What does it mean to leave - voluntarily - your homeland, to make a new creative life in another country? How might the place you left behind and the new one you chose collide in your work? Thirty-five years after he left Koyoto and enrolled in East Sydney Technical College, with a big dream and small bag full of kimonos nicked off his mum, Akira Isogawa is an Australian national treasure. He's been the subject of major museum retrospectives, designed costumes for the ballet, and seen his work w...
Mar 02, 2022•44 min•Ep 158•Transcript available on Metacast Have you heard about New York’s proposed sustainable fashion law? It’s called the Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act, and if it is passes those behind it say: this groundbreaking piece of legislation that will make New York the global leader in accountability for the $2.5 trillion fashion industry. Supporters include the likes of Stella McCartney and Jane Fonda. So, why do we need it? If New York were a country, it would rank as the world’s 10th largest economy, bigger than Can...
Feb 23, 2022•41 min•Ep 157•Transcript available on Metacast This week we sit down with New Yorker Mara Hoffman to find out how she turned her namesake brand into a sustainable fashion leader , what makes her tick - from astrology and to the inspirational beauty of Mother Earth, and being a mamma thinking about the next generation. The MH brand does a bunch of cool stuff, like working with natural dyes and regenerative agriculture projects. There’s even a peer-to-peer preloved Mara Hoffman marketplace called Full Circle . They also work with a local socia...
Feb 16, 2022•49 min•Ep 156•Transcript available on Metacast Do we really believe that we can pursue infinite growth on a finite planet? Why would we even want to? This week's guest is Tim Jackson , the ecological economist who wrote Post Growth, Life After Capitalism . It's a very persuasive argument for a complete rethink of how we define success, and why we need a new type of economy, one that prioritises relationships and meaning, over profits and power. Tim sees this book as "both a manifesto for system change and an invitation to rekindle a dee...
Feb 09, 2022•45 min•Ep 155•Transcript available on Metacast After two years of fashion weeks globally being more or less on pandemic pause, they're back. Last week the Paris couture shows drew crowds in the French capital. As we publish, Scandinavia is in the spotlight with Copenhagen's event. The big four are going ahead this month, albeit with a few big names missing and some format changes. London's will be a gender neutral digital-physical event, showing "menswear, womenswear and gender neutral collections" - after London Fashion Week Men's was cance...
Feb 02, 2022•52 min•Ep 154•Transcript available on Metacast And you thought Zara was fast fashion! Buckle up because new trends are landing daily if not hourly, as a new breed of online disruptor throws out thousands of styles a week to see what sticks. Brands like Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing and Fashion Nova are part of a new ultra-fast fashion era, but Shein is by far the biggest player. Worth a reported $47 billion, the Chinese company is now the biggest selling fast fashion brand in the US. But how does it work? What's the secret to its giant reach? ...
Jan 26, 2022•54 min•Ep 153•Transcript available on Metacast You've probably heard about degrowth , which is: "a planned reduction of energy and resource use designed to bring the economy back into balance with the living world in a way that reduces inequality and improves human well-being." (If this idea is new to you, have a listen to Episode 135 with economist Jason Hickel) . Question: is it time to apply such thinking more specifically to the fashion industry? What would that look like? This week's podcast presents the ideas of a new fashion activist ...
Dec 06, 2021•56 min•Ep 152•Transcript available on Metacast More than half of all the textiles use today are polyester. You will definitely have poly in your wardrobe, even if you prefer natural fibres. Synthetics are lurking everywhere, whether as polyester, nylon, or blends mixed with cotton. Poly is cheap, ubiquitous and it's not going away any time soon. It's also made from fossil fuels, doesn't biodegrade and most of it ends up as waste. Cyndi Rhoades believes recycled is the answer. A UK-based, US-raised activist turned entrepreneur, she founded Wo...
Oct 16, 2021•49 min•Ep 151•Transcript available on Metacast Are you unwittingly contributing to waste colonialism via your wardrobe choices? What happens to our unwanted clothes when we donate them? Overproducing and underusing clothes has far-reaching consequences, as this week's guest Liz Ricketts of The Or Foundation explains. Each week, around 15 million pieces of secondhand clothing arrive in the Kantamanto second-hand clothing market in Accra, Ghana - and 40% goes to waste. This is the story of how your old shirt or dress or pants might end up clog...
Sep 29, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep 150•Transcript available on Metacast Are you a special person? How self-obsessed are we, as a society? How and why do we compare ourselves to others? What makes us group-ish? Violent? Or community minded? How about narcissistic? And is that getting worse? This week's guest is the British author Will Storr, who's latest book is Status Game: on social position and how we use it. After reading one of his previous books - Selfie, How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us - Clare persuaded him to come on Wardrobe Crisis a...
Sep 03, 2021•42 min•Ep 149•Transcript available on Metacast Everyone's talking about climate action and social change - but Fashion is still carrying on like it's 1999. The velvet rope! Exclusivity! Snobbery and barriers to entry that lock many young designers with new ideas, out. Fashion weeks alone are massive carbon emitters, before we've even considered production. Pre-pandemic, the carbon footprint of all the media, buyers, models and designers going to the big four fashion weeks (NY, London, Milan & Paris) over a 12-month period, was enough to ...
Aug 19, 2021•39 min•Ep 148•Transcript available on Metacast Have you heard the one about throwing your clothes away being better for the planet than renting them? In this Episode, we get the real story on the study out of Finland that spawned so many clickbait headlines, then ask a British retail legend about what's driving the fashion rental boom. We hear from a purpose-driven millennial founder about what her company is doing to ensure rental really is a greener fashion option than buying new clothes; and learn the secrets of eco-friendly dry cleaning ...
Aug 12, 2021•52 min•Ep 147•Transcript available on Metacast Who's Shaping Sustainable Fashion's Design Future? Each Wardrobe Crisis series we present a new generation talent episode, spotlighting emerging fashion designers who are pushing sustainability forward. This time we’re talking with: a positive knitwear designer from Canada who’s ongoing collaboration with Post Carbon lab sees her creating living garments that photosynthesise as you wear them. A British fashion multi-tasker who works as a sustainable womenswear designer focused on deadstock mater...
Aug 05, 2021•47 min•Ep 146•Transcript available on Metacast How do you feel about getting older? Maybe you’re so young it feels a world away? Or maybe you’re feeling it, and wondering where the time went? This week’s guest fashion influencer Lyn Slater has no such worries - she reinvented her career in her 60s, going from college professor to Instagram star and being described as “one of fashion's finest-dressed people”. Since then she’s been written about a thousand times as a sort poster woman for growing older stylishly. But now, she’s examining furth...
Jul 30, 2021•40 min•Ep 145•Transcript available on Metacast “The 21st century has brought a critical dilemma into sharp relief: we must stop shopping, and yet we can’t stop shopping.” - J.B MacKinnon Have you noticed that stopping shopping is trending? It used to be a very unusual challenge to take on, but fashion detoxes are going mainstream as people begin to question hyper-consumerism and look for ways to resist it. But what would happen if we all turned off the fashion tap tomorrow? And not just fashion - consumer goods in general. What if eve...
Jul 14, 2021•50 min•Ep 144•Transcript available on Metacast Lock up your linens! Emily Adams Bode has designs on your grandma's tablecloths. And her quilts. America's favourite emerging menswear talent made her fashion name upcycling characterful old domestic textiles and dusty deadstock - winning a CFDA award and a Woolmark Prize while she was at it. The result is menswear with meaning, designed to be passed down the generations. This is a lovely quirky conversation about what inspires her as a maker and collector , the joys of upcycling and the layers ...
Jun 30, 2021•46 min•Ep 143•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome back! Series 6 is here! The title of this episode asks you to leave your pre-conceptions at the door. There is no one way for a refugee to look, seem, dress and show up in the world. On World Refugee Day, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) asks us to honour refugees around the globe. To celebrate the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home countries to escape conflict or persecution. And so we are excited to bring you this extraordinary interview wit...
Jun 23, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep 142•Transcript available on Metacast While you were distracted by the latest luxury It-whatever (and the shiny, ridiculously expensive global marketing behind it) slow local fashion makers were carefully, quietly crafting their wares regardless - on a fraction of the budgets of the big fashion names. It's time to take more notice of them! Because if we don't support the independents, how will they thrive? Can small local makers compete with the big guys today, and should they try? Or is it time to build new networks that create a t...
Apr 29, 2021•34 min•Ep 141•Transcript available on Metacast CALLING ALL TREE-HUGGERS! Nicole Rycroft founded Canopy Planet at her kitchen table in Vancouver with a small budget and a big idea - to protect the world's precious forests. 20 years later, Canopy is one of the leading organisations fighting globally for last frontier forests and engaging business - including the fashion industry - to find alternatives to unsustainably sourced wood in their supply chains. Do we really use ancient trees to make trivial things? Try pizza boxes and party frocks. I...
Apr 21, 2021•46 min•Ep 140•Transcript available on Metacast How big is sustainable fashion in Iceland? You might be surprised to find out. We also nearly called this Episode: The Secret Lives Of Sweaters . Listen and you will see why! In this fascinating, surprising conversation about funny jumpers and changing the world, you will meet Ýr Jóhannsdóttir - a textile designer, artist/activist upcycler from Reykjavik . With her label Ýrúrarí (and her huge Instagram following ) she is making a name for herself using creativity and humour to challenge fashion'...
Apr 14, 2021•31 min•Ep 139•Transcript available on Metacast Vintage and second-hand fashion is in the news more than ever before. It's set to eclipse fast fashion within ten years. The designer re-commerce sector is booming. But as shopping pre-loved becomes more aspirational, are those who rely on thrifted clothes being locked out? What's not up for debate, however, is that the piles of discarded fashion and textiles keep growing. The excess is real. Where it ends up, who pays the price, what that price should be, what's selling, what's not, what should...
Mar 04, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep 138•Transcript available on Metacast Who else talks to their plants? This week's joyful episode is a love letter to what we grow - in gardens, allotments, veggie patches and pots on our windowsills the world over. But also what grows wild - in the woods, hedgerows, fields and scrub, the verges by the freeways, even the cracks in city pavements. Your guest host, musician and gardener Nidala Barker, talks with her friend and fellow green thumb, Kobi Bloom about connecting to Earth, respecting our Mother and the marvellous magic of pl...
Feb 17, 2021•44 min•Ep 137•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to another episode of series 5 - #sharethepodcastmic Don't forget to hit subscribe and if you value these conversations, please share them with your communities. Your guest host this week is Ayesha Barenblat, founder of ReMake, and she is in conversation with Nazma Akter, founder and Executive Director of the Awaj Foundation. Nazma has been fighting to improve workers' rights in Bangladesh's garment sector for 30 years - and she started out as a garment worker herself, aged just 11. Hers...
Feb 05, 2021•46 min•Ep 136•Transcript available on Metacast Everybody's talking about degrowth. Does this mean we've finally woken up to the reality of climate breakdown and ecological collapse? Are we ready to challenge capitalism's obsession with GDP and perpetual expansion? If so, what's the alternative? And how can we apply this to fashion, beyond simply "buy less"? How might we reimagine the whole system, and rethink how we measure success? This week's guest host Nina Gbor interviews Jason Hickel about his new book Less is More - How Degrowth W...
Jan 28, 2021•51 min•Ep 135•Transcript available on Metacast Meet Belinda Duarte, former athlete and educator, current inspirational leader, formidable female exec, proud First Nations Australian and the inspiration for Series 5 - #sharethepodcastmic Just in time for January 26th - a significant day in this country. It's time to #changethedate There's so much up for discussion in this one - from Belinda's family story, to sustainability and Indigenous wisdom, raising strong young people, ethical leadership and how we can use sport and culture to move towa...
Jan 20, 2021•42 min•Ep 134•Transcript available on Metacast In March 2020, Grace Lillian Lee and Teagan Cowlishaw announced Australia's first ever Indigenous fashion council - First Nations Fashion & Design. In December, they held their first fashion show - Walking in Two Worlds. But don't expect just any old runway. This is a beautiful story about reframing the fashion discourse, connecting to country, and mentoring emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fashion talent. Grace is this week's #sharethepodcastmic guest host and she's in convers...
Jan 13, 2021•42 min•Ep 133•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome back to Series 5, #sharethepodcastmic Why are all eyes are on Indigenous Australian fashion right now? Try 60,000 years of sustainability... "We're the original fashion industry in this country," says this week's guest host Yatu Widders-Hunt of the vibrant, continuously evolving First Nations fashion and design sector. In this Episode, we hear from curator Shonae Hobson about her Piinpi exhibition - the first major survey of contemporary Indigenous Australian fashion to be undertaken in ...
Jan 06, 2021•42 min•Ep 132•Transcript available on Metacast Why does so much fashion still cling to strict men's and womenswear codes? Is the industry finally ready to shake off tired old binaries and embrace the trans and gender-nonconforming community? Or is Harry Styles' Vogue cover about as far as it goes? For this week's #sharethepodcastmic episode, sustainable fashion journalist Aditi Mayer is in charge. She's interviewing Alok Vaid-Menon about their new book, Beyond the Gender Binary. Alok is a gender-nonconforming poet, author, performance ...
Dec 10, 2020•47 min•Ep 131•Transcript available on Metacast For this week's #sharethepodcastmic episode, Aja Barber is in charge. She's interviewing her friend, Kalkidan Legesse, founder of Sancho's - a pioneering Black-owned sustainable fashion store in Exeter in the UK. Sancho's sells ethical and fair trade clothing, gifts and accessories from sustainable fashion brands like People Tree, Armedangels, Lefrik and Just Trade. They also really innovate with their pricing accessibility - and you'll hear all about that in this interview. What else gets unpac...
Dec 03, 2020•53 min•Ep 130•Transcript available on Metacast A note from Clare: Welcome to Series 5, Share the Podcast Mic. After everything that's happened this year, we wanted to shake things up and share the power of this beautiful platform with some of the BIPOC voices leading the conversation in sustainability and ethical fashion. So after this episode, I'll be passing the Wardrobe Crisis mic onto them. Each will interview a person of their choice. Your guest hosts are some of the most exciting, dynamic, inspirational voices working in this spa...
Nov 25, 2020•45 min•Ep 129•Transcript available on Metacast 
