New chapter: Introducing Post Growth Fashion Agency
...and Research-To-Action webinars... and a community that will discuss radical ideas on post growth fashion in a no-nonsense way
Newsletter 1. (has to be marked:)
Dear Friends,
Sorry for writing so rarely over the past few months. I took the summer off for most part, spending time on a much needed self-pity exercise after my break-up with academia, which was all part of a bigger healing process and getting back on my feet. And I’m back with some cool new beginnings that I cannot wait to share with you! There are three key points:
1. An agency is born
In August, I spent three weeks working to translate my academic and research competencies into an offer that can help make the world a better place. Building on my expertise in fashion consumption, urban transitions towards sustainable fashion, post-consumer textiles, and policy, I decided to create the Post Growth Fashion Agency, dedicated to working with change makers in the textiles/fashion space:
Post Growth Fashion Agency stands apart from traditional consulting services in the fashion space because, well, we don’t really work with fashion brands. Our services are tailored to non-profit organizations, cities, charities, foundations, industry associations and all the other actors who are working to change how we consume, produce and dispose of fashion.
My successful track record in this field includes, among others:
developing a concept for LЁT’Z REFASHION, a one-stop-shop for all the alternatives to fast fashion for Luxembourg - which has been funded by the government of Luxembourg in 2021 and ran by Caritas Luxembourg since then, at the very heart of Luxembourg City
writing a report on sustainable fashion for Geneva, which contained specific policy recommendations for the City and inspired including over-consumption of clothes in the Geneva Climate Strategy (2022) and funding of a major slow fashion festival GardRErobe (taking place this November! Yay!)
developing the first ever white paper to understand how sufficiency can be mainstreamed in textile policies, with ECOS, a Brussels-based advocacy group working on standards and pushing for the strongest regulations on textiles (to be publicly released this month)
There are many wonderful, passionate people working on changing the fashion system beyond how brands produce, and Post Growth Fashion Agency is there to help develop social change initiatives, policies and local transformation processes towards circular and sufficient fashion system.
Are you working to change fashion consumption patterns and create vibrant local circular textile ecosystems and need advice?
I am here for you.
You may have noticed how my list explicitly excludes fashion brands, the primary target audience of many sustainable fashion consulting services. It’s not because I don’t believe that big brands can change. It’s because I believe they won’t.
There are some wonderful sustainability professionals working for fast fashion brands and I really feel sorry for them as they try their best to make a difference internally, only to get shut down by the CEOs and the bottom line. (Your time will come, ladies and gentlemen! Don’t get discouraged! You are going against nothing less than a whole liberal growth-oriented economic system…)
But Post Growth Fashion Agency does and will continue to work with purpose-driven brands and start-ups building circular businesses compatible with post growth.
What is a post growth fashion business, you may ask?
A short answer is: there is no clear one-size-fits-all definition, and we are figuring it out as we go. In my case, I have both a theoretical background in degrowth research AND a personal experience of building a post-growth-compatible apparel brand, Well Rounded, - so I have a lot of ideas and lessons to share, to save you time and money when it comes to building a purpose-driven circular apparel company or product.
If you are building a circular apparel product or brand, book a call with me to discuss questions about materials, design, suppliers, marketing, and, of course, strategy.
I also LOVE public speaking and have over a hundred hours of talks about sustainable fashion behind my belt (that doesn’t include teaching:). I am available to talk on panels, in workshops - or at private, in-house events about sustainable fashion. We had a very nice webinar for La Roche, for example, in which I talked about sustainable fashion consumption options with the over a hundred employees of the company, as part of their Sustainability Club.
If you are looking for an inspirational and well-informed speaker on sustainable fashion, in English or French, book a call with me to discuss more.
2. Post Growth (?) Fashion Futures: From Research to Action
Ok, now that the “formal” part is out of the way, I am just so happy to share a brilliant idea that kept me up for a whole night when it came to me… For a while now, having worked on fashion policy and advocacy, I have been feeling that there is a huge gap between what we do in research and what makes it into public conversations and, eventually, informs advocacy campaigns and policies.
Research on sustainable fashion has debunked a number of false assumptions already a while ago, like the myth that higher durability will reduce over-consumption and overproduction - which are still lingering in official policy documents and inform policies and regulations that are simply misplaced!
Having founded and led the International research network on Sustainable Fashion Consumption for over five years, I know how advanced some of the discussions are in academic circles. But researchers’ voices are so rarely heard at the international fora, including the EU Parliament and the UN!
To bridge this gap, as part of the Post Growth Fashion Agency, I decided to launch, unilaterally and un-apologetically, a series of monthly public webinars with top research voices in the field of sustainable fashion. We will discuss the latest findings and news from their sub-field - and (my favorite) talk about their vision of a post growth (?) future for fashion.
Webinars will be free to attend on the actual day of the event. The recordings and transcripts will then be saved in the archive for paid subscribers on this Substack.
We already have the first webinar tomorrow with the fabulous Claudia E. Henninger, one of the most prolific (and humble) researchers working on sustainable fashion. We have over seventy RSVPs already - join us, there’s still time to register:)
3. Post Growth Fashion community on Substack
I know, I know, there are a million communities out there already and you are likely already part of more than a human being can handle. I know I am:)
But!
Let me tell you a story behind my vision for this community.
When I was a teenager, I loved history, and my favorite stories were about intellectual communities, groups, than united around different interests. It could have been philosophy, poetry or writing circles, art and painting groups, music (of course), politics or economics.
These groups would discuss and push forward new ways of thinking or doing in their respective areas and some of these groups really left a mark in history. For example, “Magnificent Rebels”, a book by a historian Andrea Wulf, tells a story of an intellectuals’ circle that formed the German romantic movement in Germany. My favorite Pre-Rafaelite Brotherhood in the second half of the nineteenth century revolutionized art and bridged it with craft.
A painting by Dante Gabriel Rosetti, a famous pre-raffaelite, La Ghirlandata. Because why not add beauty here?
My dream is to bring together different people and visions and ideas to push fashion conversations beyond its (stagnating) status quo. I would love to have interesting discussions about how the future of fashion could look like if we move beyond growth-driven economies and societies.
Our planet is in a desperate need of healing. And we need more women take part in difficult conversations about the future we want, including how our economies, political structures, international institutions should look like. Fashion happens to be among topics that is close to many women’s hearts. And through this prism we can actually address all of these questions. (Men, OF COURSE, are also welcome! But increasing women’s engagement is critical.)
Degrowth/ post-growth conversations are taking different shapes but I am a firm believer that one of the best ways to advance them is to apply general principles and ideas to specific contexts.
Why not try to see how we can move fashion away from the growth-oriented model? Not waiting for someone to come and fix things for us but taking matters into our own hands? What will we need? What kind of support? What kind of policies?
Developing a vision together is a thrilling exercise. I know from experience, after working on Fashion Futures 2040 with “only” a dozen co-authors. The more we are, the more perspectives and nuances we bring, the richer the conversations will be.
I invite you to join the community by becoming a paid subscriber to this Substack.
At a modest price of 6,- Euros per month, you will get access to:
all of the paid posts by myself - and we contributions by invitation (stay tuned!)
all of the recordings of the Research-To-Action webinars and their transcripts
bi-weekly threads / conversations around difficult questions of moving fashion forward, where you can share your opinion, ask questions and otherwise engage with your peers
bi-monthly open fora events, held online, during which we will discuss topics and posts published in the past months, in an intellectual circle atmosphere
Of course, you can stay as a free subscriber - the newsletter of the Post Growth Fashion Agency will be published here monthly, with some interesting research insights and latest developments in post growth conversations!
If you read it until here, THANK YOU:)
I hope to see you at the webinar tomorrow and as part of the Post Growth Fashion community soon!
Kind regards,
Katia