WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press

London's Victoria & Albert Museum (“perhaps the world's best dressing-up box” with an archive of more than 75,000 items of clothing) takes on sustainable fashion! Thw new Fashioned From Nature exhibition includes amazing historical garments as well as contemporary fashion by the likes of Vivienne Westwood, Katherine Hamnett, Alexander McQueen, Christophers Kane and Raeburn, and Bruno Pieters. But most importantly, it looks at fashion's eco footprint, and the massive impacts of textile production on the planet. What can we learn from the past to design a better fashion industry for the future?Meet curator Edwina Erhman, who specialises in 19th Century fashion and textiles, and the history of London fashion, & has worked for many years for both the V&A & the Museum of London.This is a quote from Emma Watson, who wrote the foreword for the book of the exhibition: “Regardless of our social or economic status, we can all dress and shop more mindfully and sustai

Simon Collins is a creative director, educator, fashion consultant, and ex-dean of the fashion school at Parsons in New York. With his new platform Fashion Culture Design, Simon holds what he calls Unconferences where not-boring fashion people address topics such as, How do you solve a problem like fashion week? And, Can sustainability be sexy?At an opening address of the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, he famously said: "It's all your fault!" Is it? Is it down to us to make fashion more sustainable? And if so, how can we do it?Why is fashion important? Why don't more people recognise it at such? What is fashion's power? What on Earth has all this got to do with Hemingway, or, for that matter, Britney Spears? Listen to find out, and to hear some very good stories about London style back in the day, and how fashion education has changed.Simon was a mad fashion kid in Bournemouth and London in '80s, and we talk about what that was like, and style, and making your own outfits, dressing up to go to clubs like Tab

Meet Sara Ziff, founder of the Model Alliance. She is a campaigner for a fairer, more sustainable fashion industy in general and for the rights of models in particular.This Episode was recorded during the Copenhagen Fashion Summit - Sara was there with model Edie Campbell and casting director James Scully to speak about the RESPECT Program. It launched with an open letter signed by more than 100 fashion models in the wake of Me Too, calling for fashion houses, media companies and model agencies to commit to “an orderly and fair process for addressing charges of abuse”, backed up with training and education initiatives.The letter begins: “Over the past year, many courageous individuals have revealed the dark truth of sexual harassment in the fashion industry. These concerns have yet to be addressed in a meaningful and sustainable way. As models our images serve commercial purposes but our bodies remain ours.”Proposals include stronger, enforceable workplace standards to p

She's a strong tailor, cuts a mean coat & has been a Woolmark Prize finalist. One of the most considered, creative, thoughtful designers working in Australia today, Bianca Spender also thinks deeply about sustainability & making positive impacts on people & planet with her work.In this interview, recorded live at the recent SCCI Fashion Hub in Sydney, we discuss Bianca's approach to integrating sustainability into every aspect of her business. We talk about her use of dead stock, her design process and relationship to and obsession with nature, and what it ws like to grow up in the fashion business - Bianca's mother is Carla Zampatti, who presented her first collection in Sydney in 1965.Bianca's AW'18 collection is titled Letters to Nature and explores how we stand in Nature, literally in terms of the elements, but also existentially - what sort of world do we want to create for future generations, and how will the actions we take today impact on tomorrow?  Check out her Instagram here.F

How can we begin to solve fashion's most pressing sustainability issues? We need collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and a willingness to look fearlessly at what's wrong as well as the opporunities for positive change. We need the movers and shakers to get involved, and stakeholders from all areas of the industry to join them. We need fresh ideas and points of view. Enter, the Copenhagen Fashion Summit. Organisers liken the summit "the Davos of the fashion industry", and say: "it's a nexus for agenda-setting discussions on the most critical environmental, social and ethical issues facing our industry and planet.” So this is a table you want to be at! Which is why...We are bringing you some special Episodes of the Wardrobe Crisis podcast from this year's event, starting with this one, with its very engaging CEO and president Eva Kruse.Eva founded the summit in 2009 to coincide with United Nations summit on climate change that happened in Copenhagen that year. Very forward-thinking - at a tim

It's Met Gala time, which means your social media feeds are going to be full of who wore what. This got us thinking about the huge influence of the red carpet on fashion and pop culture, and about how it works and who, apart from the designer, creates these looks - because make no mistake, celebrities do not dress themselves at these things...What better time to share an Episode about styling? You're going to meet New York-based fashion editor Laura Jones, who is fast carving a niche for herself as sustainable fashion's go-to creative.An ex-MTV stylist who used to work at W magazine, Laura has dressed the likes of Alicia keys, Rebecca Hall and Naomie Harris for red carpet events, and styled names like Katie Holmes and Uma Thurman for shoots. Now she's launched new sustainable fashion magazine The Frontlash .This is a fascinating interview, about much more than frocking up for the red rug. We dig deep on fashion's #MeToo crisis and look at how we might apply ideas of health and wellbeing to the

Are you a sneaker freak? How sustainable are your favourite sneakers? If they're by cult French brand, Veja, the answer is very.In the sustainable fashion space, we often talk about reducing the negative impacts of production on people and planet, but Veja's Sébastien Kopp and François Morillion talk about having a positive impact on the environment and society. Not less harm but active good.Is it possible? How do you choose eco-positive materials to make sneakers? Can you make money doing it? Veja sneakers cost 5 to 7 times more than conventional brands to produce because the raw materials are environmentally friendly and purchased according to fair trade principles, and because the sneakers are produced in fair factories. How do you balance the books? Hint: you give up advertising.What are the challenges of working this way? And what are the rewards?In this Episode, recorded in Veja's HQ in Paris, Clare speaks with Sébastien Kopp about these questions and more. We talk: v

Who made your clothes? Welcome to the last in our mini-series of four shows in celebration of Fashion Revolution Week, the global not-for-for profit campaign that was established on the anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, to promote transparency in the fashion industry. You're going to meet Fashion Revolution's Head of Policy, Sarah Ditty. Sarah is based in London, and has a wealth of insights the big issues around ethical and sustainable fashion today, from modern slavery to living wages to sustainable fabrics and fashion waste and extending the life of our clothes. Why do these things matter? What can you do to help? How far have we come and what sort of fashion industry would be like to create for our future?Follow Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspressFind us online www.thewardrobecrisis.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Where would we be without creative collaboration? This week's Episode is all about fashion community, its power to change the world, and the idea that together we are stronger.You're going to meet the inspiring change-maker Jackie Ruddock, CEO of The Social Outfit, a Sydney-based social enterprise and fashion brand that works with refugees and new migrants to provide first Australian jobs in the fashion industry. What it's like to come to a new country and to try to build a new life? How can fashion help? Community and giving back are central to this story. We discuss the challenges and joys of running a social enterprise, the magic powers of sewing, and our common humanity. 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 @mrspressFollow The Social OutfitOur podcasts and shownotes also live here. Clare is on deadline for her next book, so please forgive a short delay in u

This Episode is about the magical powers of the clothes swap. It's also about us having way too many clothes. And some of it is just about the charmed life of Patrick Duffy, New York's clothes swap king, and co-founder of Global Fashion Exchange.Buy less choose well is great, but it's clearly it's not what everyone's doing. There are quite simply too many clothes in our wardrobes. Fashion resale is projected to be bigger than fast fashion within 10 years. Millennials are both the most sustainably minded and the biggest impulse buyers - they typically discard items after 1 to 5 wears. What we are seeing here is a picture of excess.So now it's time to consider some of the more creative ways we can tackle our clothing mountains and also our appetites for fashion.What's the haulternative?The simplest way to extend the life of your clothes is by giving them a new owner. And the greenest way to get a mad fashion fix is to go to, or hold a fashion swap.Music is by Montaigne. Follow Clare on Insta

"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