In episode 282, Kestrel welcomes Katia Dayan Vladimirova, a senior researcher at the University of Geneva, to the show. In addition to her research on fashion consumption, sustainability, and degrowth, Katia is the founder and coordinator at the Sustainable Fashion Consumption Network, and recently contributed to the Hot or Cool Institute’s Report – Unfit, Unfair, Unfashionable.
“Sufficiency is part of —very much interlinked with degrowth conversations today — it’s about abandoning economic growth in favor of wellbeing and enoughness as a positive vision of the future, in which we are content with enough and are not looking for more all the time.” -Katia
I’ve been thinking a lot about the sustainable fashion narrative (over the last decade or so) and as I see it, we’ve seen a few big stages in the conversation – mind you, there are so many more nuanced narratives that have been out there, but these are the narratives I’ve heard the most noise around:
Stage 1 – A focus on redirecting your consumption habits. The idea that you can be more sustainable with your wardrobe if you buy differently. The narrative was very much interconnected with capitalism and focused on the notion of BUY THIS, NOT THAT.
Stage 2 – A basic understanding that massive corporations are the biggest culprits of carbon emissions and human rights violations in fashion. The narrative shifted a bit away from *blaming the consumer* and a bit toward highlighting the need for brands to change. This also involved an acknowledgement of the important role that legislation can play in transforming the industry. This was when we saw the rise of the fashion activist.
Stage 3 – (This is the stage I believe we are currently amidst.) It’s a combination of the previous stages, with greater context and more specific recommendations on HOW to truly make an impact. It involves an understanding that there is not one specific avenue to change the way fashion currently operates – but instead, we need all hands on deck, and multiple avenues working to address the industry’s inequities.
This week’s guest was one of the authors of a recent report that came out by the Hot or Cool Institute. I feel like the findings in this report directly assist in providing specific ways that a so-called CONSUMER can transform their behavior to make measurable impacts on climate change (something I’m seeing as an integral part of this Stage 3 we are currently amidst).
In the report, it highlights that – “If no other actions are implemented, such as repairing/mending, washing at lower temperatures, or buying second-hand, purchases of new garments should be limited to an average 5 items per year for achieving consumption levels in line with the Paris Agreement – to keep the average global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030.
This is very exciting – to see a report tell us a target number – to let us know that we can still buy clothing, but if we can all reduce our purchasing to only 5 garments per year, we can stay within planetary boundaries.
Tune in to hear more from this week’s guest on HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? when it comes to our fashion consumption.
Quotes & links from the conversation:
Hot or Cool Institute’s Report "Unfit, Unfair, Unfashionable: Resizing Fashion for a Fair Consumption Space"
Sustainable Fashion Consumption Network, international research network on sustainable fashion consumption
"Consumption Corridors in Fashion: Deliberations on upper consumption limits in minimalist fashion challenges", Katia’s article that explores how much is enough
“When we’re talking about the key driving force behind the growing emissions in fashion — these are the wealthiest 20%. And we may think that, wealthiest 20%, oh this is somewhere far away from us. But if we look at the numbers — in Germany, to be within the wealthiest 20%, the individual income has to be over 3.2K Euros per month. So, many people who are participating in policy conversations, in research — many people who are asking these questions actually are within the richest 20 percent.” -Katia (26:17)
“Those who really should change is the middle class and upper middle class who can afford to buy better, but they choose not to.” (27:22)
“The positive message here is that when we’re talking about staying within planetary boundaries, we’re not talking about having 2 pairs of underpants, 2 socks and a pair of jeans for the whole year — that’s not the case. We actually have a very generous allowance — our allowance to stay under the 1.5 degree limit is higher than the number of pieces that a woman in France used to have in the 1960s in her wardrobe. So we’re really very generously allowed to experiment.” -Katia (29:30)
“Citizen Insights: Clothing Longevity and Circular Business Models Receptivity in the UK”, WRAP study that Katia mentions
Follow Katia on Instagram >
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S02 Episode 63 | THE NEW DENIM PROJECT + UPCYCLING WASTE INTO TEXTILES
S02 Episode 62 | THREAD, TIMBERLAND + RECYCLING WASTE SYSTEMS
S02 Episode 61 | GALERIA.LA, PERSONAL STYLE + CURATION
S02 Episode 60 | THE SUSTAINABLE APPAREL COALITION + QUESTIONING FASHION'S IMPACT
S02 Episode 59 | PATAGONIA, FAIR TRADE + THE FASHION REVOLUTION
S02 Episode 58 | EILEEN FISHER, FISHER FOUND + CLOSING THE LOOP
S02 Episode 57 | GLOBEIN, ARTISANS + THE SUBSCRIPTION BOX MODEL
S02 Episode 56 | STYLE LEND + THE ONLINE FASHION RENTAL MARKET
S02 Episode 55 | SLOW FOOD + FASHION, CROSS POLLINATION + THE QUESTION OF SCALE
S02 Episode 54 | GOOD ON YOU + APPS FOR CONSUMER ACTION
S02 Episode 53 | NATURAL DYES + BOTANICAL COLORS
S01 Episode 52 | WHITNEY BAUCK, FASHIONISTA + DIGITAL ACTIVISM
S01 Episode 51 | YOUTH FASHION SUMMIT + THE NEXT GENERATION
S01 Episode 50 | THINK DIRTY + THE SEARCH FOR CLEAN BEAUTY
S01 Episode 49 | FABSCRAP + REUSING TEXTILE WASTE
S01 Episode 48 | PANAH + MADE IN AFRICA
S01 Episode 47 | TIMO RISSANEN + ZERO WASTE DESIGN
S01 Episode 46 | THREAD CARAVAN + ARTISAN ADVENTURES
S01 Episode 45 | JASMIN MALIK CHUA, ECOUTERRE + AN INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE
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