WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press

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...

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, showi...

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 bigges...

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 in...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 Br...

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...

“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 al...

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 c...

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 escap...

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 compe...

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 suppl...

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 Inst...

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. Wher...

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 gre...

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...

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...

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 wisdo...

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 Stra...

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 ex...

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...