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"Bangladesh has come out of a lot of difficulty in the past. Bangladesh is a place of hope, is a place of resilience ... We could again come together as a nation, with the ertailers and the brands supporting us, and make the transformation. It's a huge, huge opportunity."
Rousing words from this week's compelling interview with manufacturer Shafiq Hassan, of the Echotex manufacturing facility in Gazipur, Bangladesh.
Last year Bangladesh was ranked the third-largest exporter of clothing globally (after China and the European Union) exporting USD $38.4 billion worth of garments. The nation is home to over 40K garment factories of various sizes, and over 4 million garment workers.
A decade after Rana Plaza, much progress has been made, including around environmental sustainability. Bangladesh now has 186 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified factories, and, according to Reuters, lays claim to 9 of world's top 10 'green' garment factories (considering carbon, water and energy footprint, waste, logistics, and using more sustainable materials).
Clare interviewed Shafiq in London, in September 2024, a little over month after peaceful students protests in Bangladesh toppled ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, then presiding over an increasingly corrupt and authoritarian regime. Her government's response to the protests - appalling violence - is well documented. This week, a new report by the current interim government, titled Unfolding the Truth, implicates Hasina in as many as 3,500 cases of forced disappearances during her time in office.
Warned the Solidarity Centre in August: "The economy of Bangladesh, depends on garment factories, but producers say customers are concerned about violence and disruption." What's more, the previous government's "repression against workers seeking to form and join unions has prevented garment workers from achieving the living wages and safe working conditions they have sought to achieve."
So what's next?
The Nobel peace laureate and economist Muhammad Yunus (founder of the Grameen bank) is leading the interim/ caretaker government. The factories are back working. Leading facilities like Echotex continue to innovate. What's unfolding is very relevant to the fashion sector, and to all of us who care about ethical production and want to understand the role brands have to play when it comes to what we hope are long term partnerships with suppliers.
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From Victor & Rolf's "Get Mean" frock through Jordan Gogos's radical upcycling projects to Paul McCann's "Sovereignty Never Ceded" gown, certain items of clothing speak loudly - with intention - about the times we find ourselves in. Let's not forget the long traditions of tapestry-making, quilting, embroidery, and the newer but related concepts of stitch-n-bitch craftivism. Cloth can be a radical medium. You might call it soft power, for its undeniable tactility - but don't mistake soft for weak.
"Textiles galvanise communities. Through wars, pandemics and disasters, textiles have offered a way to mobilise social and cultural groups and build connections. In the late nineteenth century, British artist and designer William Morris sought to counter the mechanisation and mass-production of the Industrial Revolution by weaving tapestries on a manual loom with hand-dyed thread. Today, many artists are experimenting with the materials and techniques of textile design as a ‘slow making’ antidote to the high-speed digital age."
With an introduction like that, how could we not respond?
This week, Clare sits down with Rebecca Evans and Leigh Robb, curators of RADICAL TEXTILES - a major new exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia.
Up for discussion: do textiles belong in museums? Is fashion so often dismissed as some sort of lesser art because it's considered unserious women's business? How did political movements of the last century use textiles to get their messages across? What's with Don Dunstan's pink shorts? And so much more!
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New York, London, Milan, Paris? So last season! It's time to spotlight less discussed design centres. This time, Dundee, which is home the two emerging menswear designers you're about to meet - both recent graduates from the Jimmy Choo Academy.
First we'll hear from Sasha Clegg, whom with a wink, called her label The English Man. Despite being neither. She chose the name to call out the pale, male-dominated fashion industry. Sasha, who is of Zambian and Scottish descent, wants to "celebrate multiculturalism, heritage, diversity, and inclusivity." Her graduate collection, titled Mother’s Tongue, blends inspiration from her Scottish upbringing with nods to English football culture, and features kilts, tartan, and '80s-to-2000s influences.
Our second interview is with Robyn Green, whose work explores subcultures and challenges Scottish stereotypes, with a political twist.
Too often fashion mines working class communities for their idea and creativity without giving credit - that, says Robyn, is a form cultural appropriation. Her brand, Gadgie, is inspired by "the resilience and creativity of Scotland’s working-class communities" and she's on a mission to create opportunities for underrepresented voices in fashion. How to begin? Head home. After studying in London, she's back in Dundee, setting up her new studio, working with local hand-knitters and crochet artists and championing Made in Scotland.
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It's not every day you get to sit down with a proper fashion world icon and pick his brains for free!
Dear listeners, you're in for a treat this week, as Clare meets the one and only Jimmy Choo.
This magic name in shoe design is now professor - he runs his own fashion school, the Jimmy Choo Academy in London's Mayfair.
This is a warm-hearted generous chat full over pearls of wisdom, like...
"First, you must learn patience."
"It all experience! Whatever happens, don't blame yourself - learn from it."
"Somebody will always be better than you."
"If you act like a know it all, no one will want to talk to you. If you are humble, people will want to pass on their skills and knowledge."
"Trust your instincts to seize opportunities."
Want more? Headphones at the ready. And don't forget to tell us what you think.
Ultimately, Jimmy's message is, there's no point merely chasing fame, publicity and money. You have to stay true to your values.
For him, that means craftsmanship, skill, and passing on your knowledge.
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If you listened to last week's interview w. Jem Bendell and wondered, "What on Earth do I do now?" And you weren't up for moving to Bali and getting collapse ready by starting a self-sufficient permaculture farm...we've got you!
This week's episode is about practical action being taken right now to protect the rights of Nature.
Clare is sitting down with two can-do women, fashion designer Lucy Tammam and Stop Ecocide International's Jojo Mehta to decode one of the topics of the moment, ecocide law.
You might have noticed this idea gaining momentum. Ecocide refers to the mass damage and destruction of ecosystems – severe harm to nature which is widespread or long-term. The idea is to criminalise it. And it's happening! It's become national law in several countries with many more discussing it. In March, the EU passed a law that criminalises actions 'comparable to ecocide' - a revolutionary legal development; the first law of its kind to be adopted by a political entity with substantial global influence. In September, Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa submitted a proposal to the International Criminal Court for recognition of ecocide as a crime.
What does all this mean for fashion? Listen to find out!
Find the shownotes here
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Okay, brace yourselves...
Brands love to set sustainability goals. But what if it's all nonsense? What if net zero, the obsession with carbon, and the idea that renewables are taking over from fossil fuels, are all part of a fake green fairy tale that we tell ourselves because the alternative is too difficult to imagine. Or that corporations tell us so that they can keep on with business as usual.
WTAF? We know. It's... a lot.
Is it true? You decide, after listening to this week's guest.
Jem Bendell is an emeritus professor of sustainability leadership at the University of Cumbria, the author Breaking Together and founder of the Deep Adaptation movement, as well as Bekandze Farm school and folk band Barefoot Stars.
If it sometimes feels like everything's collapsing around us, Bendell argues that's because it is. From the climate and cost of living crises to rising geopolitical tensions, and don't get us started in the widening gap between rich and poor. He says, it's not a sudden thing, like we see in Hollywood movies about the end of the world. Rather, he argues, collapse is a process, and one that's already begun. The question he's asking is: what can we do on the other side?
Some people, he writes, are already: "dramatically changing their lives to prioritise creativity and social contribution. They are worrying less about their career, their financial security or following the latest trend. They are helping those in need, growing food, making music, campaigning for change and exploring spiritual paths. That is happening, because they have rejected the establishment's view of reality and no longer expect its officers to solve any of the worsening problems in their society." Others are just pretending nothing's wrong.
Can cats help? Do doomsters really have more fun? Where does hope come into all this? Clare sat down with Professor Bendell after his keynote at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney to ask all this and more.
Music: Mystical Cat by Barefoot Stars, launched in support of Villa Kitty, donate here.
Check the shownotes for links & further reading.
https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast
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What is the role of a fashion designer today? Thinking purely about gorgeous clothes is so last season. Gone are the days when designers could consider only a collection, how it will sell and what the customer might be looking for.
Forward-thinkers are already beginning to take more holistic view and adopt a living systems approach. They’re asking questions such as, Can we make like Nature makes? How might fashion create nutrients instead of waste? How can we use biomimicry in sustainable ways? Program living systems to produce bespoke products? And, how can we build a truly regenerative system in place of the current degenerative one?
“We won't have a choice in the future. We will all have to include sustainability in everything we do,” says this week’s guest Carole Collet - a bio designer, professor of textile futures and the director of LVMH’s Maison/0 incubator for emerging talent focused on regenerative luxury.
Carole was raised in Burgundy, France, to respect Nature. Her mother worked in a flower shop, her father in a greenhouse. In 1991, she was in London studying for her Masters in textiles when she had a revelation: “It’s in biology that the answers will be.” Traditionally, textile design education focuses on weaving, knitting or maybe printing. “It's very craft based,” says Carole says, “and I love craft; I think it’s justified. But at Masters level, I felt like it was too restrictive.” She went on to set up the first Material Futures program at Central Saint Martins “to explore what textiles could be”.
A philosophical conversation that extends way beyond fashion, encouraging us to ask the big questions about what sort of world we want to build - and our responsibilities in doing so.
We might begin, suggests Carole, by challenging our anthropocentrism, and ask, "What does a bee want? How about a fish?"
Thought-provoking!
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Happy Secondhand September! Six years ago Oxfam UK came up with the idea of using September to encourage people to: "Shop second hand to take a stance against fast fashion and dress for a fairer world." They say it's a moment to come together “to choose a more planet-friendly way to shop, and dress for the world you want to see."
How does preloved help with that? We all know that fashion waste is a problem, that new clothing and textile production is a serious contributor to the climate crisis. According to ThredUp, if every consumer bought just one this year secondhand garment instead of a new one, it would he like equal to taking 76 million cars off the road for a day.
Plus by shopping with Oxfam, and other charity shops, you’re investing in the vital work in local communities.
This week Clare sits down with mega multi-tasker Eunice Olumide MBE - model, environmentalist, broadcaster, DJ, author, curator now filmmaker (phew!) - ahead of Oxfam’s London Fashion Week show, to discuss thrifting, her new documentary about the history of British hip hop, moving beyond performative activism, and the challenges of championing secondhand in a world still dominated by the business model of new...
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Fashion month is about to kick off again, with all eyes on New York, London, Milan and Paris. But the obsession with the so-called fashion capitals has long seemed out of touch. Yes, that's where the money is (well, Paris is anyway), but in our globalised world, there are many more fashion capitals that should not be overlooked. There are fashion weeks all over the place, all year round. But while Lagos, Melbourne, Berlin and Copenhagen deserve their place in the fashion spotlight, what happens when you're well off the beaten fashion track?
East Arnhem Land, for example...
These days, rising Australian fashion star Liandra Gaykamangu calls Darwin home, but that's the big smoke compared to where she grew up in Milingimbi (Yurruwi) in the Crocodile Islands - albeit with a sojourn to the Wollongong surf coast. Now her print-led namesake brand is making waves in fancy places. This mum of three used to be a high school teacher and her fashion-forward design is winning her prizes.
A beautiful, far-reaching conversation the covers a lot of ground, from creative life in Australia's remote north, caring for County, and tuning into nature (what are the frogs telling you?) to mentoring nex gen Indigenous entrepreneurs, and what it takes to break through when you're outside of circles of power.
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#underconsumptioncore is a thing! For this episode, we’re in London visiting British journalist Tiffanie Darke to talk about her viral wardrobe challenge, The Rule of Five. She’s also got a new book coming out in the US. What to Wear and Why, Your Guilt-Free Guide to Sustainable Fashion promises to get you "rethinking what clothes we buy, wear, and toss out, knowing that we can have a positive environmental impact while still looking good and dressing well”.
It was during the pandemic, when Tiffanie was working at Harrod's, as the editor of that famed luxury department store's magazine, when she had a revelation. Mindless shopping felt meaningless.
Then she read a shocking report by the Hot or Cool Institute - Unfit, Unfashionable, Unfair revealed that if we're serious about climate action, those of us in the global north/rich countries are going to have to have to drastically reduce our consumption. Of everything! So how much new fashion is sustainable if we want to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees? Buying just five new garments a year. Yikes!
This is the story of how one woman set out to do that, and catalysed a movement along the way. Also up for discussion, who’s to blame for the mess we find ourselves in? Could it be Gen X, those formerly hedonistic Cool Britannia types? After all, they were the first fast fashion fans…
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Welcome to the last of our Copenhagen Fashion Week interviews (if you missed the previous Eps, do go back & take a listen).
This one is refreshingly honest conversation with Danish knitwear designer Amalie Røge Hove about her much-loved label, A. Roege Hove, and the ups and downs of being an independent fashion business.
Widely celebrated as the next big thing, for the past few years A. Roege Hove was a CPHFW highlight. But last season, Amalie was not on the schedule, although her brilliant work was part of the Ganni NEWTALENT platform to amplify rising talents.
So why no runway? Everybody loves A. Roege Hove. After launching in 2019, they were stocked by the likes of Matches and Selfridges, dressing all the It-girls and winning all the prizes, including 2023's International Woolmark Prize.
That winter, however, the label went into administration.
Alas, it's a depressingly common situation. With many independents going bankrupt in the last few years, or finally deciding to close their doors because of rising costs and other stresses - including, of course, those who put sustainability at the heart of what they do.
How much of a problem is the wholesale model here? Can you grow too fast? Can you make it without financial backers? What happens if you can’t keep up? Or supply chains take a hit for reasons outside of your control? We thank Amalie for sharing her story so that others might benefit.
*Since this interview was recorded in February, we are happy to report that A. Roge Hove has returned in a new form and showed again at the CPHFW Spring ‘25 collections.
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Our Copenhagen Fashion Week special continues! Clare sits down with Finnish menswear designer Rolf Ektroth.
Last season, his hand-knits, made with Finnish yarn manufacturer Novita, were made available as pattern and yarn kits, so that home knitters could recreate his runway pieces. He loves macramé and hand embroidery, yet his collections have a modern street vibe that feels very polished. Perhaps it's because he's not actually a new name - Rolf Ekroth has been celebrated before, with glowing reviews in magazines and shows at Pitti Uomo before the pandemic. His label has had its ups and downs, he lost his backers at one point, but he kept at it.
So, in part this is conversation about a career as a progression and taking the long view. It's about perseverance, figuring out what really matters to you and how we are all the sum of our experiences. It's also highly amusing - Rolf is crackup funny. And brilliant! Learn his name - we predict, it's going to be everywhere.
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If you're not in Copenhagen for fashion week, here's your (virtual) ticket :)
Last week, we talked to Ane from Alpha about studying fashion in the Nordics and how to make it as an artistic designer.
Over the next three episodes, we’ve got interviews with some of the most exciting names to watch from the region.
First up is Alectra Rothschild, whose show for her Masculina label was one of the most anticipated, thanks to last season's electric on-schedule debut.
Vogue noted it was "probably history-making' - because Alectra was the first openly trans woman to show at Copenhagen, and because of the her iconic community casting. Listen out in this chat for the part about what a positive force that representation has been - she gets so many messages from fans around the world saying they feel seen. And want to place orders.
Another big theme in this interview is sustainable business models, and what works when you're a small designer. How do you scale? Do you want to? Do you even try? Maybe you plan to go and work for an established house instead? Or, is there a way to stay independent, cater to your community and keep things bespoke?
For Alectra (who trained as a tailor, worked at Mugler and did her MA at Central St Martins in London), it's about seeing herself as a "designer, but also maker, artist and costume designer" and focusing - for now at least - on commissioned pieces.
Ask her to sum up her clothes and she says, “flamboyant, high femme, and quite shameless”. She’s done with being put in a box and categorised - we contain multitudes. Above all she wants to enjoy herself. She makes clothes for night life. Her runways are a party, calling to mind the 1980s when the most exciting fashion scene was DIY, driven by club culture and community. Good times ahead.
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We hear it all the time: fashion students are overwhelmed by overproduction and the ruthless churn of creative directors at the big luxury houses. How can they forge a creative path without contributing to the problem? If they decide to operate outside the system - crafting extravagant one offs, for example, or only making to order - how will they survive financially? What is the point of fashion if you can’t wear it?
Ane Lynge-Jorlén is the Danish fashion academic behind Alpha, a fashion incubator for directional design talent from the Nordics. The Alpha showcase at Copenhagen Fashion Week is always exhilarating, but as you will hear that's not all they do - they've got a big exhibition coming up in Norway's National Museum at the end of the year, and they do a bunch of industry mentorships working with the likes of The Row, Browns London and 1 Granary.
But really this interview with Ane is about, as she puts it, "fashion's cultural value" - fashion is technically in the realm of applied art, as opposed to the fine one. But whatever you want to call it, fashion as artistic expression has value beyond the commercial. Can you wear it on the bus? That depends on how daring you are. Ane probably would!
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Empathy, kindness, wellbeing, caring, sharing, repairing - not traditionally the first words that spring to mind when I say "FASHION!" But things are changing. Are we moving towards a new paradigm where who cares, wins? If we accept that the old ways (overproduction, exploitation, rampant shareholder capitalism, waste) don't serve us, why not redesign the whole thing along radical new lines? What might that look like?
If you're intro underground fabulousness pushing disruptive fashion forwards, you might have noticed that in Arnhem, the Netherlands, the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 happened over the summer. The theme was 'Ties that Bind', and it explored ideas around ‘dismantling tradition’, ‘political bodies’ and ‘the fabric of shelter’.
This Episode was recorded at the previous event in 2022 - and saved up because some of these stories are in Clare’s latest book Wear Next.
Says Clare: “Come back in time with us to that glorious summer. These conversations explore timeless themes. If anything, what we discuss feels even more relevant today. Also, if you've been feeling a bit blah about conventional fashion weeks and events, this should shake you up. It proves that not everything has to be about business and brands!”
With the central theme Ways of Caring, the 2022 State of Fashion Biennale set out to discover ways to make the fashion industry more sustainable and caring. Participants were chosen from an open call, and over five weeks, more than 70 designers, artists and makers from all over the world, and the public bubbled with ideas on how to repair “the broken relationship between the production of fashion and the wearer”.
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Complete this sentence: The future of fashion will be…
Welcome to Series 10 of Wardrobe Crisis! We're kicking off with a conversation about the future of fashion, recorded live earlier this year when Wear Next came out in the UK.
Clare is in conversation Tamara Cincik, Professor of Fashion & Sustainability at Bath Spa University, at the first ever event of the UK's new National Centre for Sustainable Fashion, which is based there. A robust discussion beginning with regenerative fashion, and swooping energetically through slowing down fast fashion and what’s the point of fashion week to fibre sovereignty, the creative wellbeing economy, fashion burnout and mental health. We also talk about representation and inclusion, and ask: who gets to make the policy decisions that shape fashion's future?
P.S. Intrigued by Clare’s reference to the State of Fashion Biennale in Arnhem? Tune in next week for more.
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What does it take to make it as an independent, small, local ethical business in a global world that favours big brands? How can we work together to ensure that our local businesses and creatives are literally sustainable - in that they thrive and stick around, and continue to give us the awesomeness that, at times, we maybe take for granted?
It's not just fashion this applies to, but all the beautiful, unique, heartfelt local businesses that make our neighbourhoods sing - the cafes and family-owned restaurants, the fruiters, newsagents, hairdressers and book stores. Don't forget the circular services (like the one we featured last week - Clare's local cobbler, Roger Shoe Repairs).
In the interview hot seat are Rowena and Angela Foong - two of the three sisters behind an ethically-driven, family fashion business called High Tea With Mrs Woo, based in Newcastle, Australia - which just so happens to be the world's biggest coal port BTW (listen out for a super interesting discussion on how being amongst all that fosters a special kind of community action around building alternatives).
Mrs Woo (for short) is a studio of many things - natural fibre fabrics, unique designs, and the craft of pattern-making and sewing in house, but also mending workshops, community activations and collaborations with innovative textile upcyclers. As they say, you need to wear many hats to make it these days, but that's also part of the joy. Not that it's easy. In this frank interview the sisters' share their challenges and strategies - which include "co-retailing" - fun! Practical! To all those struggling with crazy rents, listen up.
This episode is a love letter to all the small sustainable businesses out there.
We appreciate you!
But it's also a provocation to customers: if you value this stuff, you need to support it - otherwise one day you might turn around and find it gone.
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Forget brands for a minute, the real circular fashion economy is the repair shop on your high street…
Do you have a fab local cobbler or clothing alterations service? This episode is a reminder to thank them for being here and fixing our stuff.
They are cornerstones of the circular fashion economy, and not some distant future dream - they’re already here, and in many cases have been for decades. Honing skills that simply can’t be learned overnight. They’re the best! Here’s to them! Keep giving them your business, and make sure you tell them you appreciate them. Everyone loves to be appreciated.
My local cobbler, Roger of the (locally) famed Roger Shoe Repairs is gold. And this classic Roger conversation is a treat. That’s all. Enjoy!
Clare x
P.S. Here are the links to the crowdfunder for my documentary, Urban Forest.
Your support is much appreciated.
https://www.pozible.com/project/urban-forest-a-documentary
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Bobby Kolade is the designer behind Ugandan fashion label Buzigahill - which puts the politics of upcycling and waste colonialism at its core with the brilliant, provocative concept: Return to Sender.
Buzigahill's collections are made from items of secondhand clothing donated in the global north, and increasingly being dumped on the global south in unsustainable numbers. Why “return to sender”? Because much of Buzigahill’s clientele is in Europe and North America.
Like Kantamanto in Accra, Ghana; Owino Market in Kampala receives huge numbers of bales of second-hand clothing every week, from countries in Europe, from the US and Canada. As a result, in 2023 second-hand accounted for 80% of all domestic clothing sales in Uganda.
But how much is too much? Who is monitoring for quality and consistency? Are we right to keep talking about "donations" in the context of this undeniably big business? As Bobby says, it's not charity - it's a trade, and too often an unequal one with many impacts on local economies as well as the environment when it becomes textile waste. So surely it's good, right, when a receiving country finally says: "No more! We don't want your cast-offs." Or is it? As usual, there’s no simple answer...
This enthralling conversation was recorded before Uganda’s government announced a ban on second-hand clothing towards the end of last year. A situation that continues to evolve.
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If you value it, please help by sharing your favourite Episodes, and rating and reviewing us in Apple or
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Thank you!
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What do your clothes say about you? Dear listener, I bet you've thought about this before. Fashion is a language in itself. But, what about the language we use to describe - and by extension to include, or to exclude - the people who wear it? Or don't get to wear it? The people we're marketing it to, or employing.
Fashion communication isn't just about the clothes. It's about how we talk to each other.
Meet Lou Croff Blake, a Berlin-based non-binary fashion practitioner, scholar, artist and community organiser. Their work merges queer theory with community-building, advocating for intersectional equity and amplifying the visibility of marginalised genders. Which sounds like a of words! Because it is. Carefully considered words chosen to challenge the dominant narrative.
Open to learn? Join us on a deep dive on DIEB - diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging - as we consider the existential question: do we really want to build a more ethical fashion industry? If so, doesn't that have to be one where everyone can feel a true sense of belonging?
Check the shownotes for links & further reading.
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Find Clare on Instagram @mrspress
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