WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press

Stephen Jones is the most extraordinary, the most famous, and the most marvellous milliner working in fashion today.This interview took place at the National Gallery of Victoria on the eve of the opening of the exhibition, THE HOUSE OF DIOR: SEVENTY YEARS OF HAUTE COUTURE.During John Galliano's tenure at Dior in particular, from 1996 to 2011, Stephen made some of the house's most jaw-droppingly fabulous hats.Stephen also designed hats and headpieces for the designers who came after Galliano at Dior: for Raf Simons and now for Maria Grazia Chiuri. He's collaborated with pretty much every other iconic fashion you can think of too, from Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo to Jean Paul Gaultier and Louis Vuitton. He's made hats for Lady Gaga and Rihanna, curated exhibitions of hats and written books on them.In terms of the sustainable and ethical fashion conversation, this story is all about fashion as high art and the celebration of the hand-made. No mass production here.But it's not just his own hats that fascinate Stephen Jones. He's a font of knowledge on the history of millinery, and its role in fashion and culture. In this Episode, we touch on those things, and so much more. We talk the importance of Christian Dior and his New Look, and of the London club scene and the New Romantics that were so integral to forming Stephen's taste.And we talk about Marie Antoinette, Anna Piaggi and Princess Di, because they were all major hats fans. And you will be too after listening to this!The WARDROBE CRISIS show notes unpack the issues addressed in each Episode. And there are some amazing pics this week. Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2017/9/4/podcast-ep-13-stephen-jones-hats-off-to-christian-dior to check it out.Music is by Montaigne http://www.montaignemusic.com.au/Enjoying the show? Please leave a review in Apple. It helps other people find us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before ecommerce changed the world, designers knew they'd made it when their collections were stocked by Saks, Bergdorf's or Barneys. The iconic New York department stores hold a special allure, even when you live elsewhere. But retail, globally, is in a state of flux. Will there even be physical stores in 10 or 20 years' time? As customers continue to head online, it seems like every week there's news of another “bricks and mortar” closure. In the US, analysts predict 25 % of malls could shutter within the next five years. Will we ditch consumerism on mass, as the anti-shopping / buy nothing movements expand? Will renting fashion and clothing libraries become major trends? Or is it still all about experiences?The latter is where Simon Doonan comes in. He calls himself a carnival type, likens his celebrated window displays for Barneys New York to something out of Coney Island – and indeed he has put some very unusual objects in shop windows in his time.Creative director, writer, fashion commentator and OTT window dresser extraordinaire, Simon Doonan is an actual proper fashion legend.Wait till you hear how he got into it. Growing up gay and dreaming of glamour in 1960s Reading, he moved to Manchester then London in search of “the beautiful people”, cadging window dressing jobs off the likes Tommy Nutter (tailor to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones) and cult filmmaker Ken Russell's wife.Simon was a Blitz Kid (part of the famed London party set) then moved to LA, where he did windows for luxury boutique Maxfield. In mid-80s Manhattan, he worked for Diana Vreeland at the Met, before joining Barneys, where, you know, he was JUST CASUALLY FRIENDS WITH JOAN RIVERS. And nearly starred in The Devil Wears Prada.Simon's story is both extraordinary, and, in a weird way ordinary – in that Fashion Land has long been a place where eccentric, creative kids from small, unremarkable towns can find a home and thrive.In this Episode we talk about his professional path, and how today's new generation of designers and dream weavers can navigate the changed fashion landscape. We discuss Simon's unwavering belief in the value of originality - ("Conformity is the only real fashion crime," he says) and some of the fashion geniuses he's encountered. And of course we talk shop.The show notes are here: https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2017/8/16/podcast-ep-12-simon-doonan-on-the-fashion-asylum-dressing-barneys-windows Enjoying the show? Please leave a review in Apple. It helps other people find us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The ethical fashion movement is gathering momentum. Not so long ago sustainable, ethical, eco-fashion (whatever you want to call it) was a too easily dismissed as some way-out, niche concern. Something kooky, and very possibly hairy and hemp-y, that belonged on the lunatic fringe. Well, no longer. Today sustainability is a buzz word. Everyone wants a piece of the activism action. We're in the middle of a Fashion Revolution, where the coolest, smartest most creative fashion fans are starting to ask more questions about who made their clothes, where how and from what.Podcaster Kestrel Jenkins is a pioneer in this space. She's been asking these questions since she was in college, became fascinated by fair trade, then went to intern at People Tree in London. In 2016, she launched Conscious Chatter “I always have wanted to learn the stories behind things,” says Kestrel. Her favourite word? "Curious."In this Episode Clare and Kestrel discuss the power of the podcast as a medium, who we think is listening and why, and how we keep them tuned in.They share their perspectives on ethical and sustainable fashion, discuss how the conversation has changed since they both first joined it, and where they see it heading.Read the show notes here:https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2017/8/23/podcast-ep-11-conscious-chatters-kestrel-jenkins-curiosity-counts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beauty is one of the major motivators for people who work in creative industries – they want to make beautiful things, whether it's a garment, textile, show or picture. They want, as Megan Morton puts it in this Episode, to chase down true beauty wherever they see it. Not to push the beautiful lie but to try to capture and understand it.Megan is a stylist, author and “house whisperer” with a life-long love for vintage and the stories behind old things. She grew up on a banana farm in Queensland, where her mum subscribed to 1970s back-to-the-land magazine, Grass Roots. Megan grew up seeing the beauty in nature, while figuring out how to make stuff.Today her styling work is focused on houses and interiors, but she turns her eye for beauty on everything from her wardrobe, to teaching to travel to Instagram. She's worked for magazines like Vogue Living and Elle Decoration, and is the author of four books. The latest? It's Beautiful Here (Thames & Hudson).In this Episode we go off on a lot of beautiful tangents about managing stress in the creative industries, the heart and soul of getting dressed, the value of vintage and the importance of the handmade. We try and pin down beauty, what it means and why we seek it, and discuss the beauty of provenance, generosity and sharing.“Being flush and doing well affects everybody in your circle and the only way to keep that going is to be generous with your knowledge. The more you give away, the more free you are.” says Megan. For the show notes, go to:https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2017/8/6/podcast-ep-10-megan-morton-chasing-beauty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do you think is possible? How about impossible? Kim Pearce and Katherine Davis are living proof of the old adage: where there's a will there's a way. The Possibility Project, which they cofounded after meeting on the school run, “delivers social justice programs through the mindset of social entrepreneurship”.What does that look like on the ground? Try their womenswear label Slumwear 108, and made in the slums of Jaipur in partnership with the NGO i-India. The number 108, in case you're wondering, is considered sacred in may eastern religions and traditions. Ask Kim what it means to her and she says, “It's all about spiritual completion.” But these clothes and accessories aren't some mystical idea – they are real. Whether it's a jacket made from upcycled old saris or a string of silk covered beads, they offer measureable benefits to the people who make them, and to their communities.How do you begin to set up a social enterprise? How do you keep it going? What qualities and resources do you need? These two demonstrate that it can be as simple as giving it, as we say in Australia, a red hot go. They insist that they are two ordinary mums, but their spirit and energy is obviously EXTRAORDINARY.In this Episode, we discuss the politics of happiness, the practicalities of rethinking what's conventionally deemed possible and how fashion can be a fabulous way to build bridges. Listen up, and you'll come away thinking anything is possible. Make sure you visit clarerepress.com for the shownotes which include a bunch of links and further reading. By the way if you're enjoying the podcast I love it you to review it in iTunesThe WARDROBE CRISIS show notes unpack the issues addressed in each Episode. Way more than just links, it's like a mini magazine! Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2017/7/31/podcast-ep-8-the-story-of-slumwear-the-possibility-project to read yours and #bethechangeMusic is by Montaigne http://www.montaignemusic.com.au/Enjoying the show? Please leave a review in Apple. It helps other people find us.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hands up who's over the narrow view of beauty peddled by mainstream fashion brands and media! Elisa Goodkind wants us to take back our power from magazines, advertising and the money-driven global fashion business, so that getting dressed each day becomes an act of self-love. With their platform StyleLikeU New Yorkers Elisa and her daughter Lily Mandelbaum are breaking down the fake stereotypes about what's beautiful, and what's supposedly not. They've published a new booked called True Style is What's Underneath: The Self-Acceptance Revolution. They take their message on the road, holding open castings and talks around the world. And they make intimate documentary-style video portraits that “explore how style is not about trends, money or presenting a façade of photoshopped perfection”.No wonder these videos have gone viral – with over 35 million views. What comes across more than anything when you watch them is how we are all the same in our difference.The WARDROBE CRISIS show notes unpack the issues addressed in each Episode. Way more than just links, it's like a mini magazine! Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2017/7/22/podcast-ep-8-stylelikeus-elisa-goodkind-redefining-beauty read yours and #bethechangeMusic is by Montaigne http://www.montaignemusic.com.au/Enjoying the show? Please leave a review in Apple. It helps other people find us.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our final Episode for Plastic Free July, Clare interviews American visual artist Marina DeBris. Marina calls herself a “trashion” designer, as well as an environmental activist, and anti-plastics campaigner. She makes her "Beach Couture" collections from rubbish she finds washed up on beaches.There's a history of fashion designers referencing refuse. John Galliano's controversial Couture 2000 collection for Christian Dior featured newspaper prints inspired by homeless people's makeshift blankets. Vivienne Westwood has also dabbled in derelicte chic (like Mugatu in Zoolander). Jean Paul Gaultier once made a frock out of a bin liner – he named it his “rubbish bag dress” (in French). Jeremy Scott's Autumn '17 Moschino collection was inspired by cardboard packaging. But these designers used luxurious fabrics to render the garbage theme gorgeous.Marina comes from a very different place. She doesn't want her work to be considered chic, fabulous or fashionable. She wants it to shock you.So there's a bustier embellished with discarded plastic utensils. A gown fashioned from the flimsy, floaty remnants of old white plastic carrier bags. She's made dresses from polystyrene containers, old nappies, bed springs, even dead bird's wings.In this Episode we talk about why she makes her work, how she does it, and what sort of reactions she gets. Fashion can be a conduit for cultural conversation, so why not hijack it and use as a frame of reference for political art? That's what Marina does with her provocative, confronting project trashion. Can you wear it? IF YOU DARE!The WARDROBE CRISIS show notes unpack the issues addressed in each Episode. Way more than just links, it's like a mini magazine! Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2017/7/15/x5to0hvo3qp62hxjqrp7gw9xpb32pk to read yours and #bethechangeMusic is by Montaigne http://www.montaignemusic.com.au/ Enjoying the show? Please leave a review in Apple. It helps other people find us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kalpona Akter is Executive Director of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity. An inspirational and influential figure in the country's union movement, she is a former child labourer who began working in a garment factory at age 12.  By 17, she'd been fired for standing up for her own rights, and those of her colleagues. ‘The day they fired this noisy woman, was the day they made a big mistake,' she says. Eighty per cent of garment workers are women, most aged between 18 and 25. Most have children and aren't paid nearly enough for their toils. The minimum wage in Bangladesh is about AUD $67 per month... In this powerful Episode, Kalpona tells her story, explains what it's really like for the 4 million garment workers in Bangladesh, and shares her thinking on Made in Bangladesh. Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2017/7/11/podcast-ep-5-kalpona-akter-beyond-rana-plaza to read yours and #bethechange Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TOME is a New York-based fashion label. Designers Ramon Martin & Ryan Lobo are known for collaborating with, and taking inspiration from, female artists. This season they looked to the Guerrilla Girls for a show inspired by the Women's Marches and the Trump administration's attacks on Planned Parenthood. How can high fashion combine the pursuit of gorgeousness with serious messages about diversity and equality? What role does the runway have to play? ‘We underestimate the power of beauty and humour to help us connect,' says Ramon.In this Episode, we discuss fashion activism, sustainability, TOME's White Shirt Project and winning fans like Amal Clooney and Sarah Jessica Parker. Getting dressed every morning is a political act. What you wear makes a statement about who you want to be and how you wish to communicate with the world around you. What's your wardrobe saying? The WARDROBE CRISIS show notes unpack the issues addressed in each Episode. Way more than just links, it's like a mini magazine! Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2017/6/25/podcast-ep-4-tome-designer-ramon-martin-fashion-feminism to read yours and #bethechange Finally, if you enjoyed the show, we'd love you to leave a review on Apple.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Jennifer Lavers sees seabirds as sentinels of marine health. Are we listening to what they're telling us? Her work as a scientist attached to the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies focuses on birdlife, but recently she's been looking to art and fashion to help get the message out too.Jennifer appears in the new film Blue about the state of our seas. And she's working with her friend Marina De Bris, who shows her ‘trashion' concept (fashion garments made entirely from ocean plastic rubbish) on the runway.In this Episode, Jennifer tells the story of her research on remote Henderson Island in the South Pacific and its debris-littered beaches. What happens to plastic when it enters our waters? What's the deal with bioaccumulation? Why are microplastics linked to the fashion industry? How can we turn the story of ocean plastic around? Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2017/6/27/podcast-ep-3-jennifer-lavers-plastic-free-july to read yours and #bethechange Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.