TONTS.

Today I speak to my little sister Lucianne Tonti about her book Sundressed that has just been released (so very very proud) but also about how to fall in love with your clothes and by extension yourself. About our parents, about womanhood and creativity and about a future we can find that is beautiful and hopeful through the regeneration of nature and our wild landscapes. Sundressed is the perfect balance of personal stories about her life in fashion & her love affair with her clothes and deep research into the future of fashion and the joy of natural fibres.

Lucianne has worked as a sustainable fashion consultant and journalist in Melbourne, Sydney, London and Paris. She is the Fashion Editor for The Saturday Paper and a regular contributor to The Guardian where she writes the column Closet Clinic about how to care for your clothes. While living in Paris, she founded a showroom and consultancy for high-end, sustainable designers from the United States, Europe and Australia. In October 2020, she launched the sustainable fashion site Prelude, which was profiled in Vogue as ‘paving the way for a slower, “gentler” fashion industry’.

Here is a summary of Sundressed:

Why beautiful clothes in natural fibres are the answer to fashion's climate crisis. Lucianne looks beyond sustainable fashion to a future remade by natural fibres. An exploratory dive into the art and industry of clothing and an ode to the possibilities in nature, Sundressed is an accessible, engaging and optimistic challenge to designers, farmers and business to think bigger. If we grasp their potential, natural fabrics will revolutionise more than the way we dress. Regenerative farming of fibres like cotton, wool, flax and cashmere can restore biodiversity, soils and water cycles, making it possible to create beautiful clothes while improving the environment. She introduces the farms and fashion houses that are changing the industry. Luc uncovers a growing hive of activity worldwide, from mulberry groves in China and cotton collectives in California to Mongolian goatherds and Australian sheep farmers. Her extensive research in sustainability is interwoven with her insights and personal experiences in fashion houses internationally. With a designer's eye for detail and an insider's understanding of the market, Lucianne shows us where our clothes come from and why it matters.

@blackincbooks #sundressedbook

You can find Lucianne on instagram @luciannetonti or to contact her for consultancy and writing you can head here and to purchase Sundressed head here

You can find more from Claire Tonti at www.clairetonti.com or on instagram @clairetonti

Show credits:

Editing - RAW Collings and Claire Tonti

Music - Avocado Junkie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is the extraordinary journalist, filmmaker, advocate and writer Santilla Chingaipe. Meeting Santi I was immediately drawn into her whip smart, funny and deeply insightful perspectives about the human experience. From her short documentary Black As Me to the TV series Third Culture Kids or Date my Race, Santi explores identity, migration, politics and history with a fresh, warm perspective allowing the watcher to be drawn into her story - building empathy as she goes. You will be absolutely flawed by Santi’s story and the story of her family too. From being bullied in Zambia as a child by her peers to then travelling to Australia on her own as a teenager and creating a new life for herself, to changing careers and hustling her way into a job at the SBS where she quickly became invaluable - what I loved most about this interview was understanding that from that little girl who was bullied for speaking languages that weren’t English and made to feel othered for it (actually causing her to stop speaking altogether for a while as a child) she has become a kick-arse woman who has dedicated her life to sharing her voice with others and also giving voice to those either living or from history who may not otherwise have had a platform to do so. As you will discover, her latest documentary Our African Roots shares stories from Australia’s colonial past that have all but disappeared from our cultural narrative. It is no wonder that she was recognised at the United Nations as one of the most influential people of African descent in the world in 2019.

Santi is currently writing a book called Black Convicts and I cannot wait to read it. Here she is the delight of a human that is Santilla Chingaipe 

Just a side note Santi also apparently makes excellent marmalade which of course makes her my favourite kind of human.

For more from Santi you can find her here or you can watch Our African Roots on SBS on demand here

For more from me you can head to my website www.clairetonti.com or find me on instagram @clairetonti

Show credits:

Editing - RAW Collings and Claire Tonti

Theme music - Avocado Junkie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week is the powerhouse that is Dr Neela Janakiramanan. In her own words Neela is a reconstructive plastic surgeon who spends most of her time playing with power tools to fix hands and wrists, while accidentally teaching, mentoring, writing, and fighting the patriarchy. She can also change a flat tyre and operate a barbecue. Neela was schooled in Melbourne and completed her medical degree at Monash University in 2003. She immediately commenced surgical training and was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in 2014, having trained in major Melbourne hospitals including St. Vincent’s Hospital, The Alfred, Austin Health, Monash Health, Peninsula Health, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute and the Victorian Plastic Surgery Unit. During this time, Neela combined the rigours of surgical training with completing a Masters of Public Health through Monash University, graduating from that degree in 2010. This gave Neela a grounding in research methodology as well as health programme development and implementation, particularly in poor settings.

Neela’s CV is incredibly impressive the through line of which is a keen passion for justice and equality. Neela has been a fierce public advocate for change within the medical profession. She was instrumental in the Medevac Bill which was a law that was passed by the Australian Government providing critically sick refugees and people seeking asylum held in offshore detention a pathway to be transferred to Australia for urgent medical treatment. It was passed because of professionals like Neela who encouraged doctors from across Australia to write letters to their local MPs. Aside from her public work as a commentator (she has often been called on to speak about the issues facing the medical profession during the Covid19 pandemic) Neela has just written a brilliant unputdownable book called The Registrar which is out now. It is a fictional story about a new registrar called Emma Swann and as well as being a great read is also a deep look at our broken hospital system and the way it treats the people charged with our care. In this episode we discuss what it is like for women working within our hospital system that is often deeply patriarchal, sexist, racist and rife with bullying.

For more from Neela you can find her on her website on instragram @drneelaj and to purchase a copy of The Registrar (which you should do immediately) you can head to any good book store or here

For more from Claire you can head to www.clairetonti.com or @clairetonti on instagram

You can email the show at [email protected]

Show credits:

Editing - RAW Collings and Claire Tonti

Theme music - Avocado Junkie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today Erin Pluekhahn is a doula, an event manager and now founder of kindred women - a beautiful business that creates women’s circles, gatherings and retreats that aim to nurture, care and restore women through meditation, journaling, movement, nature and sound immersion. I attended a session ran by Erin and it was such a beautiful experience. In this episode we talk about women’s circles as ancient, spiritual traditions, about how Erin embarked on a career change after the birth of her daughters, about her beliefs about how we care for women, our people and our planet and how the patterns in nature are so often reflected in our own lives. If you’re feeling burnt out and exhausted this episode is for you. Erin has a knack for allowing women to reconnect to themselves and to each other and I hope you love this episode as much as I did. A heads up too that we discuss birth in this episode and I think it’s important to note that while I whole heartedly think it’s important to have expert medical care on hand if necessary for birthing women and their babies as it absolutely can save lives (and did for me) as we talk about today there is also a lot of evidence to suggest that it is not the only thing women need to birth safely and having continuity of care and the wonderful nurturing space that can be provided by doulas and midwives is incredibly vital and important to birth outcomes that allow women to feel safe, empowered and in control, feeling educated and advocated for throughout the process.

For more from Erin you can follow her on instagram @kindredwomen

For more from Claire you can head to www.clairetonti.com or @clairetonti on instagram

You can email the show at [email protected]

Show credits:

Editing - RAW Collings and Claire Tonti

Theme music - Avocado Junkie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Musician, TED talker, comedian, writer and wearer of the best red sparkle jumpsuit you've ever seen Lucy Peach is a powerhouse of a woman who teaches that menstrual cycles are not a curse but could just be your greatest super power! This is an episode that was recorded in 2019 for another podcast I made called Just Make The Thing but I think it is absolutely still incredibly relevant and I hope you get as much out of it as I did.

Music from Lucy's The Power of the Period performance at TEDxPerth.

Hear more from Lucy at www.mygreatestperiodever.com, on Instagram @LucysPeaches and Facebook Lucy Peach.

For more from Claire you can head to www.clairetonti.com or @clairetonti on instagram

You can email the show at [email protected]

Show credits:

Editing - RAW Collings and Claire Tonti

Theme music - Avocado Junkie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today physiotherapist Kym Veale has been a really special person in my life and in so many women’s lives, particularly for women who experience pregnancy and birth. I’m so glad I can share her wisdom and insight in this episode. Kym Veale is now director of her own company called womankind physiotherapy, a beautiful space that supports women’s health particularly in the areas of birth preparation and post birth recovery, pelvic floor function, incontinence, mastitis and breast feeding. She also works with children and families to resolve bladder and bowel accidents including bedwetting. She is an advocate for education about all things vulvas, periods and also sexual function for women too. An area that is often underdiagnosed and misunderstood or really just not discussed at all. We also talk about prolapse in this conversation and I learnt so much about women’s bodies that I previously hadn’t fully understood. 

I want to also acknowledge in this episode that there are also people who have wombs and experience menstruation who don’t identify as women (or for that matter women who do not have wombs) but who will still absolutely benefit from access to this knowledge and this episode. Even if you are not planning to have children yourself there is so much to be gained from Kym’s wealth of knowledge and experience in this area. She has some really strong messages about caring for ourselves and our bodies in a holistic way and the absolute awe and respect we should have for women who give birth.

Kym obtained her degree in Physiotherapy, as well as post graduate certificates in advanced pelvic floor rehabilitation, and exercise for women through the University of Melbourne.

For more from Kym you can head to her website www.womankindphysiotherapy.com or follow her on instagram @womankindphysiotherapy

For more from Claire you can head to www.clairetonti.com or @clairetonti on instagram

You can email the show at [email protected]

Show credits:

Editing - RAW Collings and Claire Tonti

Theme music - Avocado Junkie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For more from Pip Reid you can head to her instagram @using_music or at her website www.usingmusic.com.au

For more from Claire you can head to www.clairetonti.com or @clairetonti on instagram

You can email the show at [email protected]

Show credits:

Editing - RAW Collings and Claire Tonti

Theme music - Avocado Junkie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today Maggie Zhou @yemagz is a writer, producer, instagrammer and slow fashion advocate. She has become a really influential voice in the fight for sustainability in the fashion industry here in Melbourne and her instagram photography gives you such a joyful window into the way she views the world. We talk about what it means to be a Gen Z growing up as a digital native and why teenage girls are so awesome. Maggie's passion and enthusiasm for life is infectious and it was an absolute delight to sit down with her for an hour and talk about feeling all of it, relishing a good cry, her love of the film Suddenly 30, what it means to grow up as a Chinese girl in Australia and how her love of One Direction opened up a whole world of possibilities for her, beginning her first online venture at 13. If you loved the animation Turning Red, really love a good rom com and a healthy dose of self love, self compassion and self care this episode is for you. I sneakily suspect that this generation is really changing things for the better and I can't wait to see what Maggie does next.

For more from Maggie Zhou head to her instagram @yemagz or you can follow her writing at the Australian Refinery 29

For more from Claire you can head to www.clairetonti.com or @clairetonti on instagram

You can email the show at [email protected]

Show credits:

Editing - RAW Collings and Claire Tonti

Theme music - Avocado Junkie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week Amani Haydar is a writer and artist. Her story is one of unimaginable pain and also triumph in the face of the murder of her mother Salwa Haydar at the hands of her father and the loss of her grandmother Teta who was murdered in the 2006 war in Lebanon. Her book The Mother Wound recounts in stunning prose the story of 3 women whose lives have been forever changed by violence. She is now a domestic violence advocate, award winning author and painter living in Sydney.

As Amani will tell you today the attack and her mother’s devastating loss was completely shocking and unexpected. However in hindsight and with the language and education around emotional abuse and coercive control she has now she can see there were red flags throughout her mother’s life that led to this moment.

So much of what we discuss today is difficult however there is also so much to be celebrated in the incredibly vibrant artwork that Amani creates. Her self portrait where she is holding a picture of her mother Salwa holding a photo of her own mother that was taken by the Fairfax Press has now become an iconic image symbolising the enormous grief and loss she and so many women have suffered at the hands of their abusers.

For more from Amani you can head to her instagram page @amanihaydar or visit https://annaemina.com/collections/all

For more from Claire you can head to www.clairetonti.com or @clairetonti on instagram

You can email the show at [email protected]

If this episode has brought anything up for you please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or for family violence support you can contact 1800 RESPECT ( 1800 737 732)

Show credits:

Editing - RAW Collings and Claire Tonti

Theme music - Avocado Junkie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is clear to me that my guest today Siân Darling who is also a dear friend and the partner of my dad’s cousin Paul Kelly, has lived a life impacted by the stories and memories of her families past. She is a little bit magic, deeply feeling, highly creative, a champion of people who make things, of artists and musicians. Siân was also a little girl who spent much of her childhood on her own in the bush with her dog noticing the tiny but really huge parts of our existence on this planet.

She shares fragments of her family’s story in this interview and I wanted to give you a little context here too.  

Siân Darling’s grandfather was an opera singer, a kickboxer and a diplomat. One morning he went in search of food. When he returned his wife and and six year old son had been taken, later confirmed murdered. There is a song called The Partisan that is one of her favourite songs. When she hears it she sees them running through a dark forest towards a spark of their living legacy Siân herself. Her family’s life was forever changed by the events of the Holocaust and it is clear that Sian’s work now as an advocate, curator, film maker and producer is informed by her family’s jewish heritage and the shared trauma of the 11 million lost.  Siân is co-Chair of human rights media organisation, Right Now Inc. , an ambassador for Groundswell and also the founder of the museum of Inherited Memories that curates exhibitions and events in response to inherited memories of cultural survival, inspired by Holocaust memorial and the value of 'never again'. The Museum supports curators to work with contemporary artists to unravel and understand the layers of stories from collective memories to inform a more empathetic reality.

Siân is also manages esteemed Australian songwriters Paul Kelly  Kev Carmody and Jess Hitchcock. In 2020, she produced the charting Kev Carmody tribute album, Cannot Buy My Soul (2020 Edition), released by EMI. The album features 42 songs of Aboriginal truth-telling sung by some of Australia's greatest musicians.

Siân has also created both in 2021 and very recently in 2022 two concerts Uprising: Songs of Resistance and Songs and Survival boasting a powerful line-up of performers uniting against racism & antisemitism.

For more from Claire you can head to www.clairetonti.com or @clairetonti on instagram

You can email the show at [email protected]

Show credits:

Editing - RAW Collings and Claire Tonti

Theme music - Avocado Junkie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.