so much fabric...
I can look at a problem, incorporate what I know about the subject as well as knowledge I’ve accumulated that others may not consider relevant to the current problem. I can find ways to work through a problem and well, “Make it Work”. Tim Gunn isn’t the only sample room manager saying that, it’s part […]
In the glamorous Schmatta (rag) biz this week, the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association won a fight to keep a measly 40,000 low-paying jobs in America by continuing to dump our unwanted clothes onto African countries. The domestic apparel industries in these countries suffer terribly when used American clothing is so much cheaper than new locally-made […]
Last week, while the world’s eyes were on Tesla’s big announcements, the Cradle to Cradle Institute’s Fashion Positive held a workshop on circular fashion. The workshop featured innovations with EVEN MORE potential to curb global warming! We heard from Lewis Perkins, President of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, then Annie Gullingsrud, Director of the Textile and Apparel Sector. She’s […]
This Saturday I’ll be at the Fair Trade Fashion Show in downtown LA. I am really looking forward to this event! It’s so exciting to see fair-trade fashion showcased, and for such a good cause. Slavery is a massive problem in this industry. I even worked with a freed slave once. One of the patternmakers […]
I watched an amusing and disturbing play at my local repertory theater last weekend- “The Guard Will Escort You To Ruff-Ruff”. If you’re in Los Angeles, I highly recommend it and the plays it’s also shown with, before it closes this weekend. More info here. The play is set in the CSR office of a […]
I just saw River Blue, a documentary about how the fashion industry affects rivers in developing countries. It was hard to watch, but it inspired me to contact my favorite brands and ask them how their textiles are made. When NAFTA was passed in 1994, US apparel companies flocked overseas to find cheaper manufacturing, first […]
Last week I had the honor of joining filmmaker Andrew Morgan, Eileen Fisher’s Shona Quinn and Reformation’s Kathleen Talbot on a panel moderated by eco-fashion diva Taryn Hipwell. Beyond The Label, a pre-event for next year’s TEDxLA, was a lovely evening, with a great turnout. After the panel we broke into round table discussions on […]
As in 2013, I am covering Sustainable Brands for CleanTechnica. SB is my favorite sustainability conference. Sure, being branding and marketing focused, it’s more shiny/happy/pretty/glamorous than your typical sustainability conference. But it’s also the one with the most meat. Not the kind you eat, of course, but meaty facts about what some of the largest […]
Update Earth Day 2017!!!! Ten years have passed since we wrote this paper, and now… What’s changed since we wrote this article in 2007 is that the US cotton industry is shrinking dramatically, as reported here. Partly due to the end of the subsidies we studied in this paper, but also due to shrinking demand. […]
In November 2010, Afingo invited me to moderate a panel on sustainable fashion. Here’s the condensed version of the video. If you have the time, check out the full video here. From the schedule: Eco-friendly fashion specialists will discuss whether “going green” is just another trend or a necessary, fundamental shift in how the industry […]
