This episode explores a slow & sustainable approach to fashion. The Good Wear’s Kelly LaFerriere and I chat about the fast fashion industry and the responsibility of both brands and consumers to change their habits and behaviours when it comes to producing and purchasing clothing. Listen in for advice on adopting a timeless style and curating a wardrobe that will change the world.

• [9:33] Kelly shares her relationship with the fashion industry and what inspired her to start The Good Wear: “It just came out of an idea that I wanted to put out a lot more information to my community and my circle.”
• [11:00] The difference between an ethical fashion brand and an unethical one can be found in the supply chain: “It crosses a lot of steps and touches a lot of hands, so when we think about the supply chain for fashion, it’s important to know who is making our clothes, who is touching these garments (and are they being paid and treated fairly), is it a safe environment and are the fibres and fabrics sourced responsibly — environmentally but also so that we’re preventing child labour in fields around the world or in factories that companies are working with.”
• [14:10] Kelly gives us a look into her current buying behaviour: “I’m a little bit more of a slower shopper now and I think that has been a huge shift rather than the convenience that we’re trained in in the fashion industry… Now when I look into purchasing something it has to also be something that I’m missing in my wardrobe.”
• [17:50] “It’s alarming the speed of clothing being made and the turnover that we as consumers are getting used to, it is creating such waste within the world that we are at a point where even landfills can’t hold anymore textiles. And these textiles are not something that just gets thrown away and disintegrates. A lot of these textiles take years and years to break down and it’s polluting the ground, our water, all of these different factors. So I think another part of getting educated is learning a little bit more about what our purchases can do if we are not more mindful of our consumption.”
• [19:30] Kelly and I chat about the consumer’s role is this issues being this need to “keep up” with the latest trends and styles: “We’re not re-wearing clothing, we’re not re-purposing clothing, and we’re kind of looking past things and not really actually treating our clothing as valuable items. We don’t really look at our closets and think ‘this is an investment’. Decades ago this was thought of as an investment in yourself and there was less turnover.”
• [24:50] Kelly shares advice on transitioning your wardrobe from fast fashion brands to slow fashion ones: “Start small. You do not need to flip the switch and only shop ethically and make it so difficult on yourself — it’s a process that becomes habits. and it just starts syncing into your lifestyle.”
• [28:50] On capsule wardrobes: “It really makes you see how little you actually need.”

 

EPISODE TAKEAWAYS: