WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press

You might know about ROLAND MOURET's famous "Galaxy" dress. Fitted, flattering, cap-sleeved and much-copied, it was a phenomenon in the 2000s, worn by everyone from Beyoncé and Scarlett Johansson to Demi Moore and Victoria Beckham. You might also know about another of his glamorous clients, the Duchess of Sussex who wore a chic navy Roland Mouret dress the day before her wedding to Prince Harry.What is less well-know is the designer's strong interest in sustainability.This is the first ever public interview with designer Roland Mouret focused on sustainability, recorded in 2018. Mouret, who is famous for his elevated, elegant womenswear, talks to Wardrobe Crisis about environmentalism, the impacts of over-consumption and the power of responsible fashion to communicate a message on climate. And how we can make sustainability hot—and not just hot right now.We doubt there's anyone better placed to contextualise fashion's perpetuation of addictive desire than Roland Mouret. His design magic lies in making women feel amazing in his clothes. He says a dress doesn't come alive until a woman wears it. This thought-provoking, winding conversation takes us through his life, from rural French butcher's son, to modelling for Jean Paul Gaultier and Yohji Yamamoto, to him tearing up the dance floor at legendary Paris fashion hangout Le Palace. These days, Mouret finds his balance by escaping to the country. Recorded at his head office in Mayfair, with Dave the dog in tow, we discuss change, reflection, maturing, and the idea that sustainability is now, as he puts it, “so present a problem that we have to face it.”Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2018/6/20/podcast-ep-45-roland-mouret to read yours and #bethechangeFollow Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspressWe are always grateful for ratings and reviews on Apple Podcasts - it helps new listeners to find us. You can also find us on Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

London's Victoria & Albert Museum (“perhaps the world's best dressing-up box” with an archive of more than 75,000 items of clothing) takes on sustainable fashion.The Fashioned From Nature exhibition includes amazing historical garments as well as contemporary fashion by the likes of Vivienne Westwood, Katherine Hamnett, Alexander McQueen, Christophers Kane and Raeburn, and Bruno Pieters. But most importantly, it looks at fashion's eco footprint, and the massive impacts of textile production on the planet, and asks: What can we learn from the past to design a better fashion industry for the future?Meet curator Edwina Erhman, who specialises in 19th Century fashion and textiles, and the history of London fashion, & has worked for many years for both the V&A & the Museum of London.This is a quote from Emma Watson, who wrote the foreword for the book of the exhibition: “Regardless of our social or economic status, we can all dress and shop more mindfully and sustainably. It is so important & timely that we now re-conceptualise what it means to wear and consume and what is fashionable.”Everyone's talking about the 1860s muslin dress embroidered with Indian beetle wings and the earrings made from hummingbird heads (ugh)...there are items on show that to modern eyes are really macabre, but at the time were considered gorgeous and exotic. Today's human-made materials now use seem more benign, but are they?You don't have to see the exhibition to think about these issues, to see how they play out in history and in our present, and to ask yourself, how do I want stand in nature? What do I believe nature is for? Am I part of it? If I'm inspired by it, how can I knowingly damage it for something - beautiful clothes - that's a luxury not a necessity? And what can we do to lessen fashion's impact on nature, even to make it a positive one?Follow Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspressHead over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2018/6/9/podcast-ep-44-edwina-erhman-fashioned-from-nature-at-the-va to read yours and #bethechangeWe are always grateful for Apple ratings and reviews - it helps new listeners to find us. You can find us on Spotify now too.www.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon Collins is a creative director, educator, fashion consultant, and ex-dean of the fashion school at Parsons in New York. With his new platform Fashion Culture Design, Simon holds what he calls Unconferences where not-boring fashion people address topics such as, How do you solve a problem like fashion week? And, Can sustainability be sexy?At an opening address of the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, he famously said: "It's all your fault!" Is it? Is it down to us to make fashion more sustainable? And if so, how can we do it?Why is fashion important? Why don't more people recognise it at such? What is fashion's power? What on Earth has all this got to do with Hemingway, or, for that matter, Britney Spears? Listen to find out, and to hear some very good stories about London style back in the day, and how fashion education has changed.Simon was a mad fashion kid in Bournemouth and London in '80s, and we talk about what that was like, and style, and making your own outfits, dressing up to go to clubs like Taboo, & being obsessed with The Face magazine. Our music is by Montaigne. She is singing an acoustic version of Because I love You.Follow Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspressLove the podcast? We have a Patreon page if you'd like to support us.We are always grateful for ratings and reviews on Apple - it helps new listeners to find us. You can find us on Spotify now too.www.thewardrobecrisis.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meet Sara Ziff, founder of the Model Alliance. She is a campaigner for a fairer, more sustainable fashion industy in general and for the rights of models in particular.This Episode was recorded during the Copenhagen Fashion Summit - Sara was there with model Edie Campbell and casting director James Scully to speak about the RESPECT Program. It launched with an open letter signed by more than 100 fashion models in the wake of Me Too, calling for fashion houses, media companies and model agencies to commit to “an orderly and fair process for addressing charges of abuse”, backed up with training and education initiatives.The letter begins: “Over the past year, many courageous individuals have revealed the dark truth of sexual harassment in the fashion industry. These concerns have yet to be addressed in a meaningful and sustainable way. As models our images serve commercial purposes but our bodies remain ours.”Proposals include stronger, enforceable workplace standards to protect underage models and ensure, for example, that they are never asked to pose nude without prior agreement; a confidential and secure complaints process; and a neutral body set up to investigate complaints. Sara says “one in five models is working in debt to her agency,” so this is not only an issue of sexual intimidation, misconduct and abuse, it's a power issue.This is an important topic and one the industry urgently needs to address. What's being done about it? How is Sara trying to change the fashion world, and where does the urge to do that come from in her? How did she go from walking for Chanel and Alexander McQueen to being a voice for change? All this and more is in this show, and we can't wait to hear what you make of it.Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2018/6/8/podcast-ep-37-sara-ziff-fashion-me-too-the-model-alliance to read yours and #bethechangeFollow Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspressWe are always grateful for ratings and reviews - it helps new listeners to find us. WWW.THEWARDROBECRISIS.COM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She's a strong tailor, cuts a mean coat & has been a Woolmark Prize finalist. One of the most considered, creative, thoughtful designers working in Australia today, Bianca Spender also thinks deeply about sustainability & making positive impacts on people & planet with her work.In this interview, recorded live at the recent SCCI Fashion Hub in Sydney, we discuss Bianca's approach to integrating sustainability into every aspect of her business. We talk about her use of dead stock, her design process and relationship to and obsession with nature, and what it was like to grow up in the fashion business - Bianca's mother is Carla Zampatti, who presented her first collection in Sydney in 1965.Bianca's AW'18 collection is titled Letters to Nature and explores how we stand in Nature, literally in terms of the elements, but also existentially - what sort of world do we want to create for future generations, and how will the actions we take today impact on tomorrow? Check out her Instagram here.Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2018/8/2/podcast-ep-41-bianca-spender-on-nature-process-creativity to read yours and #bethechangeFollow Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspressLove the podcast? We have a Patreon page - every little helps!We are always grateful for ratings and reviews on Apple. You can find us on Spotify now too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can we begin to solve fashion's most pressing sustainability issues? We need collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and a willingness to look fearlessly at what's wrong as well as the opporunities for positive change. We need the movers and shakers to get involved, and stakeholders from all areas of the industry to join them. We need fresh ideas and points of view. Enter, the Copenhagen Fashion Summit. Organisers liken the summit "the Davos of the fashion industry", and say: "it's a nexus for agenda-setting discussions on the most critical environmental, social and ethical issues facing our industry and planet.” So this is a table you want to be at! Which is why...We are bringing you some special Episodes of the Wardrobe Crisis podcast from this year's event, starting with this one, with its very engaging CEO and president Eva Kruse.Eva founded the summit in 2009 to coincide with United Nations summit on climate change that happened in Copenhagen that year. Very forward-thinking - at a time when it was rare for businesses to discuss sustainability in public, even if you were working away at it behind the scenes. And fashion really wasn't part of the climate change conversation.Fast-forward nine years, and everyone wants a ticket - from designers like Stella McCartney to media leaders such as Graydon Carter, from circular economy leaders like Ellen McArthur and William McDonough, to the CEO's of the big fashion companies and the founders of small ones.The daughter of activist parents, Eva Kruse attended a progressive Danish business school called Kaos Pilot. She fell into a TV career then went onto become a renowned magazine editor. She was instrumental in the creation of the Danish Fashion Institute and Copenhagen fashion week in 2005, and is much loved in the industry for her big ideas and, more importantly, her ability to make them happen.  Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2018/10/27/podcast-ep40-eva-kruse-copenhagen-fashion-summit to read yours and #bethechangeHow fab is our music? THANK YOU Montaigne. She is singing an acoustic version of Because I love You.Follow Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspressLove the podcast? We have a Patreon page if you'd like to support us.We are always grateful for ratings and reviews on Apple - it helps new listeners to find us. Happy listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Met Gala time, which means your social media feeds are going to be full of who wore what. This got us thinking about the huge influence of the red carpet on fashion and pop culture, and about how it works and who, apart from the designer, creates these looks - because make no mistake, celebrities do not dress themselves at these things...What better time to share an Episode about styling? You're going to meet New York-based fashion editor Laura Jones, who is fast carving a niche for herself as sustainable fashion's go-to creative.An ex-MTV stylist who used to work at W magazine, Laura has dressed the likes of Alicia keys, Rebecca Hall and Naomie Harris for red carpet events, and styled names like Katie Holmes and Uma Thurman for shoots. Now she's launched new sustainable fashion magazine The Frontlash .This is a fascinating interview, about much more than frocking up for the red rug. We dig deep on fashion's #MeToo crisis and look at how we might apply ideas of health and wellbeing to the fashion industry. We discuss the challenges and opportunities of moving the needle on sustainability when it comes to high fashion and the business of dressing for events. We talk feminism, and the politics and power games of fashion, and of course, we decode what a stylist actually does. How fab is our music? THANK YOU Montaigne. She is singing an acoustic version of Because I love You.Follow Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspressLove the podcast? We have a Patreon page if you'd like to support us.We're also, as always, super grateful if for ratings and reviews on Apple - it helps new listeners to find us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you a sneaker freak? How sustainable are your favourite sneakers? If they're by cult French brand, Veja, the answer is very.In the sustainable fashion space, we often talk about reducing the negative impacts of production on people and planet, but Veja's Sébastien Kopp and François Morillion talk about having a positive impact on the environment and society. Not less harm but active good.Is it possible? How do you choose eco-positive materials to make sneakers? Can you make money doing it? Veja sneakers cost 5 to 7 times more than conventional brands to produce because the raw materials are environmentally friendly and purchased according to fair trade principles, and because the sneakers are produced in fair factories. How do you balance the books? Hint: you give up advertising.What are the challenges of working this way? And what are the rewards?In this Episode, recorded in Veja's HQ in Paris, Clare speaks with Sébastien Kopp about these questions and more. We talk: vegan shoes, Made in Brazil, agro-ecological organic cotton and wild rubber. We cover the history of colonialism in the Amazon, the definitions of success and failure and how to reshape the economic system for the better. This is a fascinating conversation with a truly original fashion thinker. And of course, he loves sneakers...How fab is our music? THANK YOU Montaigne. She is singing an acoustic version of Because I love You.Follow Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspressOur podcasts and shownotes also live here. Love the podcast? We have a Patreon page if you'd like to support us.We're also, as always, super grateful if for ratings and reviews on Apple - it helps new listeners to find us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who made your clothes? Welcome to the last in our mini-series of four shows in celebration of Fashion Revolution Week, the global not-for-for profit campaign that was established on the anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, to promote transparency in the fashion industry. You're going to meet Fashion Revolution's Head of Policy, Sarah Ditty. Sarah is based in London, and has a wealth of insights the big issues around ethical and sustainable fashion today, from modern slavery to living wages to sustainable fabrics and fashion waste and extending the life of our clothes. Why do these things matter? What can you do to help? How far have we come and what sort of fashion industry would be like to create for our future?Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2018/4/14/episode-37-fashion-revolutions-head-of-policy-sarah-ditty to read yours and #bethechangeFollow Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspress Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Where would we be without creative collaboration? This week's Episode is all about fashion community, its power to change the world, and the idea that together we are stronger.You're going to meet the inspiring change-maker Jackie Ruddock, CEO of The Social Outfit, a Sydney-based social enterprise and fashion brand that works with refugees and new migrants to provide first Australian jobs in the fashion industry. What it's like to come to a new country and to try to build a new life? How can fashion help? Community and giving back are central to this story. We discuss the challenges and joys of running a social enterprise, the magic powers of sewing, and our common humanity. How fab is our music? THANK YOU Montaigne. She is singing an acoustic version of Because I love You.Follow Clare on Instagram and Twitter @mrspressFollow The Social OutfitOur podcasts and shownotes also live here. Clare is on deadline for her next book, so please forgive a short delay in updating clarepress.com (All the new Eps will be updated by end of April.)Love the podcast? We have a Patreon page if you'd like to support us. We're also, as always, super grateful if for ratings and reviews on Apple. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.