‘What Happens Next?’: Can We Put the Brakes on Fast Fashion?
Last week on Monash University’s What Happens Next? podcast, Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI) expert Aleasha McCallion told host Dr Susan Carland that time is running out for fast fashion:
"We simply have to slow down. We have no choice, because we're actually just chewing through resources, and human capital, and greenhouse gas emissions. We're chewing through all of that at such an expansive speed that we really have no choice. We don't have 50 years."
If last week’s episode caused you to reconsider your closet or sent you on a donation run to your local op shop, you won’t want to miss part two of our investigation into the sustainability and ethics of fashion.
Listen: Is It Time to Rethink Our Wardrobes?
In this episode, our expert guests focus on the future we can look forward to if we slow down and make a conscious effort to value our clothes, rather than seeing them as expendable or faddish. The news is good – in response to fast fashion, the slow fashion movement is gaining momentum among Instagram influencers and the average consumer alike, and most labels are taking steps to keep up with that demand.
This episode's guests are McCallion and her MSDI colleague Julie Boulton, both part of the Circular Stories Working Group; Dr Eloise Zoppos, an applied researcher at the Australian Consumer and Retail Studies Unit in the Monash Business School; fashion editor Janice Breen Burns; and designer and Instagram influencer Nicole McLaughlin.
“I'm not trying to make everybody a sustainability expert, just so much [as] to get them involved in the conversation and make it seem like it doesn't have to be so scary.”Nicole McLaughlin
What Happens Next? will be back next week with a new topic.
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What you wear isn't just a fashion statement. Your clothes, shoes and accessories all make a statement on your outlook on the health of the planet. The fashion industry has a tremendous impact on our environment.
In recognition of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, you’re invited to the Monash Speaker Series: Sustainable Style Studio on Thursday, 27 April 2023 at The Count's on the Monash University's Clayton campus.
This free event includes an upcycled clothing workshop at 2.30pm, followed by a keynote and panel discussion with television's Craig Reucassel, of ‘The War on Waste’, and Dr Susie Ho, Director of the Monash Innovation Guarantee and Course Coordinator for the Monash Master of Environment and Sustainability.
Register to join us.