Stay ConnectedWARDROBE CRISIS is a fashion podcast about sustainability, ethical fashion and making a difference in the world. Your host is author and journalist Clare Press, who was the first ever Vogue sustainability editor. Each week, we bring you insightful interviews from the global fashion change makers, industry insiders, activists, artists, designers and scientists who are shaping fashion’s future.
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Copyright: © 2022 Clare Press
As New York Fashion Week rolls around again, it’s the perfect time to listen to this interview with Hillary Taymour, founder of the much-talked-about NYC label Collina Strada.
Collina Strada is produced locally in small runs, using mostly deadstock. They’ve been working with the Real Real to upcycle unsold items, and with Liz Ricketts at the Or Foundation to upcycle and divert T-shirt waste in America before it heads offshore, and ends up in places like Kantamanto Market in Ghana.
Known for shaking up the sustainability conversation stateside, this CFDA/ Vogue Fashion Fund finalist is also often heralded for its work around diversity and inclusion, and championing representation in their shows, but Hillary has no time for that. She says, they simply cast their community; their friends and artists they admire. Whether that’s the label’s co-designer Charlie’s septuagenarian mum; the model Aaron Philip (self- described “a black woman in a wheel chair who happens to be trans”); or a musician like Dorian Electra - it's not that Collina is doing something radical. Rather, that the conventional fashion system is super out of touch.
This is a candid conversation about going your own way, finding joy on creativity, and the frustrations of trying to be a sustainable fashion designer inside an unsustainable system.
*Note: We've been saving this one up - this conversation one was recorded before the break after Series 7.Also before Alessandro Michele’s departure from Gucci was announced.
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Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com
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On the surface, this is the story of Samorn Sanixay’s epic adventure to map Australia through a colour study of its natural eucalyptus dyes. Last year, she set out to do just that, spending a year travelling around the country collecting leaves from these wonderfully diverse trees wherever she went.
But that's just the starting point of this feel-good interview with the natural dyes expert and co-founder of artisanal weaving studio Eastern Weft in Vientiane.
Ultimately, this is a conversation about belonging, forming friendships and connections to country, and the idea that we have more in common than we think.
Enjoying the podcast? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around.
Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?
Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com
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Forget Vogue. Sourcing Journal should be required reading of you really want to know how the business of fashion works. Clare’s guest this week Edward Hertzman founded this trade journal (now part of FairChild, which owns WWD) out of frustration that no one in media was telling the full story about how supply chains operate. A former apparel sourcing agent himself, with a degree in economics, the tough-talking New Yorker tells it like it is.
In the garment game, suppliers and manufactures take most of the risks, while brands wield most of the power. “It’s a very one-sided relationship,” he says. Add in unfair purchasing practices (which are way too common) and downward pressure on prices, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster - as we saw during the pandemic. And who do you think has to invest in all these new sustainability initiatives brands are talking up? Often, it’s the manufacturer. Remember what brands always say: “Well, of course we don’t own the factories or the mills …”
Can the industry change? Who's doing it right? What does a true partnership - as opposed to a purely transactional relationship - between brands and suppliers look like? And what should we expect to happen this year when the cost of living crunch meets the realities of overstocked warehouses? Because many brands, particularly in the US, says Edward, are sitting on giant piles of unsold stock ...
Required listening for anyone working in the fashion sector.
Don't forget to check the shownotes for all the links. Find Sourcing Journal here.
Enjoying the podcast? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around.
Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?
Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In our first interview for 2023, we make the case for why Fashion’s New Year’s Resolution should be to slow the f*ck down...
What does it mean to thrive in your career? How do you define success? Is that the same way that society, or your industry, defines it? Chances are there’s a disconnect. Because capitalism has been telling us for so long that it’s all about the hustle and the speedy output, that's become the dominant narrative. It's time you set your own pace. Fashion has a pretty terrible record on this, says Georgina Johnson, but it doesn't have to be this way. This inviting interview with the author of The Slow Grind is full of wise insights and practical inspiration.
Don't forget to check the shownotes for all the links. Find Georgina on Instagram here, and at www.theslowgrind.world
Enjoying the podcast? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around.
Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?
Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Turn it up for the holidays! As he publishes his latest book, Reflections, Clare sits down with the colourful genius behind Alternative Miss World, who believes life is too short for muted tones...
Andrew Logan is an artist, sculptor, jewellery-maker, yoga devotee and one of legendary English counter-culture fashion eccentrics. He's also the founder of the Alternative Miss World event, which turned 50 in 2022. Billed as "a celebration creativity and beauty that goes beyond gender, age, race and sexuality", David Hockney was a judge at the first one in 1972, and over the years notable judges, co-hosts and contestants have included: Biba founder Baraba Hulaniki, Leigh Bowery, Divine, Jarvis Cocker, Derek Jarman, Grayson Perry, Brian Eno and the stars of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
This interview's got it all - from painting elephants for the Pirelli calendar in India with Zandra Rhodes, and going to Ozzie Clark’s fashion shows in the ‘70s, to developing a spiritual practice, communing with the trees ("They don't say much!") and absent friends.
A high jinx conversation about finding and following your creative calling, fashioning the self with joy in your heart, and bringing the fun back to dressing up.
Don't forget to check the shownotes for all the links.
Love the show? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around. Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?
Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ever worry that sustainability talk is so much hot air? Us too. So this week, we're focusing on... BURPS AND FARTS!
Now that we've got your attention, this is serious topic. According to UNEP, methane has accounted for roughly 30% of global warming since pre-industrial times and is proliferating faster than at any other time since record keeping began in the 1980s. While it hangs around in the atmosphere for less time than carbon does, while it is here, it's more potent. Where does it come from? Livestock emissions account for about a third of human-caused methane emissions. And yes, there's a fashion connection thanks to leather and wool. What if feeding livestock a certain type of seaweed could help? It can!
Meet Sam Elsom, the Aussie behind Seaforest - an environmental tech company set up to tackle climate change by the power of seaweed.
Don't forget to check the shownotes for all the links.
Love the show? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around. Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?
Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We hear so much about product in fashion; about the clothes, and the brands. Thankfully, we’re now starting to hear more about the makers, garment workers and skilled artisans behind the manufacturing scenes. But we still hear very little from the people and processes behind the raw materials.
This week, we’re looking at wool, with a lovely interview with Tasmanian woolgrower Simon Cameron, who Clare met seven years ago while writing Wardrobe Crisis. Simon manages Kingston in the northern Midlands of Tasmania, near(ish) to Launceston. His father farmed it before him. In fact, the property has been it in the family for four generations. Now, as then, Simon shares the joint with wombats, wallabies, bettongs even Tassie devils, and mob of superfine Merino sheep. But the little things are just as important - the native grasses and wild flowers, which, here, are largely intact in some of the state’s last remaining pristine grasslands as they were pre-colonial invasion.
What are the challenges of managing the land in this way? What’s life really like on the land? How is Kingston’s clip produced and what makes it so special? And what’s the story behind MJ Bale’s quest to make carbon neutral wool with Kingston as a partner?
Love the show? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around. Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?
Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The race offshore hollowed out the fashion and textile industries in much of Europe, the US and Australia. But if you happen to live there, chances are you've got amazing fashion skills on your doorstep but you just don't realise. While much of the infrastructure has disappeared, the talent is still there. And still coming through.
When Yoox-Net-A-Porter execs visited Dumfries House, Scotland to see how The Prince’s Foundation is working to inspire and upskill young people in the textiles area, they saw an opportunity: to support fashion graduates in luxury, small-batch production and produce a very special collection in the process. They called it the Modern Artisan project.
This week, Clare sits down with Jacqueline Farrell, education director at DumfriesHouse, and three of the eight participants in this year's Modern Artisan programme - emerging designers Isabelle Pennignton-Edmead, Emma Atherton and Emily Dey.
Who doesn’t love a royal connection? So yes, The Crown, but this is really an Episode about process - how do the clothes we buy get made? What goes into it?
If you can sew, could you do it? This is a lovely listen if you are studying fashion or want to. Or if you’re teaching it. But everyone who sees designer gear only once it reaches the stores, should find this insightful.
Love the show? We are proudly independent, and rely on our listeners to help us stick around. Can you share the episode on social media, or write us a glowing review in Apple podcasts?
Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome back! Series 8 is here ... finally! We're kicking off with a fascinating conversation about greed, excess, imagination, innovation, education and redefining sustainability for fashion. Phew.
More exclusive than Chanel - because they barely produce anything you can buy? An anti-establishment fashion duo that works with royalty? Why not? Vin + Omi rewrite all the rules.
They call themselves ideologists. They're also fabric inventors, creative thinkers and system-challengers. Now also feature film-makers. Hear about their manifesto, and why it includes this: “We believe it is not enough to produce a new textile or product, artwork or designs; we can do more by thinking about the origins and surroundings of each project. In our fashion work, we have no interest in following the planet damaging ways most current fashion business models are run.” Be inspired! Be outraged! Tell us your feedback, we can't wait to hear from you.
Thank you for listening. Can you help us spread the word? Find Clare on Instagram & Twitter. More on www.thewardrobecrisis.com
Follow the brilliant Vin + Omi here and here.
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Fancy wearing a dress coloured sunny yellow by daffodils or a shirt dyed blue with woad? This week we're talking natural dyes and the magic of textiles derived from plants for a special episode produced with Fashion Revolution and guest-hosted by Carry Somers.
Carry's talking with garden designer Lottie Delamain and natural dyes expert Kate Turnbull. Together, they've created a garden for Chelsea Flower Show "to inspire visitors to re-imagine the link between what we can grow and what we wear, showcasing creative possibilities and innovative thinking around how we can use our resources to create more sustainable solutions."
They say: "Throughout history plants have played a fundamental role in fashion – as dye, as fibre and floral motifs, connecting us to a place or culture. In our global world this connection has been lost. Today our clothing is likely to be created using fossil fuels and toxic chemicals, damaging human health and nature’s ecosystems."
We say: we love the power of plants!
Find out more about the garden here.
Follow Carry on Instagram here, Lottie here, and Kate here.
Don't forget to let us know what you think! As usual, further links are on www.thewardrobecrisis.com
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