Today on REV On Air we are having a conversation on sustainability, female entrepreneurship and the challenges and opportunities of truly ethical fashion with the iconic Eileen Fisher.

Eileen started her fashion brand in 1984 in the most organic of ways, with $350 of her own money, and has now turned it into a company of over 1000 people and more than 65 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Throughout this time, Eileen has remained true to her vision of the company and in recent years has redoubled her efforts to make the company a beacon of sustainability as one of the bigger fashion players. When I first spoke to her, I was shocked at how humble, committed and passionate she remains about everything they do at the company. Nearly 30 years from it’s inception, Eileen remains an active, intrinsic part of the day to day running of the brand and is constantly seeking new and better ways of doing things. 

We found Eileen’s passion for what she does and what she believes in infectious, and she has done things her own way since the beginning. We also discuss how the pandemic has made her consider how to truly leave the brand as sustainable as possible. This episode covers recycling and innovative fashion, ethical business practices and female entrepreneurship.

Today we are very excited to be talking about something that we have discussed quite a bit here at REV - is vintage the most sustainable option we all have when it comes to our wardrobes? To help us dissect that question a bit further we are speaking to the wonderful Bay Garnett today on the REV podcast.

Bay is a renowned stylist and previous contributing fashion editor at British Vogue who’s passion is using vintage pieces to create unique and sustainable shoots. As the pioneer of "thrifting", Bay was the first to include vintage pieces in luxury shoots, bringing thrifting into the mainstream. Today, her second-hand credentials are more relevant than ever to the future of fashion as a cornerstone of sustainability.

Garnett is the Senior Independent Fashion Advisor for Oxfam and helps facilitate their wildly popular Second Hand September campaign. Today we discuss the advantages of vintage, as well as some of the issues that still need to be resolved when it comes to donating to and shopping for pre-loved clothing.

Alexander Frantzen is the founder of Carbon Calories, a company on a mission is to make carbon accounting and reporting cost-effective for all businesses. His background is in economics and finance in New York City, including: Real estate acquisitions and development, commercial lease negotiations, and due diligence of startups, private funds, and publicly traded securities. He was also a financial advisor to The Model Organic Farm Foundation for several years.

Carbon Calories is an organisation that measures the carbon footprint with each item you pick up. We need to understand and contextuliase the impact of carbon to truly want to cut back on it. We think this is genius in helping individuals make better buying and lifestyle choices.

We hope this conversation will impact the way you think about your own carbon footprint, as well as our universal responsibility to fix a very broken way of operating. We have solutions in this conversation I really hope everyone will take into consideration as there has never been a more pressing time to come together to address issues around sustainability.

Today we are incredibly honoured to get to speak to Leah Penniman, co-director and Manager of Soul Fire Farm, a regenerative farm in upstate New York working on food and social justice through sustainable farming practices, and author of Farming While Black, a comprehensive manual for African-heritage people ready to reclaim their rightful place of dignified agency in the food system. As Penniman writes there: “Stewarding our own land, growing our own food, educating our own youth, participating in our own healthcare and justice systems. This is the source of real power and dignity.” This episode covers regenerative farming, humanitarian justice within the food system, organic eating and more. 

Today we are thrilled to launch season 4 of the REV podcast with the lovely Cecile Thorsmark, CEO of Copenhagen Fashion Week. Cora first met Cecilie during her very first season as CEO, and she was so lovely and passionate about her role in making Copenhagen the leader for sustainability within Fashion Weeks. She is now a couple of years in and making incredible strides.

We talk about how she has set up goals for brands to adhere to, how she is looking within at Copenhagen fashion week itself, and the future of fashion in general. This is such a relevant conversation to anyone in fashion, and also in business, who is looking for inspiration on leadership as we move forward into a greener world. 

This episode has been brought to you by Wild Deodorant, our favourite sustainable deodorant brand and a huge staple for clean beauty here at Rêve En Vert. Merci Wild!

Today on REV On Air Cora speaks to the founder of cult Danish fashion brand, Ganni, Nicolaj Reffstrup. Nicolaj is a pioneer in sustainable business when it comes to a larger, more corporate fashion brand and he speaks honestly and openly about growing Ganni as ethically as possible whilst being realistic when it comes to maintaining a successful business. He talks about a carbon tax, the importance of getting politicians involved in regulating the fashion industry and the future of sustainable investment and ethical shareholders. Nicolaj also talks about the beginning of Ganni Lab, a new element of corporate social responsibility at the company that puts transparency at the forefront of their sustainable strategy. This is a really interesting conversation in that it takes a look at how big fashion brands can really think about turning the ship around whilst not losing the inevitable need for success in our current capitalistic structure.  

We also want to say a big thank you to Social Supermarket for making today’s episode possible. As a business with conscious consumption at their core, they couldn’t be a more perfect sponsor for us here at REV. Social Supermarket is the UK's largest social enterprise marketplace, selling a curation of products with purpose. We are thrilled to be able to share with our Rêve En Vert community a special 10% off discount code for their first Social Supermarket purchase so you guys can all explore this amazing company yourselves. The code is REVSENTME10 and can be used at any time to try out one of their amazing hampers at https://www.socialsupermarket.org/.

Today we are incredibly honoured to have Sanjay Rawall on the REV podcast. Sanjay is a documentary film maker with a focus on ethical food system and indigenous people’s rights, as well as regenerative agriculture. Sanjay has made several films now, and throughout each unique subject - the rights food workers need in Food Chains, the transcendence of running and endurance as a connection to our spirituality with 3100, and finally now with Gather, he has reminded viewers of deeper interconnectedness and humanity as things we are lacking and need to find again in order to solve our world’s problems.

This conversation today is so deeply meaningful today, and we hope you all learn a bit more about everything from how to help repair our broken food systems to how each of us can become a steward of the earth, no matter who we are. 

More on Sanjay Rawall: Sanjay spent 15 years working on human rights campaigns globally - for the US government, foundations, philanthropists and local governments. Sanjay’s first feature documentary  Food Chains (2014), was produced by Eva Longoria and Eric Schlosser with narration by Forest Whitaker. The film won numerous awards, was released theatrically in 40 cities by Screen Media and was acquired by Netflix. Sanjay’s second effort took a sharp turn into non-traditional filmmaking. Applying narrative cinematic technique, Sanjay directed a sweeping expedition film. 3100: Run And Become was released theatrically in the US in 20 markets last fall.

Please follow Sanjay here: https://www.instagram.com/mrsanjayr/

And learn more about Gather film here: https://www.instagram.com/gatherfilm/

Today's episode is brought to you by Social Supermarket, find them here: https://www.socialsupermarket.org/

Today we are thrilled to share a really beautiful conversation with Noëlla Coursaris Musunka - a tireless advocate for female education and empowerment as the founder of Malaika, a nonprofit organisation that impacts thousands of lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo through enhanced access to education and health programs.

Noëlla herself is an international model and philanthropist of Congolese/Cypriot heritage, an Ambassador for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria, and a voice for the power of female education worldwide. Noëlla has shared her insight at a number of world-class forums, spanning the World Economic Forum in Davos to the university halls of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and MIT and the offices of UNICEF. So we are honoured to have her here to speak to us today. Our conversation spans development to education and female empowerment, all of which we believe is just fundamental to truly sustainable growth.

Please learn more about Malaika and support their work here: https://malaika.org/

Follow Noëlla here: https://www.instagram.com/noellacoursaris/

Follow Malaika here: https://www.instagram.com/malaikadrc/

Today we are so excited to be speaking with John Moore, co-founder and Creative Director of a brand we really admire, Outerknown. Started with surfing legend Kelly Slater, John and Cora get to talk about ethical business and a love of the natural world.

John joined Kelly Slater five years ago to start a brand that would speak to their joint love of the ocean and preserving our environment as much as it would amazing fashion. Cora is speaking to John today from him home in California, and we want to encourage you guys to listen all the way to end where we touch upon the realists of what life is like there now with the very real climate change they are witnessing this Autumn.

Today’s episode was brought to you by Tropic Skincare. Tropic aim to be a force for good beyond beauty - and this is just such a great brand to explore if you are looking for truly effective, sustainable skincare. Head to tropicskincare.com to learn more!

Today we are so thrilled to share Cora's conversation with Kirsten, founder of one of the beauty industries most luxurious clean makeup brand's, Kjaer Weis. Kirsten and Cora discuss Kirsten's evolution from a leading makeup artist to discovering the detrimental effects of conventional makeup on model's skin. Her own upbringing on a sustainable farm in Denmark lead her to think about organic ingredients, and she set out to create a natural beauty brand that would be as effective as anything else on the market. Cora and Kirsten discuss why we should all be thinking about taking a more conscious approach to our makeup and what we are putting on our faces every day. This is a really important conversation for anyone wanting to learn more about organic makeup and natural beauty and why making the switch is so important for our health and the environment.