While you were distracted by the latest luxury It-whatever (and the shiny, ridiculously expensive global marketing behind it) slow local fashion makers were carefully, quietly crafting their wares regardless - on a fraction of the budgets of the big fashion names.

It's time to take more notice of them! Because if we don't support the independents, how will they thrive? Can small local makers compete with the big guys today, and should they try? Or is it time to build new networks that create a totally different playing field?

Meet one woman going her own way - and sharing what she's learned along it.

Simone Agius is the Melbourne maker behind Simetrie - a disruptive, hand-crafted accessories brand that's challenging norms.

Thank you for listening to our "pass the podcast mic" series. We've loved making it for you. If you can help us spread the word, please do (we're indie too). A nice rate & review in Apple goes down a treat.

Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/4/29/simone-agius-simetrie-how-to-handcraft-a-handbag to read yours and #bethechange

Follow us on Instagram here and here.

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CALLING ALL TREE-HUGGERS! Nicole Rycroft founded Canopy Planet at her kitchen table in Vancouver with a small budget and a big idea - to protect the world's precious forests.

20 years later, Canopy is one of the leading organisations fighting globally for last frontier forests and engaging business - including the fashion industry - to find alternatives to unsustainably sourced wood in their supply chains.

Do we really use ancient trees to make trivial things? Try pizza boxes and party frocks.

It's an outrage (and you'll hear Clare getting mad about it in this chat) but it's also an opportunity for change, and Canopy is doing something about it.

This bonus Episode was produced in partnership with Fashion Revolution. The theme this year is Rights, Relationships and Revolution. Forests have rights too!

Thank you for supporting our work. If you like this Episode, please share it - we appreciate your help in spreading the word.

Find the shownotes & all things Wardrobe Crisis here.

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How big is sustainable fashion in Iceland? You might be surprised to find out.

We also nearly called this Episode: The Secret Lives Of Sweaters. Listen and you will see why!

In this fascinating, surprising conversation about funny jumpers and changing the world, you will meet Ýr Jóhannsdóttir - a textile designer, artist/activist upcycler from Reykjavik.

With her label Ýrúrarí (and her huge Instagram following) she is making a name for herself using creativity and humour to challenge fashion's unsustainable ways. 

People want to have fun with fashion, she says, and if we can use that to get a serious message across, that's a powerful thing. Also up for discussion: Iceland's craft and wool tradition, appreciating the local, resourcefulness, tool libraries and the future of fashion as sharing. 

This is part of our "pass the podcast" mic series - the (extended) finale! Where we're telling listener stories. Love it? Please help us spread the word. If you can rate & review in Apple, we'd be grateful.

Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/2/12/podcast-139-series-5-finale-part-2-fixing-unsustainable-fashion to read yours and #bethechange

Follow us on Instagram here and here.

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Vintage and second-hand fashion is in the news more than ever before. It's set to eclipse fast fashion within ten years. The designer re-commerce sector is booming. But as shopping pre-loved becomes more aspirational, are those who rely on thrifted clothes being locked out?

What's not up for debate, however, is that the piles of discarded fashion and textiles keep growing. The excess is real. Where it ends up, who pays the price, what that price should be, what's selling, what's not, what should be ... in this week's episode we address all this and more as our listeners take a seat in the interviewee's chair. 

Welcome to Part 1 of our #sharethepodcastmic finale, featuring vintage rental store-owner Ali Dibley on clothes with personalities; dedicated thrifter Julia Browne on the evolution of opshopping and street style photographer Liisa Jokinen on preloved's digital revolution.

Find the shownotes here. 

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Who else talks to their plants? This week's joyful episode is a love letter to what we grow - in gardens, allotments, veggie patches and pots on our windowsills the world over. But also what grows wild - in the woods, hedgerows, fields and scrub, the verges by the freeways, even the cracks in city pavements.

Your guest host, musician and gardener Nidala Barker, talks with her friend and fellow green thumb, Kobi Bloom about connecting to Earth, respecting our Mother and the marvellous magic of plants.

Up for discussion: How can learning more about plants and their wonder help us heal the planet? What exactly is a regenerative farmer or gardener (and how can you be be one)? What happens if we donʼt pull out the weeds? What can we do about food waste? And why is compost so often the answer to life's big questions?

But first, here's Nidala singing good morning to her veggie patch... you could not make this up - but she does! Every day it's a new song. Ah, told you this one was a joy.

Find Nidala on Instagram here.

Find Kobi here.

Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/2/8/podcast-137-the-magic-of-plants-organic-gardening-and-why-weeds-are-wonderful to read yours and #bethechange

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Welcome to another episode of series 5 - #sharethepodcastmic

Don't forget to hit subscribe and if you value these conversations, please share them with your communities.

Your guest host this week is Ayesha Barenblat, founder of ReMake, and she is in conversation with Nazma Akter, founder and Executive Director of the Awaj Foundation.

Nazma has been fighting to improve workers' rights in Bangladesh's garment sector for 30 years - and she started out as a garment worker herself, aged just 11. Hers is a powerful, persuasive, brilliant voice from the workers' side. So why have't you heard it before?

The answer is because fashion - yes, even sustainable fashion - operates with a power imbalance that too often shuts workers out. We rarely hear from the people who make our clothes, especially those in low-wage countries. Instead, we hear from brands talking about garment workers, or well meaning white people talking on their behalf. Mostly, we hear from those who make the decisions, rather than those who must live with them. But if we are to build a truly sustainable and ethical fashion industry, we must make space for the people who make our clothes.

Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2021/1/28/podcast-136-ayesha-barenblat-interviews-nazma-akter-garment-workers-raise-your-voice to read yours and #bethechange

Follow ReMake here.

Love the show? Get in touch in IG @mrspress & @thewardrobecrisis

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Everybody's talking about degrowth. Does this mean we've finally woken up to the reality of climate breakdown and ecological collapse? Are we ready to challenge capitalism's obsession with GDP and perpetual expansion? If so, what's the alternative? And how can we apply this to fashion, beyond simply "buy less"? How might we reimagine the whole system, and rethink how we measure success?

This week's guest host Nina Gbor interviews Jason Hickel about his new book Less is More - How Degrowth Will Save the World.

Jason is a rockstar economist (no grey suits here) focused on global inequality, political economy, post-development, and ecological economics. He teaches at Goldsmiths, University of London and serves on the Statistical Advisory Panel for the UN Human Development Report 2020, the advisory board of the Green New Deal for Europe and on the Harvard-Lancet Commission on Reparations and Redistributive Justice.

Follow him on Twitter here.

Love the show? Get in touch in IG @mrspress & @thewardrobecrisis

Find all the links and shownotes on https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast

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Meet Belinda Duarte, former athlete and educator, current inspirational leader, formidable female exec, proud First Nations Australian and the inspiration for Series 5 - #sharethepodcastmic

Just in time for January 26th - a significant day in this country. It's time to #changethedate

There's so much up for discussion in this one - from Belinda's family story, to sustainability and Indigenous wisdom, raising strong young people, ethical leadership and how we can use sport and culture to move towards reconciliation.

Find Culture is Life here.

You can find extensive notes & links on what you hear at www.thewardrobecrisis/podcast

Enjoyed the episode? Please share it! Tag us on Instagram @thewardrobecrisis @mrspress

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In March 2020, Grace Lillian Lee and Teagan Cowlishaw announced Australia's first ever Indigenous fashion council - First Nations Fashion & Design. In December, they held their first fashion show - Walking in Two Worlds. But don't expect just any old runway. This is a beautiful story about reframing the fashion discourse, connecting to country, and mentoring emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fashion talent.

Grace is this week's #sharethepodcastmic guest host and she's in conversation with First Nations Fashion + Design ambassador - model Charlee Fraser. Charlee is a proud Awabakal woman and a beautiful spirt. She's also a Paris fashion week favourite with multiple magazine covers under her belt. Follow her on Instagram here.

Find First Nations Fashion + Design here.

You can find extensive notes & links on what you hear at www.thewardrobecrisis/podcast

Thank you to our sponsors Bendigo Art Gallery.  

Enjoyed the episode? Please share it! Tag us on Instagram @thewardrobecrisis @mrspress

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Welcome back to Series 5, #sharethepodcastmic

Why are all eyes are on Indigenous Australian fashion right now? Try 60,000 years of sustainability... "We're the original fashion industry in this country," says this week's guest host Yatu Widders-Hunt of the vibrant, continuously evolving First Nations fashion and design sector.

In this Episode, we hear from curator Shonae Hobson about her Piinpi exhibition - the first major survey of contemporary Indigenous Australian fashion to be undertaken in this country. And from designers Julie Shaw of Maara Collective and Teagan Cowlishaw of Aarli.

You can find extensive notes & links at www.thewardrobecrisis/podcast

Enjoyed the episode? Please share it! Tag us on Instagram @thewardrobecrisis @mrspress

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