94) Can Slow Fashion Businesses Scale Without Encouraging Overconsumption? With Mahdiyyah Muhammad

How can we reimagine the traditional role of fashion designers in a world filled with fashion waste? And how can we rethink our primary role as consumers in a way that allows us to become contributors to collective well-being instead? 

It’s no secret that we live in a world with far too much clothing. If we are to work towards a more sustainable fashion industry, we need to unpack the ways that fashion brands and designers can pivot away from the mainstream business model of take-make-waste and embrace alternative sustainable fashion business models that limit waste. And our mindset as consumers plays a pivotal role in this too.

In this episode, we hear from Mahdiyyah Muhammad who is a sustainable fashion designer, circular fashion strategist, and educator. We’re talking about the realities of designing, building a business, and engaging with fashion and style in our current fashion system where all we need is less — less resource extraction, less consumption, less clothing waste, less focus on passing trends, and less exclusivity.

But, as you will hear from Mahdiyyah, to make this happen, we need more community. Cultivating community is essential for sharing resources and ideas, and creating meaningful connections, as well as making the slow fashion movement more accessible and inclusive.

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EPISODE SPONSORS:

Kotn

Kotn is a slow fashion brand that's taking transparency to a new level with their fully traceable supply chain. 

The brand sources the cotton for their collection directly from over 2,000 smallholder cotton farmers in the Nile Delta in Egypt and ensures living wages and fair working conditions along every step of the way, from seed to final stitch.

Each piece from Kotn is made ethically and transparently with natural materials — like long-staple Egyptian cotton, recycled cotton, and linen — by people earning living wages.

Get 15% off sitewide from June 20th to August 31st, 2023 by using the code CONSCIOUS15.

Juliemay

Juliemay offers a natural alternative to the synthetic-heavy lingerie market. They use GOTS-certified organic pima cotton as their main fabric, line all of their products with Mulberry peace silk’ and do not use harsh chemicals in production.

The brand is accredited by AllergyUK to be friendly for people with allergic reactions to synthetic fibers and who have sensitive skin. This is something that I have become personally really interested in since I started to experience psoriasis after wearing synthetic undergarments myself a few years ago. 

Additionally, Juliemay has bras for a wide range of circumstances, like post-surgery bras or bras that offer back support. Juliemay also supports several environmental and social impact nonprofits.

Use the code SOCIAL15 for 15% off at Juliemay!

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SHOW NOTES:

https://www.consciouslifeandstyle.com/mahdiyyah-muhammad

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TRANSCRIPT
 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Online Platform: Conscious Fashion Collective
• Online Community: Conscious Fashion Collective Membership
• Organization: Fashion Takes Action
• Podcast Episode: EP17: More Creativity, Less Consumption: Tips from Slow Fashion Stylist Alyssa Beltempo
• Podcast Episode: EP83: What is Circular Fashion Design? With Carmen Gama
• Podcast Episode: Black Material Geographies: Colonialism’s Afterlife & Upcycling Fashion
• Database: Upcycle Web Directory
• Website: Threads of Habit
• Article: 7 Alternative Sustainable Fashion Business Models Changing the Status Quo

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CONNECT WITH MAHDIYYAH MUHAMMAD:

🌐 Website: www.mahdiyyah.co

📸 Instagram: @mahdiyyahofficial

💼 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mahdiyyah-muhammad-423942a8/

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