Hot Buttons

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Repairing our way to sustainability Aug 11, 2022

Show notes

One way to curb overproduction of clothing is to keep the clothes we have longer. It’s an old-fashioned solution but a simple one: instead of tossing worn and torn clothes in the trash, repair them. Major outdoor apparel brands have embraced repairs as a way to stay close to their customers, and luxury brands have long offered repairs as a service to their clients. But with fast fashion jumping in on the trend, is this just sustainable theater or can it move the culture toward caring for clothes?

Then, Rachel, Shilla and Christina dig into a new technology from Swedish company Renewcell. Circulose is made from 100% textile waste and is used as a raw material to make things like viscose and lyocell. Zara announced they’re using it in a capsule line of clothing, including dresses and sweaters in natural colors. H&M is an investor in the company, as well. Does this signal an important step forward in recycling technology? And is it scalable enough to have an impact?

Resources:

Harper’s Bazaar: The restoration revolution: the best luxury repair services to take note of
Sourcing Journal: Arc’Teryx and Eddie Bauer Target Repair and Resale
Sourcing Journal: Uniqlo launches repair services at NYC flagship
Retail Detail: H&M trials new store concept in Amsterdam
The Circular Laboratory: What Is ‘Circulose’ … And Is it Sustainable?
Sourcing Journal: Zara x Circulose Fashion Capsule Shows Off Sustainable Circular Fiber
Bloomberg: Renewcell and ZARA Collaborate to Create a Capsule Collection Made from Material Produced with Circulose (R)

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

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The planet is awash in returns Aug 04, 2022

Show notes

This week, we’re talking about returns. The more we shop, the more we return. And the more we shop online, the worse it gets.

Retailers have embraced easy, free returns as a way to grab market share, but it’s coming at a cost to the companies and the planet. We’ll look at just how bad the data is, talk about what can be done to manage returns, and hopefully find some companies who are getting it right. This won’t be the only time we talk about returns, but we’re starting out today with a look at just how bad the problem has gotten.

Then, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is getting serious about holding fashion brands accountable for their sustainability claims. They announced an investigation into Asos, Boohoo, and Asda after a preliminary look at the brands’ claims in January. Will other countries follow suit? And how are brands responding?

Resources:

New York Times: Retail’s “Dark Side”
McKinsey: Improving returns management for apparel companies
BBC: Asos, Boohoo and Asda investigated over green claims
New York Times: Why a Vogue Cover Created a Controversy for Olena Zelenska

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Putting beauty products under the microscope Jul 28, 2022

Show notes

This week, we take our first look at the beauty industry – skin care, cosmetics, hair care, and wellness supplements – and find it wanting.

Kim Kardashian’s line of skincare, SKKN, got off to a bumpy start with lots of social media backlash around its packaging. And many others make claims around sustainable ingredients that don’t hold up to scrutiny.

Then, Gucci has an environmental impact report out, and has partnered with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to embrace circularity in its business. A classic luxury brand sending a powerful message to the industry around sustainable practices. Will it stick?

Finally, we turn to biotech, where innovators are building nylon out of plants. This gets us excited, as it goes beyond the challenges of recycling plastic to avoiding fossil fuels altogether. Science!

Resources:

Cosmetics Business: Kim Kardashian in hot water over SKKN ‘greenwashing’ claims
Gucci’s Impact Report
Vogue: Gucci Wants To Go Circular – Here’s How
Vogue: Plant-based nylon is not fantasy

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

H&M’s sustainability deception Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

H&M has an uphill battle to be taken seriously as a sustainable fashion brand, and last week it got even worse. Quartz published an investigation into H&M’s use of an environmental impact scorecard to misrepresent the sustainability of its clothing lines, finding the company used faulty data to make claims that were patently false. Not a good look for a brand trying to remake its image.

We’re delighted to have the author of that article, Amanda Shendruk, as a guest this week. She’ll talk us through the details of H&M’s missteps.

Then we take another look at the industry’s challenges around transparency, and talk through the Fashion Transparency Index for 2021, which ranks fashion brands by “what information they disclose about their social and environmental policies, practices and impacts, in their operations and supply chain.” The results aren’t encouraging. Brands have a long way to go in wages and worker conditions, supply chain carbon emissions, purchasing practices, their COVID response, and supply chain traceability.

Resources:

Quartz: Quartz investigation: H&M showed bogus environmental scores for its clothing
Fashion Revolution: The Fashion Transparency Index 2021

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Metaverse fashion is framed as a sustainability play. Is it? Jul 14, 2022

Show notes

The metaverse became a household term after Mark Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook as Meta, and Fortnite gamers started attending virtual concerts wearing Balenciaga hoodies. And now the utopian web3 vision has come for fashion.

Brands are framing their digital clothes, shoes, and accessories as a sustainability play. This week, Christina, Rachel, and Shilla look past the marketing hype and think through the long-term impact.

Then, has fast fashion ruined thrifting? Second-hand retailers are being flooded with donated clothes from the likes of Shein, H&M, and Zara, and seasoned thrifters are despondent. It’s driving up prices and making those desirable vintage and unique items harder to find. What is the future of thrifting?

We’ll finish with a dose of optimism by sharing some of the trends and companies that are keeping us feeling positive about the fashion industry.

Resources:

Wired: The metaverse could radically reshape fashion
WWD: Metaverse as a magic sustainability bullet? Think again.
New York Times: 'The golden age of thrifting is over'

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is recycled plastic clothing a lie? Jun 30, 2022

Show notes

This week, we’re talking about plastic fashion. Your Instagram and TikTok feed are probably littered with feel-good ads for clothes and shoes made from recycled bottles. But they aren’t the solution you think.

Then, it’s a new world for brands doing business with China. America’s crackdown on forced labor is twisting supply chains putting brands in an uncomfortable position. How will fashion reorient itself?

And we’ll finish with a reality-TV breakup with fast fashion. Can ‘Love Island’ push pre-loved clothing into the zeitgeist?

Resources:

Vogue Business: Recycled plastic swimsuits aren’t as green as you think
NPR/Frontline investigation: How big oil misled the public on recycled plastic
New York Times: Global brands seek clarity on Xinjiang
BBC: H&M seems China sales plummet after Xinjiang boycott
Vox: how your favorite jeans may be fueling a human rights crisis
Reuters: 'Love Island' dumps fast fashion for second-hand eBay partnership

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The trillion-dollar climate gap in fashion Jun 23, 2022

Show notes

Last fall, the Apparel Impact Institute and Fashion for Good mapped out what it would take to cut fashion’s carbon emissions by half by 2030, and hit net-zero by 2050. Those are goals identified by the UN fashion charter in 2018.

Their conclusion: we’ll need $1 trillion to get there. This week, we’ll ask: where will that money come from?

Then, as shoppers are heading back to stores, high-end brands are adding circular services to try to draw them in. Is this an indication of a bigger movement for in-person retail?

Finally, we end with European raids of top design brands’ headquarters. Did a movement to rewire fashion more sustainably somehow turn anticompetitive?

Stories discussed in this episode:

Sourcing Journal: H&M and Lululemon back $250M climate fund
Euronews: The trillion dollar question over how to fix the fashion industry
Aii/Fashion for Good report on decarbonizing fashion
Vogue Business: sustainability comes to physical retail
Vogue: Rewiring fashion groups reflect on a year of change
Business of Fashion: EU raids target brands proposing sales periods, restrictive practices
Vogue: What happened to the fashion industry reset?

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unpacking fashion’s complicated impact on the planet Jun 16, 2022

Show notes

For the first topic of our first episode, we are asking a simple question: what is fashion’s actual impact on the environment?

We know the environmental impact of fashion is vast. But has it been properly quantified? It turns out, no. And that’s a problem for figuring out how to fix it.

Then, we turn to the most visible problem in the fashion industry: textile waste.

Rachel and Shilla are both involved in an effort to bring more transparency and regulatory scrutiny to the textiles industry. We’ll dig into some possible solutions for textile waste.

We’ll finish with one of the hottest stories in fashion: Shein.

In April, the Wall Street Journal revealed the Chinese mega-retailer had raised over $1 billion at a $100 billion valuation. Shein is now one of the most valuable private companies in the world — built off an ultra-fast fashion model that pumps out thousands of new styles per week.

What does Shein’s rise tell us about the tension between consumer desires for sustainable products and actual buying habits? And can Shein clean up its operations in a meaningful way?

Additional reading:

New York Times: how fashion giants recast plastic as good for the planet
Vox: fashion has a misinformation problem
New York Times: the biggest fake news in fashion
WWD: New working group to tackle textile waste
Business of Fashion: the sustainability regulations that could reshape fashion.
Sourcing Journal: Critics say Shein’s textile waste solution isn’t good enough
WSJ: Shein valued at $100 billion funding round
Daily Beast: Has Shein killed the dream of sustainability in fashion?

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trailer: Is fashion fit for the future? We need to talk about it. Jun 07, 2022

Show notes

There’s no turning away from today’s reality: the demand for sustainability has come for the fashion industry.

Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker are here to talk about it.

Hot Buttons features weekly observations and lively debate about the future of the fashion industry as it reckons with its impact on the climate, natural resources, and worker rights. The show is not just about reducing emissions in the supply chain – it’s about the culture of fashion, the high-stakes decisions inside the industry, and how we rethink the very idea of growth.

Subscribe to Hot Buttons everywhere you get podcasts. Episodes drop every Thursday starting June 16.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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