WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press

Bobby Kolade is the designer behind Ugandan fashion label Buzigahill - which puts the politics of upcycling and waste colonialism at its core with the brilliant, provocative concept: Return to Sender.

Buzigahill's collections are made from items of secondhand clothing donated in the global north, and increasingly being dumped on the global south in unsustainable numbers. Why “return to sender”? Because much of Buzigahill’s clientele is in Europe and North America.

Like Kantamanto in Accra, Ghana; Owino Market in Kampala receives huge numbers of bales of second-hand clothing every week, from countries in Europe, from the US and Canada. As a result, in 2023 second-hand accounted for 80% of all domestic clothing sales in Uganda.

But how much is too much? Who is monitoring for quality and consistency? Are we right to keep talking about "donations" in the context of this undeniably big business? As Bobby says, it's not charity - it's a trade, and too often an unequal one with many impacts on local economies as well as the environment when it becomes textile waste. So surely it's good, right, when a receiving country finally says: "No more! We don't want your cast-offs." Or is it? As usual, there’s no simple answer...

This enthralling conversation was recorded before Uganda’s government announced a ban on second-hand clothing towards the end of last year. A situation that continues to evolve.

Can you help us spread the word ?

Wardrobe Crisis is an independent production.

We don't believe in barriers to entry and are determined to keep this content free.

If you value it, please help by sharing your favourite Episodes, and rating and reviewing us in Apple or

Spotify.

Thank you!

What do your clothes say about you? Dear listener, I bet you've thought about this before. Fashion is a language in itself. But, what about the language we use to describe - and by extension to include, or to exclude - the people who wear it? Or don't get to wear it? The people we're marketing it to, or employing.

Fashion communication isn't just about the clothes. It's about how we talk to each other.

Meet Lou Croff Blake, a Berlin-based non-binary fashion practitioner, scholar, artist and community organiser. Their work merges queer theory with community-building, advocating for intersectional equity and amplifying the visibility of marginalised genders. Which sounds like a of words! Because it is. Carefully considered words chosen to challenge the dominant narrative.

Open to learn? Join us on a deep dive on DIEB - diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging - as we consider the existential question: do we really want to build a more ethical fashion industry? If so, doesn't that have to be one where everyone can feel a true sense of belonging?

Check the shownotes for links & further reading.

Tell us what you think!

Can you help us spread the word ?

Wardrobe Crisis is an independent production.

We don't believe in barriers to entry and are determined to keep this content free.

If you value it, please help by sharing your favourite Episodes, and rating and reviewing us in Apple or

Spotify.

Thank you!

Can fashion lift its inclusivity game? When 28-year-old British model Junior Bishop - who just so happens to be a wheelchair user - spoke at the Houses of Parliament recently, she called on the fashion industry to do more to tackle its disability access issues. Levelling the playing field is integral to the wellbeing economy - what’s the point of only some of us get to have our wellbeing considered?

“When looking at fashion and media today,” said Junior, diversity and representation are gradually improving. That’s important. “We hope to simply see people who look like us - our ‘imperfections’, our ‘flaws’, the little things that make us who we are.” Also, purely from the economic rationale, how do brands expect to sell to people who don’t see themselves in campaigns?

As Junior acknowledged: “The excitement of being able to see someone who is a wheelchair user, a cane user despite their age, has a limb difference, has Down syndrome, has albinism, the list goes on… Having those with disabilities or their family members tearfully say ‘I didn’t know people like us could do that kind of thing’; that is why this movement needs to continue to grow." Representation is an important first step, but we can’t stop there.

This inspiring conversation, packed with practical advice and emotional intelligence, comes with a call to action: want to do better on this stuff? Ask disabled people what they need!

Check the shownotes for links & further reading.

Tell us what you think!

Can you help us spread the word ?

Wardrobe Crisis is an independent production.

We don't believe in barriers to entry and are determined to keep this content free.

If you value it, please help by sharing your favourite Episodes, and rating and reviewing us in Apple or

Spotify.

Thank you!

Rich, white and privileged - the creative arts sector has a class problem. Particularly in class-obsessed Britain, where middle-class people are twice as likely to work in creative jobs than their working class contemporaries. According to the Evening Standard, "the worlds of TV, film, music and the arts are dominated by straight, able-bodied white men living in London, despite them only accounting for 3.5% of the [UK] population."

Not that this is purely a UK problem. In New York, 85% of artists represented by commercial galleries are white. In Australia, where one in four of us were born overseas, culturally and linguistically diverse creatives are still barely represented in fashion at all. And consider the global luxury brands, with their spate of recent cookie-cutter creative director hires - can anyone actually tell the difference between these men from their photos alone?

But, "What about the new editor at Vogue?" I hear you say. Too often, the celebrated hire is still the only Black or brown person in the room.

I bet you can think of a thousand places where career progress is affected by your postcode, where you went to school and what your parents did. And lurking behind all that: race, gender, sexuality, difference, not to mention how much cash you've got...

It's time for a power shift!

Meet Rahemur Rahman, a British-Bengali artist, educator and designer who is determined to change the system, not simply tinker round the edges of representation. He made it, despite the odds. Raised in working class Tower Hamlets, he studied fashion at Central Saint MartinsHe studied fashion at Central Saint Martins, where he now teaches. Designs from his debut London Fashion Week collection menswear collection were acquired by the V&A Museum. Now, he's the director of training and development at Bari, a new incubator supporting South Asian creatives in East London as part of the British Bangladeshi Fashion Council.

This is a lively conversation about what it takes to, practically, turn things around - not just talk about it. Hint: no true diversity and inclusion without addressing the class barrier!

We're also talking the creative innovation meets heritage craft, social impact fashion, holidays with friends, and the joy of working on what matters.

Check the shownotes for links & further reading.

Tell us what you think!

Can you help us spread the word ?

Wardrobe Crisis is an independent production.

We don't believe in barriers to entry and are determined to keep this content free.

If you value it, please help by sharing your favourite Episodes, and rating and reviewing us in Apple or

Spotify.

Thank you!

We all know clothes have meaning, beyond just looking nice. We’ve often talked on this podcast about the importance of how they are made. This week, we’re considering how fashion’s meaning stretches beyond supply chains and our wardrobes, to shape our culture and the way we see ourselves collectively. How does fashion see itself when it comes to race and privilege? How about the male gaze?

Clare sits down with Caryn Franklin, journalist, style icon, fashion citizen (not consumer, please!), one-time presenter of The Clothes Show and all-time national treasure. These days her work centres on education and activism - she’s a visiting professor of diverse selfhood at Kingston School of Art, in London, and gained her MSc in applied psychology specialising in selfhood, objectification, inclusivity and gender bias.

Partly, this interview is a personal one about a life in clothes but it’s also a provocation: How can we use fashion as a vehicle for positive self-esteem, rather than allowing it to make too many of us feel small, too much of the time?

All up, rollocking good chat with Caryn Franklin, MBE. Enjoy!

Check the shownotes for links & further reading.

Tell us what you think!

Can you help us spread the word ?

Wardrobe Crisis is an independent production.

We don't believe in barriers to entry and are determined to keep this content free.

If you value it, please help by sharing your favourite Episodes, and rating and reviewing us in Apple or

Spotify.

Thank you!