We're staying in Scotland for this weeks episode, with Dr Lynn Wilson, currently of the Centre of Circular Design. Lynn has had an incredibly long and varied career in the clothing industry, including working in vocational art and textile training in a high-security prison, helping communities in Africa build a textile business, public policy and Zero Waste Scotland. There is mention of moths, and we may also agree to disagree on how great an idea the leasing of jeans actually is. You can find L...
Oct 13, 2022•1 hr 55 min•Season 5Ep. 5
This week my guest is Sofi Thanhauser, professor and author of the book "Worn - A people's history of clothing". We get into the history of the various fibres, the implications on society and the development of clothing technology through the ages. The evolution of our clothing has been a very mixed joy, depending on your position, so expect som insight you might not be aware of. Oh, and we hear about the Dumptique and thrifting Norwegian sweaters in Budapest? You can find Sofi's website and inf...
Oct 06, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Season 5Ep. 4
Today's guest is Jamie Bartlett of Banton Frameworks, a small, independent maker of optical frames outside Glasgow in Scotland. Jamie tells the fascinating story of their bumpy start, making frames from random materials in a car, how they've since built the business frame by frame, collaborating with similarly minded brands and how rewarding it is to have loyal fans of their work. We also get a crash course in German hinges, varieties of acetate and why eyewear is an important part of our person...
Sep 29, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 5Ep. 3
This week's guest on the pod is Alec Leach, former editor of the product hype website Highsnobiety and author of the book "The world is on fire and we@re still buying shoes". We talk about how he got started in Highsnobiety and what the work there involved, how streetwear brands have changed the way brands market their goods and how tough it is to change the way we consume clothes. Oh, and how a luggage brand brashly proclaimed their handbag could save the planet. You can buy Alec@s book on his ...
Sep 22, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 5Ep. 2
For the first episode of season 5, and the milestone 100th episode, my guest is Aoife Long, a slow fashion writer from Ireland. Aoife is dedicated to seeking out the stories and craftspeople of her country, putting the spotlight on mainly small, independent makers with a conscious approach to their surroundings and what they produce. We get into the situation for Irish wool and how the old breeds are seeing a renaissance, the reality of Irish linen, how gold is not great, the need to share and m...
Sep 15, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Season 5Ep. 1
In the season finale of season 4, I'm visited by Philippa Grogan, sustainability consultant in Eco-Age, an agency for sustainable business strategy. Since graduating, Philly has been on a fascinating journey (literally) through the garment industry of Asia, before working in Eco-Age to help companies lower their impact on people and the planet. Our conversation covers the recent developments in the Higg MSI situation, fossil-based fashion, greenwashing and intentions to become sustainable, how r...
Jul 21, 2022•1 hr 37 min•Season 4Ep. 26
Professor Becky Earley guests Garmology this week to talk about making the industry of fashion more circular, and what circularity actually means. We cover topics such as how much we wear our clothes, the problems charity shops face, the pros and cons of user-to-user reselling, how the production of clothes has been steeply increasing and the interest from the garment industry in making in a better way, the ways materials need to change to enable recycling, how nothing can replace polyester and ...
Jul 14, 2022•1 hr 25 min•Season 4Ep. 25
The magic school bus of Garmology stops today in rainy Manchester to take onboard Joe Schindler for a salty chat about denim, small-scale production, how to stumble and keep going in business, how being your own boss means working all hours and the value in making only stuff you really like yourself. Oh, and what customer segment actually bought those very expensive jeans? You can find Joe & Co on the web here and on Instagram as @joeandcodenim Garmology is researched, booked, hosted, edited...
Jul 07, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 24
This week Genevieve Sweeney stops by to chat about the easy path of starting her knitwear brand. Or rather, how wanting to start making knitwear led her on a tour of discovery of discarded and obsolete machinery, meeting contacts in run-down pubs, locating expert knitters that had been put out to pasture, her husband becoming a trojan horse to get a foot inside the factory doors and be taken seriously. Oh, and how satisfying it is to succeed! You can find Genevieve Sweeney Knitwear on the web he...
Jun 30, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Season 4Ep. 23
Today's guest is Alice Sherwood, author of the new book "Authenticity: Reclaiming Reality in a Counterfeit Culture". We have a fascinating chat about the counterfeit goods and how brands are actually helping the fakers, storytelling in marketing, how almost all fashion design is an incremental process, influencer culture and how AI is making is both enabling the theft of information and helping catch the thieves at the same time. Oh, and who really invented the tuxedo, Yves St Laurent or Ralph L...
Jun 23, 2022•1 hr 35 min•Season 4Ep. 22
This week's guest is David Courtney of Courtney & Co, arguably the last of the traditional button makers in the UK. I was keen to invite David for a chat about how he happened into what is a rather unusual business, requiring as it does both a plethora of machinery and some rather special source materials. Not to mention the skills and knowledge to make buttons actually happen! A challenge indeed, not least when customs officers get in touch to ask about the box of white stuff that's arrived...
Jun 16, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Season 4Ep. 21
When you find yourself having a crisis of career and decide that taking on a garment factory from 1853 in the heart of Manchester sounds like a great idea, you're clearly not faint of heart or work shy. James Eden visits the podcast to talk about how he came to start Private White VC, as a tribute to his heroic great grandfather, the difficulties in moving from being a maker for others to becoming a brand, the history of Manchester as the birthplace of the industrial revolution, the challenges o...
Jun 09, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 4Ep. 20
Today's guest is Chris Hewitt. Chris started out in 2008 wanting to make a pair of sustainable jeans. He'd been dealing in vintage for a while and had a mate that had briefly worked in the fashion industry, so how hard could it be? Harder than he'd imagined, as it turned out. Tune in for the twisty tale of trying to find fabric, spending all your money on strange samples, having some denim woven in the UK and then trying to sleuth who actually wove this denim, striking deals over a mug of tea an...
Jun 02, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Season 4Ep. 19
In this episode, I'm visited by Tim Little, owner of traditional shoemaker Grenson. We chat about how Tim initially planned to be an accountant, took a turn into marketing, found his passion for shoes while working for Adidas, and went on to own one of the grand old names of Northamptonshire shoe making. Topics include the need for considered progress, taking care of your staff, vegan leather and how difficult it is for traditional goods to stay relevant in modern times. You can find Tim Little ...
May 26, 2022•1 hr 35 min•Season 4Ep. 18
This week's guest is Molly Martin, author, illustrator and mender. Molly's book "The Art of Repair" is a wonderful combination of techniques and illustrated garment stories, and real garmology material. We chat about the historical necessity of repairing garments, how wartime and rationing made it important to be able to repair what you wore, the Japanese techniques of Sashiko and Boro, how visibly mending is a political act and how some brands are now teaching their customers to mend. You can f...
May 19, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Season 4Ep. 17
Continuing down the path to the doors of small makers, today we find ourselves sharing time with Becca and Ben of Pajotten. Established in 2016 as a midlife change of pace and direction, Pajotten makes workwear-inspired garments one at a time, to order and size, building a loyal customer base along the way. We chat about their background and inspiration, the process of making and the joy of repeat customers. And get stuck in the odd rabbit-hole underway! You can find Pajotten on the web here , a...
May 12, 2022•1 hr 50 min•Season 4Ep. 16
This week Janelle of White Weft in London drops by to talk about her life in the denim industry as a designer, how she is now upcycling worn-out denim into new products, the joy of repairing broken jeans, how stretchy jeans and elastane are the banes of recycling denim, designing fits, how the industry is a greenwashing nightmare, oh, and how almost none of the indigo dye we adore is actually from natural indigo plants. You can find Janelle and White Weft on the web here and on Instagram as @whi...
May 05, 2022•1 hr 27 min•Season 4Ep. 15
After graduating with a Masters's Degree in Fashion and Business, Niamh wanted to start her own company, based on her own principles, values and way of doing things. We talk about studying fashion, how the obvious path goes into fast fashion, the difference between making things quick and easy versus taking your time to do it properly, how a career in garment making could be an attractive route for young people and how even a small and conscious business needs to be viable in the long run. Oh, a...
Apr 28, 2022•1 hr 37 min•Season 4Ep. 14
Today's guests are Barbara and Nick, the due behind the small Hackney-based brand, A State of Nature. Heavily into the small-scale, well-crafted, detail-oriented, natural fabrics and direct sales school of business, building the business from the ground level with a focus on longevity and happy customers. We talk about the joys and frustrations and how coming from luxury fashion means setting high goals for your own crafted product. You can find A State of Nature on the web here and on Instagram...
Apr 21, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Season 4Ep. 13
When you start a brand based on your admiration for the last great hero of exploration, you want to make sure you live up to the legend. Martin Brooks of Shackleton guests to talk about his decades-long obsession with Ernest Shackleton and his Antarctic quest, his values and leadership, and the understated heroics and achievements. Oh, and how they are going about making functional outerwear to last a long time, inviting customers to experience extreme conditions and keeping the legend of Shackl...
Apr 14, 2022•1 hr 25 min•Season 4Ep. 12
This week I have the pleasure of talking to someone I've enjoyed countless hours of seeing on tv, Patrick Grant. Known to many as one of the judges of The Great British Sewing Bee, Patrick has many more things going on, such as owning a traditional Savile Row tailor and a Lancashire garment factory. He's also working to revitalise manufacturing in the UK with Community Clothing, creating a community of makers to contribute to increasing jobs, keeping a stable production and encourage investments...
Apr 07, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Journalist Symeon Brown visits to talk about his new book about the world of influencers, "Get rich or lie trying". We cover the rise of the modern influencers, how social media has enabled new ways of guerilla marketing using young fans, the fashionable surgery and Brazilian butt lifts, the dropshipping and financial trader scams and at the end of the day, who is actually exploiting who? You can find Symeon on Instagram and Twitter and more on his Linktree . Garmology is researched, booked, hos...
Mar 31, 2022•58 min•Season 4Ep. 10
Holly Swinyard returns to talk about the history of cosplay and the old origins, how we've always been into dressing up, the potential mental benefits, making costumes, the golden ages of cinema, comics and Japanese manga and anime. There's even a mention of the cringeworthy "Tweedman" (regular visitors will recall this...). You can find Holly Swinyard on Instagram as @lilistprince and all relevant links on her LinkTree ! Garmology is researched, booked, hosted, edited, published, paid for and e...
Mar 25, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Following up on last week's Japanese theme, this week I'm joined by Ian Haydock, Lancashire born, Tokyo resident. We talk about his family history in the Lancashire textile industry, the joy of sifting through the Tokyo second-hand shops, especially finding forgotten British brands, how the ecosystem of vintage and secondhand garments works in Tokyo and the collector mentality. You can find Ian's wonderful photos of Tokyo on Instagram as @tofu_hed97 Garmology is researched, booked, hosted, edite...
Mar 18, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Today's guest is Takè Sato, former fashion editor of Smart magazine in Japan and fashion editor of Monocle magazine. Today Takè is based in London and works as a creative director and fashion stylist. He recently published "An obsession made in Japan", about the "happy victims", fashion victims, as documented by Kyoichi Tsuzuki. We talk about the Japanese otakus (aka obsessives), loyalty to fashion designers, why secondhand shopping in Tokyo is special, social media and influencers and subcultur...
Mar 11, 2022•1 hr 31 min•Season 4Ep. 7
This week we venture down a more scientific route with Dr Joshua M Bluteau, aka @anthrodandy, and his field studies within menswear and social media. Adopting the persona of @antrodandy, he went deep into the field to study how we present ourselves on social media, what we might gain and lose from it, what it does to us and how he got to know tailors. You can find Joshua on Instagram as @anthrodandy Garmology is researched, booked, hosted, edited, published, paid for and everything else by Nick ...
Mar 04, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Season 4Ep. 6
My guests this week are Marie and Will from Old Town, micro makers of contemporary clothing with references to the past. We talk about the Blitz scene of the '80s and the twisty way Old Town started off, why they're not about nostalgia, where the inspiration comes from, how their customer base has evolved over time and the celebrity gardener who has become their biggest promoter (and the wives who want their husbands to dress like him!). You can find Old Town on the web here and on Instagram as ...
Feb 25, 2022•1 hr 31 min•Season 4Ep. 5
My guest today represents tradition, resilience and doing what you do well. Hillary Bacon is the marketing director of Cordings of Piccadilly, a clothing establishment that has been basically unchanged since 1839, although the world around has changed fundamentally. We talk about how Cordings started and those important first products, how society has evolved, appreciating that some things don't have to change, being able to replace your old with the same new, how Eric Clapton saw the window dis...
Feb 18, 2022•1 hr 25 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Today's episode is another insight into the world of vintage, courtesy of John Gluckow from New York. John got into the world of vintage sourcing and selling at a young age, moving on to working for Ralph Lauren, sourcing vintage for RRL, studying menswear and starting a vintage-inspired menswear brand in Japan. Some interesting tangents are taken, and we even got round to dating clothes from knowledge of zippers! You can find John Gluckon on Instagram as @johngluckow_ancientandmodern and @stron...
Feb 11, 2022•1 hr 44 min•Season 4Ep. 3
In this episode, I take a trip down to Dandy Avenue with my guest Nathanial "Natty" Adams, journalist, author, suit designer and gentleman of taste. Natty is the author of the acclaimed books "We are dandy" and "I am Dandy", documenting distinctive gentlemen across the world, with photos by Rose Callahan. We discuss what clothing can mean, the reasoning and purpose of dressing differently, subcultural styles, the heady days of #menswear, convalescent robes and more. Find Natty on the web here an...
Feb 04, 2022•1 hr 40 min•Season 4Ep. 2
