In episode 288, Kestrel welcomes designer, Trish Langman, to the show. With over 18 years of experience working with a long list of prestigious fashion brands, Trish is currently the Program Knowledge and Content Lead for the Fashion CEOs Accelerator program by Sovereignty, a partner with Argentinian NGO Hecho Por Nosotros and an advisor to the Board of Fashion Ghana, West Africa.
"Obviously, the companies need to be complicit — you know, they should stop making stuff. But the consumer, you know, because they’re uneducated, they don’t understand what they’re buying. It’s just a piece of clothing, but they’re not thinking about any consequences of how it’s made or what it does to them. Is it shedding microplastics, is it clogging the water? The consequences of you buying something that costs two dollars means that somebody’s not being paid somewhere.” -Trish
Have you ever thought about some of the basic knowledge that’s shared with us in primary school? I’m thinking about the practical information that can help us in our everyday lives.
For example – as this week’s guest mentions, the food pyramid is something most of us have probably learned about in school. (Ok, so I’ve read a plethora of concerns about the traditional food pyramid and how it was largely influenced by big business — hint, hint: grains, especially refined ones, are not necessarily the food we should eat the most of…) BUT the point here is, the idea of a balanced diet is relayed to us at an early age. It’s a basic component of the education system.
However – how often are kids learning about the ingredients used in our clothes? How often are we taught that the fabric used in our garments can come from a plant grown on a farm, or from fossil fuels that are processed into thread?
There are a lot of layers at play, when it comes to who can access which clothing options. But with that in mind … we should have the right to learn basic practical knowledge about clothing in school, beginning at a young age.
Because let’s be real – how many of us have finally been collecting pieces of this practical clothing knowledge as adults?
This week’s guest is very passionate about the power of education – for children, for everyday people, and for business owners. In one of her most recent endeavors, she’s working as the content lead for a new Fashion CEOs accelerator program that’s focused on empowering fashion entrepreneurs of color to collectively solve climate change and inclusion challenges.
The focus is on transforming entrepreneurs in a more holistic way through both access to capital and access to layers of education, with the intention of helping folks build more circular fashion brands.
As this week’s guest said in an article in Women’s Wear Daily –
“I have not seen this in the industry … I have not seen an accelerator that speaks to circularity, that speaks to sustainability and that speaks to the BIPOC community. It’s just something that’s not there.”
Quotes & links from the conversation:
“New Fashion CEOs Accelerator Set To Advance The Industry’s Sustainable Business Models and Its Racial Representation”, article in WWD that Kestrel mentions
“People have changed I think, in terms of how they see the value of their business. I think a lot of people feel like their business has to, for them, mean more to them than just making money. It’s more about what they give back to their community in some way.” -Trish (30:52)
“In order for us to sort of think about the future, science and design need to come together. You know, about a hundred years ago, science and design and arts were kind of almost interlinked — sort of the alchemy of them all together. And then we got more industrialized and technology took over, and they just seemed to separate.” -Trish (48:50)
Sovereignty’s Website >
Follow Trish on Instagram >
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Katia Dayan Vladimirova on The Hot Or Cool Institute's new report, what a 1.5 degree wardrobe could look like & questioning how much is enough
What are *healthy clothes* & understanding that our clothing actually enters and impacts our bodies
Nadia Bunyan of Growing A.R.C. on how cultivating community led to the collective cultivation of the flax plant for linen
S06 Episode 279 | Jono Salfield of Afends on DIY hemp farming for textiles & why hemp rules (from both a farming & carbon-capture lens)
S06 Episode 278 | Why we must approach waste holistically & how Material Library Of India is reimagining & documenting neglected materials while advocating for systems change
S06 Episode 277 | Questioning how we *value* garments & respecting the limits of partnership across fashion with Jesus Herrera
S06 Episode 276 | Fashion psychology, contextualizing our buying behaviors amidst today's *speed* & how shopping is not equal to happiness
S06 Episode 275 | The Or Foundation's take on their recent agreement with SHEIN, how these grant funds are/will be used within the Kantamanto community & extended producer responsibility (EPR)
S06 Episode 274 | What are biosynthetic dyes & could they replace the toxic petroleum-heavy ingredients in today's predominant indigo garment dye?
S06 Episode 273 | Kesiena Onosigho on slow art as a tool for liberation and why sustainability isn't passive – it's something you live
S06 Episode 272 | Revealing lipstick's dirty little secrets & questioning the beauty industry's lack of regulation with Angela Weinberg of Kolorete
S06 Episode 271 | Anuj Sharma on button masala and questioning cut & sew as the primary way to join garments together
S06 Episode 270 | Doctoral candidate Timnit Kefela on the rise of plastic fashion & the journey of microplastics that come with it
S06 Episode 269 | Ngozi Okaro of Custom Collaborative on fashion cooperatives & how they can shift power dynamics, counter overproduction, and support local economies
S06 Episode 268 | Venetia La Manna on the need to *Remember Who Made Them* (our clothes) & whether we should buy fast fashion secondhand
S06 Episode 267 | Sally Fox on breeding naturally colored organic cotton
S06 Episode 266 | The challenges of navigating supply chain minimums while intentionally building regional systems with Leah of Wol Hide
S06 Episode 265 | Summer Dean (@ClimateDiva) on slowing down influence & building community instead of obsessing about analytics
S06 Episode 264 | Greenwashing in fashion and the need for mandatory measures & regulation
S06 Episode 263 | Dr. Sandra Niessen on *sacrifice zones* & the layers of erasure in fashion
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