Fashion in a time of Covid

April 23, 2020 A Sustainable Life

Is sustainability in the fashion industry like a spice we can add to a dish after it’s cooked or does it need to be baked in from the start?

Join Amanda and co-host Beatrice as they talk to writer and fashion consultant Aja Barber alongside Sarah Ditty, Global Policy Director at Fashion Revolution about the future of fashion post Covid-19

The fashion industry is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. From the water-heavy production processes, the carbon emissions and the huge amount of waste it produces, with 300,000 tonnes of clothing sent to landfill in the UK in 2016. The current model of mass production and rapid turnaround plays into the consumer’s constant desire for something new and is having detrimental effects on both people and planet. 
 
We ask who bears the cost of the clothes we wear and the exploitative nature of the fashion industry,  why it needs to change and what Covid-19 means for the industry and its workers.  We also explore the responsibilities and brands in considering the environmental and ethical consequences of our actions and how we can call for change. 
 
This episode is going live in #Digitalfashionrevolutionweek, a week that commemorates the Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013 in Bangladesh. This tragically killed thousands of workers and exposed the horrific working conditions of garment factories supplying clothing retailers in the UK and around the world. 

Our guests:

Aja Barber_2

Aja Barber is a writer and style consultant based in London. Aja’s work focuses on the intersection of fashion, sustainability, feminism, colonization, racism and how so many systems of oppression can be found in the fast fashion system.

Sarah Ditty

Sarah Ditty is the Global Policy Director at Fashion Revolution, a global movement across more than 60 countries campaigning for a clean, safe, fair and transparent fashion industry. She is responsible for leading and implementing projects including the Fashion Transparency Index that ranks global fashion brands on their disclosure of their environmental policies and the ethical nature of their practice. She is also responsible for policy changes, awareness and educating.

Links:

Sarah’s twitter – @fash_rev