Conscious Style Podcast

We've all seen words like "sustainable" become buzzwords by Big Fashion, but what does it actually look like to do the work to ensure fair employment, responsible sourcing, and mindful production? Three conscious fashion founders weigh in.

The declining quality of sweaters has been a big discussion, but what exactly is so much worse about today's sweaters and what has been going on behind the scenes that's made them so bad? And importantly, how can brands do better? What should we be looking for in a high quality knitwear piece?

When you hear the term artisan-made, what do you think of? Get ready to unpack all things "artisan-made" in this conversation with Anjali Purohit, founder and creative director of the home and fashion textiles brand Studio Variously.

Slow fashion *can* be joyful! So if you've been feeling discouraged, overwhelmed, or isolated on your sustainable fashion journey, it may be a sign to lean into community. In this episode, get tangible tips and encouragement to find or cultivate your own slow fashion community.

For our first-ever Conscious Fashion Collective Membership panel discussion, we discussed a topic that is often taboo in the slow fashion space — money! We believe that financial sustainability is essential for creating a more just, and sustainable, fashion ecosystem with thriving businesses that care about people and the planet.

How can fashion take action right now for a net positive future? From climate and biodiversity to worker livelihoods and fair wages to overconsumption and textile waste, the gaps between where we need to be and where we are right now feel… vast. But in this episode, we're discussing ways that fashion act right now — like tomorrow — on 5 key pillars that encompass both people and planet. These are areas where the research, and tools are readily available, even for implementing at a large scale. Ahead you'll hear my conversation with Holly Syrett, the Impact Programmes and Sustainability Director at Global Fashion Agenda, a nonprofit organization that accelerates measurable impact in the fashion industry.

As you might have noticed, we are just one episode away from the 100th episode of the podcast! We're starting the celebrations early and changing up the usual format with this episode. Instead of interviewing a guest, this week we’re sharing 10 lessons we’ve learned from 100 episodes of the podcast that features interviews with some of the most inspiring changemakers in the fashion industry.

Policy is an important lever in creating a better, more sustainable, and equitable fashion system. But if we only focus on policy that explicitly talks about the fashion industry and sustainability, we may be missing some opportunities. In today's episode, Elizabeth speaks with fashion policy expert Kenya Wiley. Kenya is sharing behind the scenes on the processes behind legislation and regulation — and even explaining the difference between the two terms — and some of the current policies in the works that could involve fashion that the fashion industry isn't talking about. These could be potential needle movers to cleaning up fashion, but aren't being taken advantage of right now. Kenya is also discussing the much-anticipated Green Guides from the Federal Trade Commission to help reduce greenwashing, what recent US Supreme Court decisions mean for the fashion industry, a funding opportunity for sustainability-minded fashion organizations, and more.

Carbon neutral. Net zero. Carbon positive. You may have been seeing more and more claims like these lately from companies, including fashion brands. But in today's Green or Greenwashing episode, we’re diving deeper, beyond the surface of these claims, to see if they really can be trusted. Many of these carbon neutrality claims are asserted based on the company purchasing carbon offsets. This episode was inspired by the UK watchdog, Advertising Standards Authority, recently banning advertisements that claim products are carbon neutral through using offsets due to a growing concern that these claims are misleading consumers. This isn’t just about the fashion industry, but in case you missed it: many fashion brands are using these sorts of claims, especially as global awareness grows around fashion's environmental impact, including its carbon emissions. You may have seen various estimates of fashion's contribution to global carbon emissions ranging from 2 to 10 percent. The Apparel Impact Institute’s latest report puts that number at 1.8 percent. The reality is that the majority of fashion brands do not disclose their full emissions. Fashion Revolution's 2023 Transparency Index found that less than half (43 percent) of brands publish their annual value chain carbon emissions. So we're at the basics here. Over half of brands aren't even telling us what their carbon emissions are. When Fashion Revolution says “value chain”, they mean the full supply chain. So not just the corporate offices, but how these brands make their clothes. Many factories involved with textile production and garment and footwear production are still reliant on fossil fuels, like coal. About two-thirds of textiles are fossil fuel-derived synthetics like polyester. Brands are reliant on polluting shipping methods, and some — especially fast fashion brands — use the speedy but very carbon-intensive shipping method of air freight. So fashion should absolutely be talking about reaching carbon neutrality and decarbonization. But the question is: should their method of using carbon offsets be celebrated? Let’s get into the episode!

What if fashion brands put garment workers first? What if a fashion brand set the prices they pay to their suppliers based on ensuring workers were making a living wage, rather than negotiating the prices as low as possible to maximize profits? This is part of implementing more responsible purchasing practices — purchasing practices meaning not how the consumer buys something, but how the brand purchases their orders from their suppliers, since most brands do not produce their own clothes. The reality is that right now the system is set up with the wrong incentives. For example, Buyers at many fashion brands receive bonuses if they achieve larger margins with their orders they purchase from their suppliers — larger margins meaning they pay their suppliers less, and thus the supplier will have less money to pay their workers fairly or invest in sustainability initiatives like transitioning to clean energy. So we need a paradigm shift. True systems change. And one proposal for doing so is worker-centric pricing, which Stella and I are going to dive into in this episode!

What is it like to work as a designer for a fast fashion brand? And what is it like to build your own sustainability minded small fashion brand, from circular design practices to figuring out your pricing? That's what we're getting a glimpse into in this episode with Dani Des Roches, designer and founder of the upcycled brand Picnicwear, recognizable by its groovy 60s/70s aesthetic, bold and playful use of color, and most notably its use of vintage towels as its primary material. Before that, Dani attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and was behind the scenes as a sweater designer for household names like Urban Outfitters and Express. Feeling dissatisfied with the industry, Dani started her own B2B design studio, Kismet Concept Studio and of course her Direct to Consumer brand, Picnicwear, which creates high-quality pieces using 95% pre-existing materials. In this conversation, Dani is giving us a look under the hood of the operations at big fashion brands and sharing what she thinks we should all know about how these brands operate. She's also getting transparent about her own journey building a small slow fashion business. If you want to learn more from Dani, attend our Circular Fashion Design Workshop that we're hosting with Dani over at Conscious Fashion Collective. It will be an educational and interactive event for designers, industry professionals, sewists, and sustainable fashion advocates wanting to learn more about sustainability in fashion. You'll learn how brands and designers can use circularity as a foundation for design, what a holistic approach to circular apparel design looks like, and tangible strategies to integrate circularity into apparel production and post-consumer reverse supply chain.

Fashion's returns are a massive waste and emissions issue. In addition to the extra shipping and wastage, generous free returns policies from brands and retailers have also helped fuel the trend of buying clothes to wear once before returning them. However, the days of these free return policies may be coming to an end. Zara, Boohoo, Uniqlo, and Next have all recently announced return fees. These brands are likely making the decision to implement return fees for financial reasons, but what are the implications for sustainability?

Overconsumption is a major problem in the fashion industry. And secondhand is often advocated for as a solution. But is it possible to overconsume secondhand fashion as well? This is a loaded question that comes with nuance and obviously, lots of opinions... which makes it perfect for a segment for Stella and I's Green or Greenwashing series — we love to cover complex and controversial topics in this series! Let's dive in.