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🌱 Ep 22. Beyond the Bin: Fight Against Fashion Waste with Annabel Hought and Yayra Agbofah (x Fashion District)
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Join host Mili Tharakan as she sits down with Annabel Hought from Round Retail and Yayra Agbofah from The Revival to discuss innovative business models for sustainable fashion, the global crisis of textile waste, and the power of cross-border collaboration. This episode dives into the realities of the secondhand clothing market, the importance of community, and creative solutions for reducing waste while supporting vulnerable communities.
Key Takeaways
- Textile waste is a global problem that requires local and international collaboration.
- The rise of fast and ultra-fast fashion has led to a flood of low-quality, unsellable garments, overwhelming markets like Kantamanto in Ghana.
- Innovative business models like Round Retail and The Revival show how fashion can be a force for good.
- Consumer awareness and action are crucial for driving systemic change in the fashion industry. Consumers can drive change by voting with their money and supporting responsible businesses.
- Reduce stigma around secondhand fashion and foster a more conscious, circular fashion ecosystem.
How to Support
Donate or consign clothes to Round Retail
Follow and support The Revival’s ongoing efforts to rebuild Kantamanto market and community in Accra, Ghana - Donate
Advocate for extended producer responsibility and more transparent fashion supply chains
Fashion District Festival 2025
Fashion District Festival 2025: 3rd - 8th June 2025, Spitalfields, London
Launch and performance showcase: immersive fashion show
Rebuild and Reimagine with Round Retail: bring old clothes for creative upcycling sessions.
Accelerating Regenerative Fashion: workshop
Circular Design Practice: workshop
Past and Future fabrics: talks
Connect with me
Mili Tharakan: Linkedin I Insta I Website I Buy me a coffee
If you enjoyed this, please share the episode with a friend or colleague. Subscribe and leave a review, I love to hear your feedback.
Cover art: Photo by Siora, Photography on Unsplash
Music: Inspired Ambient, Orchestraman
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Podcast Focus
00:00:04
Speaker
Welcome to the No Ordinary Cloth podcast, where we explore innovations bubbling away at the intersection of textiles, emerging technologies, sustainability, and craft. I'm your host, Millie Therakin, a textile researcher and innovator.
Partnership Announcement
00:00:18
Speaker
I'm bringing this episode to you in partnership with Fashion District London, a dynamic hub for fashion innovation in East London, supporting startups with innovation networks, affordable spaces, business guidance, and investment opportunities.
Fashion District Festival Overview
00:00:33
Speaker
An exciting news, Fashion District Festival is starting 3rd of June, running all the way till 8th June 2025 here in London, Spitalfields.
00:00:43
Speaker
It's a vibrant celebration of sustainable and circular fashion, packed with pop-up stores, workshops by experts, an immersive fashion show and a showcase of innovations from trailblazing designers and brands.
00:00:57
Speaker
There is something here for everyone, so bring your friends and family to the event as well. It's the perfect place to make, learn, shop and be inspired.
Innovative Models for Textile Waste
00:01:06
Speaker
Now for our episode. I'm thrilled to be joined today by two remarkable guests whose work is at the forefront of tackling one of fashion's most pressing challenges, textile waste.
00:01:18
Speaker
This conversation is urgent and essential for everyone who wears clothes, which, and let's face it, is all of us. Globally, we produce an astonishing amount of textile waste each year, much of which ends up in landfills or is shipped to countries like Ghana, where it overwhelms local communities and ecosystems.
00:01:38
Speaker
The impact is especially severe in the global south, where the burden of waste is often shouldered by those least responsible for creating it. But today's guests are turning this challenge into an opportunity through innovative business models that prioritize sustainability and social impact over profit.
Yaira's Upcycling in Ghana
00:01:57
Speaker
They're showing us how fashion can be a force for good. With us is Yaira Agbofa, founder of The Revival, a community-led organization in Ghana that transforms discarded clothing into upcycled products while empowering local workers and fostering environmental justice.
00:02:17
Speaker
We're also joined by Annabelle Hort, also known as Annie, the visionary and founder of Round Retail, a charitable fashion resale concept in the UK that creates vibrant retail experiences, circulating pre-loved fashion and supporting charities through community-driven initiatives.
Round Retail & Collaboration
00:02:34
Speaker
She's also the co-founder of Circular, a second-hand fashion search engine that compiles thousands of items from top pre-loved websites into a single platform, making it really easy and effortless for you to shop consciously across a wide range of stores and marketplaces.
00:02:51
Speaker
Annie and Yaira are collaborating at the Fashion District Festival in London, and I would highly recommend that you drop in and check out Round Retail and what they're doing there. This was particularly
Textile Waste Discussion
00:03:04
Speaker
moving and difficult episode for me because we have so far talked about all these exciting innovations bubbling up in textiles but the much harder conversation is to face up to the outrageous mountains of textile waste that we have created because of overconsumption and the impact that this waste has on the planet and people.
00:03:26
Speaker
I realized that the question that we should be asking ourselves is not, is this dress sustainably made? This is an important question, but the harder question and I think the more important question that we should be asking is, do we really need one more dress?
Guest Introductions & Collaboration Importance
00:03:43
Speaker
This is a slightly heavy episode, but one that also gives us hope about a future where we are respectful and responsible consumers who not only care about where our clothes come from, but also care about what happens to it when we no longer need it.
00:03:59
Speaker
So let's go meet our wonderful guests who are doing incredible work in this area. Hi, Annie and Yaira. Thank you so much for joining us today to discuss the critical and urgent topic of textile waste.
00:04:12
Speaker
I'm particularly excited because this episode highlights the power and impact of collaboration between the global North and South. So let's dive in and learn more.
00:04:23
Speaker
So let's
Round Retail's Mission
00:04:24
Speaker
get started, Ani. Tell us about your organization, Round Retail, what you do and your core mission ah with Round Retail and how you approach the challenge of textile waste through your business.
00:04:36
Speaker
So I founded Round Retail in 2023 to bring a kind of alternative to the high street that I couldn't find. I had changed a lot as a consumer and what I really wanted to do was shop secondhand. I found shopping online to be quite overwhelming.
00:04:52
Speaker
Same with in-store, or I felt there was a big gap between the charity shops on the high street or the super luxury resale stores with designer handbags going for thousands of pounds. So had an idea to have a store that would sit in between those and kind of bridge that gap.
The Revival's Mission in Ghana
00:05:10
Speaker
we sell on behalf of individuals and what we do is we split the sales three ways so it's really a store with kind of community at the heart and with purpose at the heart so we give a third back to the person who gave the clothes a third we keep and a third goes to supporting a cause that's relevant to wherever we might be so for the fashion district festival we're going to be supporting the revival ah So does that mean that I can send you some some of my clothes on my behalf, you'll sell that and then pay me a bit of money? Exactly. It's kind of like an in-person vintage, but you don't have to worry about doing any of the selling. We do all of that for you.
00:05:49
Speaker
Thanks, Annie. That is such amazing work. You're not just keeping clothes um circulating for longer and being used for longer, but you're also using that as a platform to support charities and the causes that they are working towards.
00:06:04
Speaker
um Amazing work. Yara, could you share about the revival and your core mission and what you do through this business? Great, perfect. Yeah, definitely.
Empowering Local Communities
00:06:16
Speaker
i Always happy to share.
00:06:18
Speaker
We're a community-based, community-led initiative based here in Ghana. And what we're trying to do is to tackle the global textile waste crisis by diverting textile waste that leave honor and goes to e leaves leaves the market and goes to pollute our environment, mostly beaches and land.
00:06:39
Speaker
Now, we don't have the resources or the right way to deal with clothing. So then what people here think is if it if we throw it in the trash, if we throw it somewhere else, if it's then problems are literally out of sight, out of mind.
00:06:55
Speaker
Just like the way... and other parts of the world, the global north, sends these things to to Ghana, sends their trash to Ghana and literally not having them in their sight. So with Europe, it's out of sight, out of mind. But then this is where the problem starts with us.
00:07:11
Speaker
So we're literally dealing with the waste we didn't create.
Sentimental Value of Textiles
00:07:15
Speaker
So out of frustration and pain um and the fact that we were encountering the same problem that so many people were encountering,
00:07:22
Speaker
in the community here in Kanta Mantu we decided to start a revival which is transforming this textile waste into valuable product through upcycling and also through upcycling education innovation and through storytelling now we are headquartered in Kanta Mantu market which is the largest second-hand market in the world It's also it's ah in the heart of West Africa's second-hand economy.
00:07:49
Speaker
Now, in the revival, what we do is empower the local youth, we empower women and um also the informal work workers to build skills, generate income and also to create a circular fashion ecosystem that champions environmental justice.
00:08:09
Speaker
and also you know cultural preservation because upcycling repair has been a thing with us already it's in our DNA we've been sustainable for centuries so then there's an existing skill that we are adapting and improving and using and trying to make things better in terms of um circularity so and we also want to push for systematic change in the fashion industry from a global scope of things Thanks, Yara. Again, such impactful, inspiring and powerful work.
00:08:42
Speaker
Before we go deeper into the business itself, we're going to get to know you a little bit.
Impact of Round Retail
00:08:47
Speaker
um So textiles, I believe, are really powerful and they have the ability to tell stories, fulfill our senses and our soul.
00:08:54
Speaker
Could you tell me about a piece of garment or textiles, fabric that you have that you hold on to because it's got real sort of deep, deep connection to it. There's some special memories attached to it.
00:09:07
Speaker
You might never use it again. it might not be functional. You might not fit into it, but you still hold on to it. Is there a story you could share with us? There is. And I can only think of the most embarrassing ones. Go for um I am actually quite sentimental generally when it comes to clothes. So there are a few things in my wardrobe that but jump out to me and I will probably never part with.
00:09:29
Speaker
But I actually still have a pair of pyjamas from when I was 10. Wow. which are pink with love hearts all over them. and I loved them so much and wore them until I was about 18.
00:09:43
Speaker
And then I was browsing the rails of TK Maxx one day and found the same pair in a bigger size. And so I now have the smaller ones and the bigger ones. I don't know why I'm keeping on to the age 10.
00:09:58
Speaker
I love pajamas. but i am
00:10:02
Speaker
That is a great story. That's a brilliant one. It's quite incredible that you managed to find the same pajamas again after so many years. i mean, that's mental. And it just goes to show that fashion trends tend to circle back.
00:10:18
Speaker
Yara, would you have a story to share with us?
Cultural Heritage Stories
00:10:21
Speaker
um Yeah, I think I have a couple, but then there's the there's a top one. There's the one that I always, um I would like to speak about, which is, um I call it the iconic cloth.
00:10:32
Speaker
It's from my great-grandfather, which um I inherited it through. And it's, I think it's about a hundred year plus cloth, which has been passed on to, I mean, how many generations? Four generations or five generations?
00:10:49
Speaker
And what why What I like about it is that the more that fabric aged, the more beautiful it becomes. it's it's it For me, it serves as source of inspiration to me because one, and anytime I look at that piece, I feel the presence of my great grandfather, but also gives me that inspiration on shapes, on patterns, because it's like a square.
00:11:13
Speaker
It has different, it's like a geometric pattern on it. and Also, you can feel the craftsmanship in it because it was it was handmade over period of time. So you can feel the beauty and the craftsmanship in it. And yeah, and i always i place it in a very strategic place in my office, in at home office, where anytime I see it, I get inspired and um Yeah, and they like there's this pants as well that I love. i've I've had that pants for like nine or 10 years.
00:11:44
Speaker
I call it my good back trousers because that is the trousers I wear to most of the big meetings that I go, um signed contracts in those trousers.
00:11:57
Speaker
When I'm speaking on big platforms, wear those trousers as well. And that trousers, I feel, is body. It's been with me since from day one, and I really cherish it. Oh, amazing.
00:12:08
Speaker
I'd love to see pictures of these two. Maybe you can send those over to me. and And this is it. Textiles have have that power to connect with us in a way that it's hard sometimes for us to explain why.
Challenges in Second-hand Clothing
00:12:20
Speaker
um Now, coming back to you, Annie, could you tell us a little more about your ah your work and especially the impact that Round Retail has had on communities, charities and people around you?
00:12:33
Speaker
Yeah, so our work is split into kind of two main categories. So we have our environmental impacts, and then we also have our social impact. And those two things are really easy for us to measure.
00:12:43
Speaker
We do not have one cause in our social impact work that we do. we work with different organisations like The Revival, who are already already have the infrastructure in place to create change. So We support them through financial fundraising, so they receive a percentage of our sales.
00:13:03
Speaker
They also, when we work with charities more locally that are often in the areas in which the shop sits, they have a storefront and they have an opportunity to be able to speak to customers and educate them on the work that they're doing.
00:13:17
Speaker
And then we also try and hold the value of clothes before they reach end of life and we try and keep them in the ecosystem for longer. So one of the main focuses around retail is to focus on kind of good quality premium clothing that has value attached to it and has a better chance of keeping its value in the market.
00:13:37
Speaker
i we price things higher than say an online resale website might price something or an individual might price something. There's reasons for that. People can try it on in-store.
00:13:49
Speaker
They can share it with their friends. They can make sure that their purchase is something that they're going to wear for a really long time. i think there' there's a lot of solutions in this space online and actually...
00:14:03
Speaker
The gap that I found was finding a solution in store and giving people an alternative on the high street to the shops that exist, the H&M's, the Zara's, that are essentially overproducing clothes. And we're inundated with that textile now. I'm glad you mentioned the quality of the textiles.
00:14:21
Speaker
Yaira, I was wondering what your observation was from the second-hand clothing market over the last few years. Have you seen a change in the quality of the second-hand clothes that you're getting? I mean, I hear numbers about charity shops really only being able to sell 10% of what they receive.
00:14:39
Speaker
Sometimes it's just really worn out or torn or whatever. Sometimes just really bad quality because the first time a product was manufactured, it wasn't manufactured with great quality fibers and yarns in the first place.
00:14:50
Speaker
They don't really survive for very long. Yeah. Yaira, have you seen a change in the quality of clothing that is coming to you?
Design Opportunities in Ghana
00:14:57
Speaker
And is it becoming harder to find textiles that you can upcycle that will last longer?
00:15:03
Speaker
that's been There's been a change, there's been consistent change in the quality. Unfortunately, it's on the downside. It's not for better, but it's for the worse. The items and the quality level of quality of either quality of the items that are coming are terrible.
00:15:19
Speaker
And also the scale in terms of the quantity, it's also getting worse. Like now with rampant growth of fast fashion, and even now we have ultra fast fashion, It's just been really, really, really but are in really bad condition that literally cannot be used for anything.
00:15:35
Speaker
And also now it's like all kinds of things just come in. Where previously some of the things are quite curated in a way that at least you can, it's decent and respectful.
00:15:46
Speaker
But now anything comes which which is very, very disrespectful, like in terms of underwears, heavily stained underwears, clothes, panties, brasiers, all these things just come in.
00:15:58
Speaker
Anyhow, and we literally don't do anything with it, like winter clothes. Winter clothes, we don't need them in Ghana. And this second-hand trade has been existing for five decades plus.
00:16:12
Speaker
So then why do winter clothes keep coming to Ghana when we don't need it? it's not functional in any way here it never gets cold the coldest it could get for us is 26 27 degrees and for that you don't need winter warm clothes but puffer jackets and all that so then these things keep coming with the idea that anything can be sent to us to us here and they keep coming with a bigger number but also there's been more people involved in there like there's also the chinese coming in a lot there's also people from other parts of the world bringing in stuff um bringing in clothes so then it's it's getting it's becoming overwhelming there's a lot of clout there's a lot of stuff lot of clothes but then the quality
00:17:01
Speaker
It's not reflecting in the business aspect of it. So business model of the used clothing market is not as viable comparing to the volume.
Economic Challenges in Ghana
00:17:11
Speaker
There's so much coming, but it's very little that is being sold.
00:17:16
Speaker
So then that is where we come in and look at the items that are unsellable. So for example, winter clothes, we try to use design ah like ah use community-led design to make these winter clothes useful here because we cannot return them.
00:17:32
Speaker
Our leaders are ready to step up on their feet and say we're not taking these things anymore and we're return them. No, so then it's going to be here. I cannot also just look at it and being thrown or being sent to the landfill.
00:17:44
Speaker
So then we turn winter stuff into items that we could use here where these stuff are not functional in its original state but then through design we make it into items we can use here so one typical example is puffer jackets are turned into backpacks into bags that can be used here they also turn into laptop sleeves that could be used here so it's been um it's been a very i'd say disrespectful considering the the the trend the route the way things are turning out with the volumes and the items that are that are sent to us here in Ghana.
00:18:21
Speaker
Traders everybody here is complaining that the items are not good and mind you we pay for everything nothing comes here for free. Whether unsellable, sellable. When I mentioned about like the Brazilians panties that are stained and dirty, it's not free.
00:18:36
Speaker
We pay for every single piece of clothing that gets to Ghana. Whether it's sellable, it's unsellable, we pay for it. ah The second-hand market has to pay for this? The retailer has to pay for it.
00:18:49
Speaker
So when the importers bring it in, and then the the retailers, the traders here in Katamanto, have to go and buy it. And they buy it in the bills. And you don't know what's in it. So you buy bulk, and you cannot return when you open it and you have some you have unsellable items.
00:19:06
Speaker
It's not returnable. So far as it leaves the warehouse, it's your store. Whatever happens is your own problem. Nobody else cares if you make losses, it's your own problem. Nobody cares about you or what ah you got, what us in so whether are you are in debt or not in debt.
00:19:22
Speaker
About 30% of traders here are in debt, are owing, have a massive deficit the in their margins to be able to to to to to sustain their business. But the thing is, you might be asking you might be wondering, why are people still in this business if if it's not reliable, sustainable, consistent in terms of viability?
00:19:42
Speaker
It's because this business has been existing for decades and people and a lot of people currently here is like a second or third generation that have inherited it. So they want to hold family business.
00:19:54
Speaker
They don't want to be the one to close down family business. We blame that, oh, our dad left something for us and you closed it down because you are not able to manage. Some people still in this.
00:20:05
Speaker
because of that. And the second is that there are no options. There are no jobs here. so then stop selling secondhand clothing. There's no option. there's nowhere else for you
Fire Incident & Community Support
00:20:15
Speaker
to go. Thank you for shedding light on that situation, Yaira.
00:20:19
Speaker
That was quite difficult to hear, but it is the truth on the ground. And we need people here to understand that this is what is happening to their clothes when they get rid of it and the injustice of the system that we have created.
00:20:35
Speaker
Coming back to you, Annie, how are you managing the quality of products that you're getting? What's the quality control that you go through? So we have a list of brands that ah we say brands we love, um brands that we know hold their value on the resale market more than others. And we try and focus on those.
00:20:51
Speaker
Our model is part consignment. So we're People don't get a payout if that item sells for less than a certain amount. So if it's a £5 payout, they wouldn't receive anything. We've been quite lucky in the time that we've been going and we've not had anything in too poor a condition. Anything we have had, we've been able to rework in our own rework collections and put back into the shops to sell our sell through rate's been about 98% which in retail is really really high and something I'm really proud of and it feeds into the ethos of keeping everything going longer and being responsible and being a responsible retailer for the clothes that we do get and I think
00:21:30
Speaker
a lot of the issues lie with the lack of responsibility especially for the big retailers they do not have any onus on them to be responsible for their products once they've sold them on and actually that's causing a lot a lot of problems further down the stream absolutely Yaira could you tell us a bit more about the charity and what you're raising money for what what how will that money be used So, I mean, we we we have created series of funds funding projects here.
00:21:59
Speaker
And one of them is there was a recent fire and in general on January 2nd. There was a fire that cut 75% of the market. And um that is going to support our relief efforts. we since Since January 2nd, we've been trying to raise funds.
00:22:17
Speaker
to be able to help with relief efforts. So we mobilized funds to rebuild the market. And as we speak, about 90% of the market has been rebuilt. People are back to work. But then there's a lot of people that need to come back to work. and it was It was a very emotionally traumatizing moment for for some people, so some people are still in that trauma and um don't even want to come back to work. They've given up and lost hope. So we're looking at restoring hope in such people and we've done our ground assessments and identified some of the people people who most of them are old, 65 years plus.
Charity Efforts Post-Fire
00:22:55
Speaker
So we have partners who give mental health, who are psychologists, psychologists that we're able to give them that mental support. And then we're also going to help them rebuild their stores and then also support them to to get capital to restart their business. We also replaced over 73 sewing machines out of the machines that were burnt. We replaced it to the people that are the tailoring section and stuff.
00:23:21
Speaker
We've also done a lot of work with providing food, shelter, um health screenings, supporting families and stuff. We also support education. for some of the traders and we're also doing an incubator program where we are training women in vulnerable and marginal groups in the market where we're giving them, training them with upcycling and other skills that we need in in our space and then we we we train them and then we we employ them.
00:23:50
Speaker
So these are there are various projects that we're doing also in educational space. We're developing online courses, working with kids between the ages of 9 and 15 where we're training them on activities on upcycling and other things.
00:24:04
Speaker
these are projects that were we are consistently on working on consistently. So then the proceeds from this charity is going to go into supporting some of these projects, enable us to do more and have more impact to support the community here so we all grow. Because the goal is for us, all of us to grow and for all of us to win, for all of us to have a good life and to make Cantamanto um a decent working space where everybody is safe, everybody is making ah decent money end up and and its and the business is consistently viable. So also making creating a safe space for people to to express their creativity, to share and also to just feel like, yeah, I'm part of the community.
00:24:51
Speaker
Absolutely. The fire was just devastating news. And if I understand correctly, about 60% of the market was burned down.
Industry Responsibility & Rebuilding
00:25:00
Speaker
Has there been any brands or companies who've stepped up and participated in the rebuilding or have brands kind of distanced themselves? Because I ask this because...
00:25:10
Speaker
I don't know if you all remember in 2013 in Bangladesh, the Rana Plaza garment factory collapsed and over a thousand people died and over 2000 people were injured.
00:25:21
Speaker
And after that, a lot of brands stepped up because the brands were directly connected to these factories. So they had to own up to it in a way. And they put in new ah regulations, new laws for safety measures in the factories. This prompted, that I guess, the formation of the accord fire and building safety in Bangladesh.
00:25:39
Speaker
It's a legally binding agreement, I guess, between the brands, retailers and trade unions to ensure the safety of the of the workers there. So a lot has changed. ah Sadly, there had to be a really terrible incident for things to change, but it did bring about change.
00:25:54
Speaker
Are you seeing any conversations and change after this this devastating fire in Accra at the market? Well, I mean, um there are some some brands reached out to support.
00:26:06
Speaker
So then, yeah, I would say some brands are taking the responsibility. Some fashion brands took up responsibility to to give some support. But then in general, we felt the neglect of the fashion industry, um especially from the big players, because with such a devastating occurrence and and for such a place like Cantamontu Market that is the only place, as far as I know, that fosters practical circularity at scale.
00:26:37
Speaker
It's a place that keeps all these brands clothed in circularity. It's a place that needs to be taken care of. It's a place that needs to be celebrated. So in a situation of um of this disaster of this level, this is when brands should show responsibility and support massively.
00:26:55
Speaker
But it didn it didn't happen that way. all the big brands literally went mute. And ah you know after it took a while before some of these few brands came in to say, oh we want to help. And even that the level, the extent of help is not as much as it should be.
00:27:13
Speaker
So then that brings to the whole idea of how these big brands are only focused on their profit and don't care about anything that happens.
Global Collaboration
00:27:24
Speaker
And can't amount to the fire is a clear example of how the fashion industry, the big players in the fashion industry, see the different parts of the ecosystem.
00:27:36
Speaker
That the less they don't care about post-consumer, they don't care about the post-consumer aspect of it, hence the neglect of And that is very sad situation for us to find ourselves.
00:27:51
Speaker
But what we have, if we have something bigger than that, what we have here is unity and resilience. And that is what we've been able to rely on to restore hope and rebuild the market.
00:28:04
Speaker
And that is why this fundraising effort is so important. And it's great that you are able to collaborate with Annie and Round Retail to do this. ah Why are such collaborations important, Yaira, to start with you? And then I'll come back to you, Annie.
00:28:19
Speaker
You know, how important are these collaborations with organizations in the global north to help your work and efforts in Continental? And how can you build successful collaborations? If you think about the problem, it's a global problem.
00:28:33
Speaker
Everybody is involved. If you wear clothes, if you deal in clothes, you wouldn't go. I don't think anybody walks around naked. So the fact that you wear clothes, you are part of the problem and you are part of the solution.
00:28:46
Speaker
So then hence, It's a global problem needs global collaboration. We cannot succeed on our own. It's basically collaborating from a global approach.
00:29:00
Speaker
So then it's very, very, very essential for the global bar North and the South to collaborate because the problem starts from the North and ends in the South.
00:29:11
Speaker
So the solution should be between the North and the South. It's just it's as simple as that. The only way that the most successful ways to to have a successful collaboration is shared values.
00:29:25
Speaker
I think if we both have shared values and shared mission, which is mutual to both both parties, I think that is the the the basis or the the fuel ah could that could take eight the collaboration from from a talking stage to an actual practical or accomplishment stage.
00:29:45
Speaker
So then having to connect with the right people that have shared vision, andi shared values, and also understanding how there could be fairness and justice within collaborations because there could be collaborations that it's not fair, that it's not just, that it's capitalist, which means we live in a capitalist era where even with a second-hand situation right now where anything is dumped in Ghana, but we don't have a say, we don't have anything to say about it.
00:30:19
Speaker
And some collaborations can go that way too, between the North and the South.
Festival's Role in Education & Support
00:30:25
Speaker
And I mean, you could say that trading between North and South is a collaboration, but and it's not a just collaboration. So for collaboration be successful, it needs to have that shared value. It needs to be just and it needs to be fair.
00:30:39
Speaker
Absolutely. Which is why, Annie, I think it's great that you're able to give Revival and Yaira a platform to talk about incident that's happened. We don't, in the West, don't even realize there's a fire which is caused by us and our waste.
00:30:52
Speaker
um We might hear it on the news for a day and then that's it. And I think it's such a great opportunity to educate the everyday consumer about the problem of textile waste. Can you tell us a bit more about what people can expect at the festival and how you actually promote and support charities that you're highlighting?
00:31:11
Speaker
Yeah, I totally agree. And I actually think just on the last point, there's such a lack of transparency in the UK and Europe and the global north, where our clothes a come from and then where they go. and i think there's a lot of pressure now the legislating that further and I hope to see more of that in the space because it is really difficult and there are really muddy solutions out there and actually there are very few kind of transparent solutions that people can fully trust we hear a lot of greenwashing lot of misinformation in the space and actually i think by having having the message clearer from the offset and educating people then you know what you're working with
00:31:58
Speaker
um and getting clarity in the first instance from the production of number of clothes is really important. And in terms of the festival, what people can expect, so they can expect a usual curated edit of clothes, they can expect a positive in-person shopping experience that will do good, as Yara has very eloquently said already, what they'll be able to do with the money that we ah able to raise um we also have a workshop on the Thursday which we have two time slots for one's at 12 one's at two and it's a rebuild reimagine workshop so we will be facilitating that you're able to get a free ticket online bring along something that you're no longer wearing or it might be have a small imperfection that needs a mend
00:32:45
Speaker
And we can reimagine it during the workshop. And as Yara has already described, the funds raised will be going to rebuild the Cantamanto market. So we're really looking forward to seeing as many people there as possible.
00:32:58
Speaker
Another one for you, Annie. Is it possible to build and support new business models like these where you sort of resale um pre-loved clothing, but you're also splitting that amongst, you know, three parties basically?
00:33:12
Speaker
It definitely has sustainable impact, but financial growth, is that possible with business models like these? Because at the end of the day, it's also a business. And are you able to build it and grow it as a financially viable business?
00:33:26
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, we definitely have we definitely have ambitions to do that. It's by no means easy. Putting kind of social impact at the heart of your business could be seen to stifle growth. However, there is support out there, bolster your income to be able to make it possible to do that.
Challenges of Sustainable Business Models
00:33:44
Speaker
And actually, you can be given a little and create a lot. And I think that's the beauty of a smaller organisation is being able to have really clear and impactful change.
00:33:54
Speaker
There are so many kind of solutions in the market at the moment in the fashion space in terms of resale and rental and redistributing and repair. i think where we need to see more support is in the speed in which we're acting.
00:34:09
Speaker
um they're all There are these solutions already, but it's actually getting to them getting them to a scale that's going make a difference and actually create impact. doing you know Doing that meaningfully is is an added level of complication, but I do think there's there' opportunity there.
00:34:29
Speaker
Equally on the kind of scale of it point, as there's a lot of negative connotations with secondhand or repair and it's really hard to to share the message in a positive way that it's going to engage people and not switch them off to it and continue the habits of consumption that have unfortunately led us to this situation. So one thing we're really focused on doing is trying to be a bit more positive in our messaging and more encouraging in our messaging and showing and highlighting what the solutions are and what we're doing and also what our counterparts in the same industry are doing.
00:35:07
Speaker
um And the last one, I guess, um from me is looking ahead. What are your biggest hopes or goals for the future of sustainable fashion and waste reduction? And if there's a message that you have for the everyday consumer, what would that be?
Future Hopes for Fashion
00:35:22
Speaker
Annie? For me, it would be my message would be to vote with your money. we all in this life work really hard for the money that we get and you have power with, you have purchasing power and you have power with that money. So I would love to see people backing the backing the businesses and backing the people that are really changemakers and are really trying to do something different to the status quo. And my hope for the future would be to see, would be to see secondhand, the secondhand stigma coming down and the walls and the barriers to entry coming down. And
00:35:56
Speaker
i feel really passionately about the value of secondhand fashion in a lot of different ways. But I am often faced with a lot of stigma still, even in the circles that I find myself in. And i would love to see that kind of that shift and see the value of these garments that have been made somewhere in the world by somebody's hands being valued from the off and not being a race to the bottom.
00:36:24
Speaker
Yaira, any message from you? I mean, Ana, well, very well said. i just want to add just a bit to it is my my my dream is to see that unity in and consciousness of how we consume. To see that shift in consumption behavior with more consciousness and responsibility attached to it.
00:36:48
Speaker
where we all make that sacrifice of buying, buying, buying because we ah we are in in a system where what validates you as a cool person is the amount of stuff that you buy or the trends that you follow.
00:37:06
Speaker
which we're so used to it is a lifestyle that we live in. So if we are able to, want to see, like the goal is to see a world where we've sacrificed that irresponsible lifestyle of ours, and then shifting that to more responsible and conscious
Closing & Call to Action
00:37:29
Speaker
lifestyle. Yeah.
00:37:30
Speaker
Amazing. Thank you so much, Yaira and Annie. I think this is, um you know, like you said, this this shared values here between the two companies. And it's amazing to see that partnership supporting each other and also shedding light on such an important topic that every consumer should know about and about what happens to their clothing after they've they've used it and and chucked it in the bin. Thank you so much for your time. And I'm really, really excited about popping by to the pop-up store at the Fashion District Festival. And I really hope we can raise a great amount of awareness, but also actual funds to be able to support the incredible work that Yaira and his team are doing um at the at the market and for the larger community as well.
00:38:16
Speaker
This was such an eye-opening episode for me and I feel we've touched only the tip of the iceberg. The scale of textile waste is hard for us to really get our heads around.
00:38:27
Speaker
As Yaira said, out of sight, out of mind. How do we begin to understand the enormity of the mess we have created? And how do we educate people and drive behavior change?
00:38:39
Speaker
After listening to this episode, my hope is that the next time you decide to buy a dress or a shirt or a top, that you will pause and ask yourself if you really need one more of these items.
00:38:51
Speaker
I would highly recommend that you all attend the wonderful activities that are hosted this week at the Fashion District Festival in London. And don't forget to stop by Around Retail to support Yaira's work in restoring Cantamanto Market, which is a lifeline for the community there and a center for circularity that should be celebrated.
00:39:10
Speaker
You can also directly support Yaira's fundraising efforts by donating ah on their website. So please check the links below for this as well as details of Fashion District Festival events. Thank you again for joining me today. Stay tuned for more episodes and don't forget to subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of textiles, emerging technology, craft and sustainability.
00:39:31
Speaker
Until next time, I'm Millie Thurakin reminding you that there's no such thing as ordinary cloth. Every thread has a story to tell.