Episode 1: Welcome to the Fashion Unearthed podcast

TOPICS:

Fashion Industry, Sustainability, Circular Economy, Design

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome to the fashion unearthed podcast. If you need help navigating the fashion industry sustainably, you have come to the right place. I'm your host Belinda Humphrey and my hope is to simplify the fashion industry so that businesses can make the best decisions for people, planet and product.

Hello, and welcome to Episode One of the Fashion Unearthed podcast. I thought the most logical starting point for this episode was to tell you a little bit about me, why I decided to start the podcast and what to expect from each episode. So let's get started with a little bit about me. Over the last 20 years, I've worked with some of the world's most popular brands in Australia and the UK. I designed and managed hundreds of styles each season nurtured supportive relationships in global supply chains, and identified product opportunities scaling them to multi million dollar categories. I've worked mostly in women's and men's wear apparel, across small business specialty retailers, big box retailers, wholesale brands, youth brands and mature brands as well as creating product within casual wear wovens, denim knitwear, cut and sew, outerwear, swim, leather, tailoring, workwear, plus sizes and petite. I'm probably missing something, but you get the idea.

As time went on, I started to have a sense of unease, and much like the rest of the world in 2020, I really stopped and asked myself, what am I doing and why am I doing it. I even closed my women's wear label. It's a decision I haven't fully reconciled but it didn't feel right to continue. Last year, in the seemingly never ending Melbourne lockdown, I reflected on the industry where it was at and whether I even wanted to still be a part of it. And to be honest, I felt a bit of guilt, like I had contributed to the problem, particularly after being in this industry for nearly 20 years, and responsible for so much product within multimillion dollar businesses and departments.

So I decided that if I was going to stay in the industry, I wanted to be part of this solution. I revisited some articles about the circular economy and the more I read, the more I could see that this was the best solution that we have to the problem at the moment. Throughout my research, I discovered so many businesses at all sizes and locations and stages in the supply chain, all exploring how to change and adapt to this new way of working. It was really inspiring. Admittedly, this system is still in its early stages. So there is a lot of progress that needs to be made quickly. But, the research is clear. Continuing with business, as usual, is not going to cut it, and there's a real opportunity to build something we can all be proud of. So this has become my new mission. To help purpose driven businesses navigate the industry sustainably.

I've chosen to focus on a podcast because I feel like it's an informal platform that you can listen to anywhere, and often the fashion industry can seem intimidating and exclusive so I wanted to create a welcoming space that you can visit to get straightforward information, and hopefully some inspiration.

So hopefully that gives you a little bit of background about me and what has led me to this point. And now we'll move on to some of the topics I'll be covering. So I broadly wanted to structure some of the topics around three key concepts or pillars, the first one being celebrating people and community. And that might be interviews with small business owners or highlighting the work of someone adding positively to the community. The second one is regenerative planet, which will bring in conversations around new innovations that are being explored, adopted tested to help us create a new way of working that restores the earth. And the third one is about conscious creation. So I guess in a general sense product development, but product development in a way that considers its impact and new ways of doing things. For example, how you might design in circularity to a product. What are some of the accreditations that you need to know about? Or what are some of the lowest impact materials that you can use?

So, to recap, we've covered a little bit about me, what you can expect from the podcast and the general framework for choosing topics and guests. Thanks so much for listening. You'll find the show notes over at BelindaHumphrey.com forward slash podcast. And if you liked the sound of this podcast, hit subscribe so you don't miss out on future episodes. Thanks! See you next time.

Thanks for listening to the Fashion Unearthed podcast. If you want to get in touch head over to Belindahumphrey.com or you can find me on Instagram at @BelindaHumphrey_

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort is made to ensure that information is accurate at the time of recording, much like the fashion industry itself, this information may change.