problems.

If fashion could achieve a closed-loop system, nothing would ever go to the landfill. Clothes would just be endlessly looped through textile and garment factories, stores, your closet, secondhand retailers, textile recyclers, and then back to textile factories again. The problem, however, is that we currently can’t do that.

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, less than 1% of the fiber used to produce clothing is recycled to make new clothing. Garments that are recycled are mainly downcycled (recycling something so that the resulting product is of a lower value than the original item) into items like insulation, mattress stuffing, and industrial wipes, which surprise, surprise, ultimately ends up in the landfill. Recycled clothing typically comes from plastic water bottles, not old textiles.

In this episode of the Crash Course Fashion podcast, SFF founder Brittany Sierra chats with industry vet and For Days founder Kristy Caylor about the root of overproduction, whether durability or recyclability is more important when designing for circular systems and, why understanding the psychology of human behavior is key to customer participation in the circular economy, how For Days engages its customer in the conversation without greenwashing. And, true to the name, Kristy also shares crash course lessons on how to connect and effectively market to Gen Z in a way that aligns with your values, communicates your message, and speaks to the digitally-savvy consumer group.

How to avoid greenwashing and create honest marketing claims based on accurate data with Elizabeth Cline and Marzia Lanfranchi — Part 2 Nov 11, 2021

Show notes

How can the fashion industry increase its data literacy to make informed decisions on sustainability, create honest marketing claims, and avoid unintentional greenwashing?

In part one of this conversation, host Brittany Sierra spoke with Elizabeth and Marizia to understand why misinformation matters and how becoming critical data consumers will help the industry create actionable change. In this weeks episode, and part two of the conversation, Elizabeth and Marzia share advice to journalists covering sustainability, explain whether or not legislation will truly be a solution to greenwashing and misinformation and outline where the fashion industry should go from here.

Show Notes: https://bit.ly/3HfAhgG

How to increase data literacy to make informed sustainability decisions with Elizabeth Cline and Marzia Lanfranchi — Part 1 Nov 02, 2021

Show notes

Fashion has a serious and growing misinformation problem.

As customers demand sustainability, fashion is responding by making a pointed effort to prioritize people and the planet. However, as brands increase sustainability ambitions, rampant misinformation leads brands to make pivotal business decisions based on unsubstantiated claims, outdated facts, and flawed data.

While there have been many efforts to address fashion's misinformation disorder, a new report commissioned by the Transformers Foundation is taking it a step further. The report, co-authored by Elizabeth Cline and Marizia Lanfranchi titled "Cotton: A Case Study on Misinformation," not only debunks four of the most common false claims in the cotton industry but also lays down a roadmap for accurate data research and industry-wide data transparency.

How can the fashion industry increase its data literacy to make informed decisions on sustainability, create honest marketing claims, and avoid unintentional greenwashing?

This week's episode of the Crash Course Fashion podcast is part of a two-part series where Brittany Sierra chats with Elizabeth and Marizia to understand why misinformation matters and how becoming critical data consumers will help the industry create actionable change.

Show Notes: https://bit.ly/3wb63Gw

How to Deliver on Transparency to Meet Customer Demands and Avoid Greenwashing with Gordon Renouf Oct 26, 2021

Show notes

The fashion supply chain is infamously opaque, but brands and retailers are increasingly working to meet customer demands for greater transparency and reducing their negative social and environmental impacts. However, considering how intricate and nuanced the fashion supply chain is and that sustainability can mean something completely different from customer to customer and brand to brand — where should the industry focus its sustainability efforts? In this episode of the Crash Course Fashion podcast, Brittany Sierra talks with Good on You co-founder Gordon Renouf about what it means to be a truly transparent fashion brand including, how brands and retailers can authentically engage in the sustainability conversation and avoid the greenwashing trap to meet customer demands for sustainability. Show Notes: https://bit.ly/2ZqC5lz

Purpose vs. Profit: Cuyana Co-Founder Shilpa Shah on Why Sustainability Has to Make Business Sense Oct 19, 2021

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How do you navigate the opposing forces of business and sustainability? How can you stay true to your values while profitably building and scaling a purpose-driven fashion brand that's good for people, planet, and profit? In this episode of the Crash Course Fashion podcast, Brittany Sierra talks with Cuyana co-founder Shilpa Shah about why the Cuyana's ethos of "fewer, better" is more than a marketing message, the key to scaling a profitable purpose-driven fashion brand, her thoughts or greenwashing and critics, and why Cuyana doesn't lean on sustainability when communicating with their customer.

Jake Disraeli on why fashion is betting big on resale + how to make resale profitable Oct 12, 2021

Show notes

Is the growth of resale enabling fashion brands to continue to overproduce? In this episode of Crash Course Fashion, Brittany Sierra talks with Jake Disraeli, the co-founder, and CEO of Treet, about all things resale and how brands can create a profitable secondhand model that ensures the greatest ROI and the most significant impact—for people and planet. Show Notes: https://bit.ly/3BDBew6

How to stand out as a purpose-driven brand with WWD's Kaley Roshitsh Oct 06, 2021

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In this episode of Crash Course Fashion, Brittany Sierra chats with WWD sustainability reporter Kayley Rotish about the future of resale, if brands will move away from growth-based businesses models, and how to stand out as a purpose-driven brand when everyone is talking about sustainability.