WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press

In the second of our mini series on emerging designers based in Melbourne, my guest this week Singaporean-Aussie designer Jude Ng. Jude started out selling at design markets, and we talk here about how some people might view that as not elevated, somehow not fashion enough. And what rubbish that is! As Jude says, it was having these direct relationships and conversations with potential customers t...

A new generation of fashion designers is rejecting the current system, but what are they building in its place? In the first of our mini-series, Made in Melbourne, Isabelle Hellyer, the designer behind All Is Gentle Spring, discusses her vision for small-scale, skills-based fashion trade we can be proud of. These stories are Australian, but relevant wherever you are - exploring universal themes of...

According to Antoine Arnault, CEO of Loro Piana: "Luxury products are sustainable by nature." Hmmm. What do we think of that, then? Just because it's expensive doesn't make it ethical. In case you are not across these names, Arnault is a member of the LVMH dynasty (his dad, Bernard, is one of the 10th richest people on the planet) and Loro Piana is a posh Italian knitwear brand known for its cashm...

We've all had tough days at work, right? But I'm going to bet your last one didn't involve multiple colleagues fainting from heat stress. My guest this week is researcher and academic Cara Schulte , author of an important new report, for Climate Rights International, that looks into the effects of the effects of extreme heat on garment workers in Bangladesh. These don't stop at the physical. Worke...

To mark NAIDOC week in Australia, which officially celebrates & recognises the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, we bring you this interview with activist, astronomer and knowledge holder Professor Ghillar Michael Anderson, who was central in the setting up of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra in 1972. Michael is a Senior Law Man, Elder,...

This week's episode is an update from Accra, Ghana, and the situation at Kantamanto markets. It was recorded during the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen, where I met up with Liz Ricketts from The Or Foundation. Liz was with several community members from Kantamanto, including market trader Mary and upcycler Latifa - both featured on the podcast. Ultimately this is a story of resilience, entrepr...

Over the past few weeks, we've been diving into the world of weaving with natural fibres, exploring local textile traditions and capabilities, and don't get us wrong - we will always love that. But there's also a whole world of sciency possibilities shaking up the future of fabrics and fabulous ways. Pack your (metaphorical) bags for a European innovation tour! And get ready to answer some wild qu...

Welcome to another episode about why it matters that we can make stuff locally. After last week's ep on Yorkshire's centuries-old wool recycling expertise, this time, as promised, Clare's taking you back to Australia, to see another inspiring mill in action. We're in Launceston, Tasmania to visit Australia's oldest continuously operating weaving mill. Waverley Mills has always worked with local wo...

Ever wondered how mechanical textile recycling actually works? What shoddy and mungo is, and why we called it that? What the rag n' bone man collected back in the day and how the trade grew up, then scaled back? And what it will take to bring it back and keep what's already here, going? Wonder no more! John Parkinson has a masterclass for you, complete with magic and secrets. For 200 years, Yorksh...

What if the best place was the one you're already in? Meet Julia Roebuck , the powerhouse organiser behind Thread Republic Textile Reuse Hub and social enterprise in Huddersfield, UK. We're talking about textile skills, mending, repair, sewing, the wellbeing economy and what that might look like - at home. What fashion can be when we remove the transactional, when it's not just about shopping. And...

How do you feel about competition? Do you think it’s healthy? Natural? Are you that person who has to win at Scrabble or tennis or the pub quiz? Or maybe you've read your Gaia theory and are hooked on the idea of a harmonious, post-patriarchal ecosystem that's all about balance and working together. Many of us have come around to thinking that, at least when it comes to sustainability, it's being...

Want a side of modern slavery with that? Didn't think so. Modern slavery is organised crime, and no one wants that lurking in their supply chain. Yet fashion and textiles are key industries implicated in this travesty that traps an estimated 50 million people worldwide in forced labour, debt bondage and human trafficking. Twelve per cent of those in forced labour are children, while women and girl...

Continuing our theme of fashion's crazily wasteful ways, and our focus on Latin America, this week, more Brazilian goodness, as Clare sits down with São Paolo-based industrial upcycler Agustina Comas. We're talking fast fashion, big business, athleisure's reliance on synthetics and rethinking pattern-cutting. BTW: how much do you know about pattern-cutting? If you've ever done this yourself at hom...

Hello! What are we actually doing? Our unwanted clothes don't belong dumped in Chile's beautiful Atacama Desert... Everyone knows reasons why the global north exports used clothing to the global south - it's because fashion is too fast, quality is too low, volumes are too high, and for rich countries it's often cheaper to export your problem than it is to deal with it onshore. But even if that was...

Twenty-two billion! What are we playing at?! Things get worse when we look at the materials most commonly in use. The sports shoe category in particular is a giant, influential sector, yet its waste footprint and chemical inputs tend to fall under the radar. And don't get us started on the Crocsification of everything! Injection-moulded EVA is coming to a clog near you, but don't let's pretend tha...

In the third of our four-part mini series on sustainable fashion in India, Clare sits down with Drishti Modi and Rashmick Bose, the duo behind slow fashion brand Lafaani. It's focused handcraft, handloom weaves, and natural dyes, and their clothes are gorgeous - we want them all! But the founders didn't always dream of fashion careers - they're sustainability professionals who met at university st...

More from our visit to India! If you listened to the last episode with stylist Daniel Franklin, you'll have heard Clare promise more to come from India's burgeoning sustainable fashion scene. This week's chat is with one of Delhi's most promising young designers , who's just shown his collection at Lakmé Fashion Week in Mumbai, and who won last year's Circular Design Challenge (run by R/Elan and U...

Mumbai and New Delhi take turns to host Lakmé Fashion Week, and this season it's the former that will be exploding with creative runways and high-craft fever, starting next week. To get you in the mood, we're bringing you an Indian mini-series of the Wardrobe Crisis podcast, starting with this delightful conversation with stylist Daniel Franklin. Daniel styled five shows last season, and has seven...

A disturbing shift away from diversity, equity and inclusion is spreading through the corporate world. Following US President Donald Trump's lead, some of the world's most powerful companies have rushed to dismantle years of positive work that's been done in this area. Race and gender are central to this discussion, but diversity and inclusion programs concern the whole gamut of non-majority group...

It's time for some more trashtalk, my friends. Remember plastic pollution ? Of course you do - because it's still with us. According to the UNEP, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic enter the world's oceans, rivers and lakes EVERY SINGLE DAY. And while there was a great deal of excitement around the prospect of a Global Plastics Treaty last year, talks were suspended at the end...

London fashion week spotlight: In a markedly hatless era, forward-marching British New Gen accessories designer Leo Carlton is turning their talents to digitally-printed crowns, elf ears, breast plates and mysterious sculptural masks. Some of these genre-defying fashion artefacts feel a bit witchy, with pagan undertones. Others, firmly futuristic. But how do they make them? Wouldn’t you like to kn...

Experience matters. Everyone always tells new design graduates that it's best to work for someone else while you find your feet. But at what point do you know that you are ready to strike out on your own? While on the surface this conversation with emerging German fashion designer Essie Kramer seems to be about the joys of sourcing old ecclesiastical textiles and turning them into provocative new...

A note from Clare: This week, I'm experimenting with bringing you something a bit different. I'm calling it CLARE'S TAKE and it's a sort of op-ed slash invitation to start a conversation about a issue in the news. It's just me, no interview this time. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning the interview format! Normal programming will resume next week, but do let us know if you like the idea of adding th...

Ears here! Do yourself a favour and take a break from doomscrolling Trump... Berlin fashion week is about to roll around again, and we're inspired. Not least because last year Fashion Council Germany became the first to officially adopted Copenhagen Fashion Week's sustainability framework, complete with 20 minimum standards for participating designers. If you don’t live there, what’s your imp...

Happy New Year! When was the last time you admired someone's style from afar, say from across the street? Or when you found yourself sitting next to them in a public place, a cafe perhaps, at a fashion show or on the bus? Did you strike up a conversation? Because we mostly don't. Mostly we just think how fab they look and that's that. I like to think of our first Episode for series 11 as an encour...