Okay, brace yourselves...

Brands love to set sustainability goals. But what if it's all nonsense? What if net zero, the obsession with carbon, and the idea that renewables are taking over from fossil fuels, are all part of a fake green fairy tale that we tell ourselves because the alternative is too difficult to imagine. Or that corporations tell us so that they can keep on with business as usual.

WTAF? We know. It's... a lot.

Is it true? You decide, after listening to this week's guest.

Jem Bendell is an emeritus professor of sustainability leadership at the University of Cumbria, the author Breaking Together and founder of the Deep Adaptation movement, as well as Bekandze Farm school and folk band Barefoot Stars.

If it sometimes feels like everything's collapsing around us, Bendell argues that's because it is. From the climate and cost of living crises to rising geopolitical tensions, and don't get us started in the widening gap between rich and poor. He says, it's not a sudden thing, like we see in Hollywood movies about the end of the world. Rather, he argues, collapse is a process, and one that's already begun. The question he's asking is: what can we do on the other side?

Some people, he writes, are already: "dramatically changing their lives to prioritise creativity and social contribution. They are worrying less about their career, their financial security or following the latest trend. They are helping those in need, growing food, making music, campaigning for change and exploring spiritual paths. That is happening, because they have rejected the establishment's view of reality and no longer expect its officers to solve any of the worsening problems in their society." Others are just pretending nothing's wrong.

Can cats help? Do doomsters really have more fun? Where does hope come into all this? Clare sat down with Professor Bendell after his keynote at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney to ask all this and more.

Music: Mystical Cat by Barefoot Stars, launched in support of Villa Kitty, donate here.

Check the shownotes for links & further reading.

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What is the role of a fashion designer today? Thinking purely about gorgeous clothes is so last season. Gone are the days when designers could consider only a collection, how it will sell and what the customer might be looking for.

Forward-thinkers are already beginning to take more holistic view and adopt a living systems approach. They’re asking questions such as, Can we make like Nature makes? How might fashion create nutrients instead of waste? How can we use biomimicry in sustainable ways? Program living systems to produce bespoke products? And, how can we build a truly regenerative system in place of the current degenerative one?

“We won't have a choice in the future. We will all have to include sustainability in everything we do,” says this week’s guest Carole Collet - a bio designer, professor of textile futures and the director of LVMH’s Maison/0 incubator for emerging talent focused on regenerative luxury.

Carole was raised in Burgundy, France, to respect Nature. Her mother worked in a flower shop, her father in a greenhouse. In 1991, she was in London studying for her Masters in textiles when she had a revelation: “It’s in biology that the answers will be.” Traditionally, textile design education focuses on weaving, knitting or maybe printing. “It's very craft based,” says Carole says, “and I love craft; I think it’s justified. But at Masters level, I felt like it was too restrictive.” She went on to set up the first Material Futures program at Central Saint Martins “to explore what textiles could be”.

A philosophical conversation that extends way beyond fashion, encouraging us to ask the big questions about what sort of world we want to build - and our responsibilities in doing so.

We might begin, suggests Carole, by challenging our anthropocentrism, and ask, "What does a bee want? How about a fish?"

Thought-provoking!

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Happy Secondhand September! Six years ago Oxfam UK came up with the idea of using September to encourage people to: "Shop second hand to take a stance against fast fashion and dress for a fairer world." They say it's a moment to come together “to choose a more planet-friendly way to shop, and dress for the world you want to see."

How does preloved help with that? We all know that fashion waste is a problem, that new clothing and textile production is a serious contributor to the climate crisis. According to ThredUp, if every consumer bought just one this year secondhand garment instead of a new one, it would he like equal to taking 76 million cars off the road for a day.

Plus by shopping with Oxfam, and other charity shops, you’re investing in the vital work in local communities.

This week Clare sits down with mega multi-tasker Eunice Olumide MBE - model, environmentalist, broadcaster, DJ, author, curator now filmmaker (phew!) - ahead of Oxfam’s London Fashion Week show, to discuss thrifting, her new documentary about the history of British hip hop, moving beyond performative activism, and the challenges of championing secondhand in a world still dominated by the business model of new...

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Fashion month is about to kick off again, with all eyes on New York, London, Milan and Paris. But the obsession with the so-called fashion capitals has long seemed out of touch. Yes, that's where the money is (well, Paris is anyway), but in our globalised world, there are many more fashion capitals that should not be overlooked. There are fashion weeks all over the place, all year round. But while Lagos, Melbourne, Berlin and Copenhagen deserve their place in the fashion spotlight, what happens when you're well off the beaten fashion track?

East Arnhem Land, for example...

These days, rising Australian fashion star Liandra Gaykamangu calls Darwin home, but that's the big smoke compared to where she grew up in Milingimbi (Yurruwi) in the Crocodile Islands - albeit with a sojourn to the Wollongong surf coast. Now her print-led namesake brand is making waves in fancy places. This mum of three used to be a high school teacher and her fashion-forward design is winning her prizes.

A beautiful, far-reaching conversation the covers a lot of ground, from creative life in Australia's remote north, caring for County, and tuning into nature (what are the frogs telling you?) to mentoring nex gen Indigenous entrepreneurs, and what it takes to break through when you're outside of circles of power.

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#underconsumptioncore is a thing! For this episode, we’re in London visiting British journalist Tiffanie Darke to talk about her viral wardrobe challenge, The Rule of Five. She’s also got a new book coming out in the US. What to Wear and Why, Your Guilt-Free Guide to Sustainable Fashion promises to get you "rethinking what clothes we buy, wear, and toss out, knowing that we can have a positive environmental impact while still looking good and dressing well”.

It was during the pandemic, when Tiffanie was working at Harrod's, as the editor of that famed luxury department store's magazine, when she had a revelation. Mindless shopping felt meaningless.

Then she read a shocking report by the Hot or Cool Institute - Unfit, Unfashionable, Unfair revealed that if we're serious about climate action, those of us in the global north/rich countries are going to have to have to drastically reduce our consumption. Of everything! So how much new fashion is sustainable if we want to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees? Buying just five new garments a year. Yikes!

This is the story of how one woman set out to do that, and catalysed a movement along the way. Also up for discussion, who’s to blame for the mess we find ourselves in? Could it be Gen X, those formerly hedonistic Cool Britannia types? After all, they were the first fast fashion fans…

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Welcome to the last of our Copenhagen Fashion Week interviews (if you missed the previous Eps, do go back & take a listen).

This one is refreshingly honest conversation with Danish knitwear designer Amalie Røge Hove about her much-loved label, A. Roege Hove, and the ups and downs of being an independent fashion business.

Widely celebrated as the next big thing, for the past few years A. Roege Hove was a CPHFW highlight. But last season, Amalie was not on the schedule, although her brilliant work was part of the Ganni NEWTALENT platform to amplify rising talents.

So why no runway? Everybody loves A. Roege Hove. After launching in 2019, they were stocked by the likes of Matches and Selfridges, dressing all the It-girls and winning all the prizes, including 2023's International Woolmark Prize.

That winter, however, the label went into administration.

Alas, it's a depressingly common situation. With many independents going bankrupt in the last few years, or finally deciding to close their doors because of rising costs and other stresses - including, of course, those who put sustainability at the heart of what they do.

How much of a problem is the wholesale model here? Can you grow too fast? Can you make it without financial backers? What happens if you can’t keep up? Or supply chains take a hit for reasons outside of your control? We thank Amalie for sharing her story so that others might benefit.

*Since this interview was recorded in February, we are happy to report that A. Roge Hove has returned in a new form and showed again at the CPHFW Spring ‘25 collections.

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Our Copenhagen Fashion Week special continues! Clare sits down with Finnish menswear designer Rolf Ektroth.

Last season, his hand-knits, made with Finnish yarn manufacturer Novita, were made available as pattern and yarn kits, so that home knitters could recreate his runway pieces. He loves macramé and hand embroidery, yet his collections have a modern street vibe that feels very polished. Perhaps it's because he's not actually a new name - Rolf Ekroth has been celebrated before, with glowing reviews in magazines and shows at Pitti Uomo before the pandemic. His label has had its ups and downs, he lost his backers at one point, but he kept at it.

So, in part this is conversation about a career as a progression and taking the long view. It's about perseverance, figuring out what really matters to you and how we are all the sum of our experiences. It's also highly amusing - Rolf is crackup funny. And brilliant! Learn his name - we predict, it's going to be everywhere.

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If you're not in Copenhagen for fashion week, here's your (virtual) ticket :)

Last week, we talked to Ane from Alpha about studying fashion in the Nordics and how to make it as an artistic designer.

Over the next three episodes, we’ve got interviews with some of the most exciting names to watch from the region.

First up is Alectra Rothschild, whose show for her Masculina label was one of the most anticipated, thanks to last season's electric on-schedule debut.

Vogue noted it was "probably history-making' - because Alectra was the first openly trans woman to show at Copenhagen, and because of the her iconic community casting. Listen out in this chat for the part about what a positive force that representation has been - she gets so many messages from fans around the world saying they feel seen. And want to place orders.

Another big theme in this interview is sustainable business models, and what works when you're a small designer. How do you scale? Do you want to? Do you even try? Maybe you plan to go and work for an established house instead? Or, is there a way to stay independent, cater to your community and keep things bespoke?

For Alectra (who trained as a tailor, worked at Mugler and did her MA at Central St Martins in London), it's about seeing herself as a "designer, but also maker, artist and costume designer" and focusing - for now at least - on commissioned pieces.

Ask her to sum up her clothes and she says, “flamboyant, high femme, and quite shameless”. She’s done with being put in a box and categorised - we contain multitudes. Above all she wants to enjoy herself. She makes clothes for night life. Her runways are a party, calling to mind the 1980s when the most exciting fashion scene was DIY, driven by club culture and community. Good times ahead.

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We don't believe in barriers to entry and are determined to keep this content free.

If you value it, please help by sharing your favourite Episodes, and rating / reviewing us in Apple or

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