In episode 280, Kestrel welcomes Nadia Bunyan, a fashion designer & the cofounder of Growing A.R.C., to the show. Growing A.R.C. is a nonprofit that creates spaces and opportunities for people to activate, reciprocate and cultivate their relationships with all beings. Through plants, material culture, and bioregional design, they are engaging in a conversation on sustainability through active participation.
What started as an experiment – tossing some flax seeds into the ground in the backyard, has now led to the creation of a community-oriented nonprofit, that’s using the concept of farm to closet to shift peoples’ mindset on consumption; reinforcing their connection to the local environment and expanding their understanding of biodiversity to include the diversity of human perspectives, and experiences from diverse communities (because while we are trained otherwise, yes – we, humans, are also a part of nature).
Nadia gives us an education on the need to try new things, to jump in without the fear of making mistakes, and to embrace those so-called *failures* along the way. As she tells us, “No expert becomes an expert without first having tried something.”
With over 20 years of experience working as a fashion designer, she started growing flax – has now harvested it with other collaborators, and is working toward spinning and weaving it into linen fabric.
Such a reminder that there is so much beauty that can be found through the act of stepping outside of your comfort zone and opening yourself up to learning new things.
Quotes & links from the conversation:
“You can plant, you can craft, you can knit, you can do what have you. But we’re around each other and in those moments, we’re talking. And that’s the cultivation — not just of the plant, but of community. You need to put into your community, you need to support, you need to create spaces for that to happen, and you need to give space for that to grow.” -Nadia (25:38)
“So, to grow the flax, it’s a period of about 80-90 days, to get it to the right maturity, so that you have fiber. And that changes, depending. You can harvest the flax at different times, depending on how fine you want the flax to be. Full germination to get seeds is 100 days. So, when you take it out at 100 days, then you have the seeds, but you’re gonna have a very rough kind of fiber. We’ve experimented with both and left some plants in a little longer so that we would have seeds for next year, and also to see how thick that fiber is going to be.” -Nadia (36:48)
“How the pandemic transformed one Montrealer's relationship to her backyard and her world”, article in CBC that features Nadia
Interview with Nadia on CBC, starts at around 12 minutes into the video
Follow Growing A.R.C. on Facebook >
Follow Nadia on Instagram >
Follow Growing A.R.C. on Instagram >
S05 Episode 242 | Questioning the meaning behind *regenerative fashion* and building new fashion systems with Christy Dawn & Oshadi Collective
S05 Episode 241 | Reimagining waste as a resource, creativity's battle against commerce & the importance of welcoming financial sustainability into the larger conversation
S05 Episode 240 | Maxine Bédat on why circularity won't save us, how the origin of business was not to maximize profit & what that context tells us about the current fashion system
S05 Episode 239 | Ganni on the importance of action over labels & their 44 responsibility gameplan goals
S05 Episode 238 | Best friends Jazmine (@thatcurlytop) & Gabby (@gabrielasage) on reclaiming "influence" & finding balance as content creators and sustainable fashion advocates
S05 Episode 237 | OEKO-TEX®, green chemistry & navigating the nuances of product labels
S05 Episode 236 | Educator Emi Ito and Gina Stovall of Two Days Off on collaborating to honor a legacy & getting creative to infuse fashion with more accessibility, generosity and inclusivity
S05 Episode 235 | Mikaela Clark of Hansel on balance in partnerships, welcoming the evolution of your creativity, and inclusivity in upcycling
S05 Episode 234 | Rethinking upcycling, questioning trends & reimagining what "seasons" mean
S05 Episode 233 | Katherine Theobalds of Zou Xou on sensible shoes and resisting mindless consumption & markdowns
S05 Episode 232 | Kara Fabella on the nuances of "influence" today, splashing color across ethical fashion + her Living In COLOR(ISM) series
S05 Episode 231 | GOODS & SERVICES ON MODERN SHOE REPAIR + REFRAMING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE SNEAKER LIFESPAN — AKA SNEAKER REPAIR IS POSSIBLE!
S05 Episode 230 | KIANA KAZEMI ON THE OPPRESSIVE HISTORY OF ENGINEERING + TECH, THE NEED TO REFRAME THE "PROBLEMS" ENGINEERS ARE TRYING TO FIX, AND WHAT THIS HAS TO DO WITH FASHION
S05 Episode 229 | DANI DES ROCHES OF PICNICWEAR ON STATEMENT PIECES + FUTURE VINTAGE OVER FUTURE GARBAGE
S05 Episode 228 | CATHERINE MCKINLEY, AUTHOR OF THE AFRICAN LOOKBOOK, ON THE DEEP MEANING CONNECTED TO CLOTH, THE POWER OF THE CAMERA AND SEWING MACHINE + RECLAIMING VISUAL NARRATIVES
S05 Episode 227 | YESSENIA FUNES OF ATMOS ON RACE AND THE ENVIRONMENT + CENTERING FRONTLINE ORGANIZERS AS THE WRITERS OF THEIR OWN STORIES
S05 Episode 226 | MATT HICKEY OF BE KIND VIBES ON KINDNESS + PLANTING THE EARLY SEEDS FOR CONSCIOUS CHATTER
S05 Episode 225 | URBAN NATIVE ERA, "YOU ARE ON NATIVE LAND" + LEADING WITH STORYTELLING
S05 Episode 224 | TWO DAYS OFF, APPROACHING FASHION THROUGH AN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE LENS + HOW EVERYTHING IS INTERCONNECTED
S05 Episode 223 | MAGGIE MARILYN ON TRANSPARENCY, RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY + THE NEED TO ALIGN VALUES WITH BUSINESS MODELS
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