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Creative Conversations with Suzy Menkes
ORSOLA DE CASTRO- Sustainability expert
Welcome to the fourth series of Creative Conversations with Suzy Menkes where we are celebrating a year since I launched the first episode of my podcast: an interview with Maria Grazia Chiuri of Dior.
In the first episode of this new season, I am joined by Orsola de Castro who spearheaded the global movement for change within the fashion industry and now heads Fashion Revolution.
For Orsola de Castro, all you need is love. Love for fashion, and love for all beautiful things - that last. Talking now, in 2021, to the passionate founder of Fashion Revolution, is a lesson about lasting. Or, as she puts it: “Re-wearing your clothes can be a revolutionary act.”
Loved Clothes Last is the title of her new book, published by Penguin Random House - and a passionate ode to the rebirth of old friends, lurking in closets and stuffed into drawers.
Up-cycling is so much more than a fashionable trend. For Orsola, it was born of the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh, where an eight story building, rammed with clothing workers, collapsed eight years ago in 2013, leaving a death toll of 1,134.
Instead of wringing her hands, like so many in the fashion business, Orsola asked herself WHY people demanded ever cheaper clothes - and what could be done to make a lasting difference.
It was then that Orsola founded fashion‘s largest global activism movement: 'Fashion Revolution’ . It was designed to change the way the industry works, and to bring cultural change in our attitude to clothes.
April 19th until 25th marks Fashion Revolution Week where over 100 countries will come together to take responsibility, remember the lives lost, and demand that no one should die for fashion.
In our conversation, Orsola’s urgent enthusiasm reminds us that we can all be fashion revolutionists. That our clothes deserve new lives, instead of being cast off and thrown away.
Her book is a mix of practical repair with thoughtful and passionate commitment to fabric and treatment that would prolong life.
The 8th Fashion Revolution week is happening across the world from the 19-25th April.
There are many ways in which you can participate, spread the word and educate yourself. Let’s believe that today’s fashion and textile industry CAN change, and evolve, and become more transparent.
Visit fashionrevolution.org to get involved.
Produced by Natasha Cowan @tashonfash
Edited by Tim Thornton @timwthornton
Music by @joergzuber
Graphics by Paul Wallis
To find Suzy's articles visit https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/suzy-menkes
...find Suzy on Instagram @suzymenkes and Twitter @thesuzymenkes
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33:26Suzy sits down with London-based fashion designer Bella Freud, to talk about her life, career and larger-than-life family background. Produced by Natasha Cowan @tashonfash Edited by Tim Thornton @timwthornton Music by @joergzuber Graphics by Paul Wallis To find Suzy's articles visit https://suzymenkes.com ...find Suzy on Instagram @suzymenkes and Twitter @thesuzymenkes
2. JEAN PAUL GAULTIER AND SIMONE ROCHA
35:28Suzy travels to Paris to speak to Simone Rocha and Jean Paul Gaultier about Simone's highly anticipated Jean Paul Gaultier couture collection. Produced by Natasha Cowan @tashonfash Edited by Tim Thornton @timwthornton Music by @joergzuber Graphics by Paul Wallis To find Suzy's articles visit https://suzymenkes.com ...find Suzy on Instagram @suzymenkes and Twitter @thesuzymenkes
1. JEFF AND ÉMILIE GOLDBLUM
47:40Suzy meets Jeff and Émilie Goldblum, perhaps the most charming couple in all of Hollywood, and speaks to them about fashion, life, work, family... and la dolce vita nella bella italia! https://www.emiliegoldblum.com/ Produced by Natasha Cowan @tashonfash Edited by Tim Thornton @timwthornton Music by @joergzuber Graphics by Paul Wallis Thanks to Damian Samuels To find Suzy's articles visit https://suzymenkes.com ...find Suzy on Instagram @suzymenkes and Twitter @thesuzymenkes
5. ANTONIO MONFREDA
31:28Suzy finds out how art direction makes the fashion and luxury universe tick, by speaking to a world specialist: art director and curator Antonio Monfreda. Produced by Natasha Cowan @tashonfash Edited by Tim Thornton @timwthornton Music by @joergzuber Graphics by Paul Wallis To find Suzy's articles visit https://suzymenkes.com ...find Suzy on Instagram @suzymenkes and Twitter @thesuzymenkes
4. SARAH MOWER - NEWGEN EXHIBITION, REBEL
38:54Suzy speaks to the British Fashion Council's Ambassador for Emerging Talent, Sarah Mower MBE, about her work and the exhibition celebrating 30 years of the NEWGEN programme, Rebel. https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/rebel-30-years-of-london-fashion Produced by Natasha Cowan @tashonfash Edited by Tim Thornton @timwthornton Music by @joergzuber Graphics by Paul Wallis To find Suzy's articles visit https://suzymenkes.com ...find Suzy on Instagram @suzymenkes and Twitter @thesuzymenkes
3. JJ MARTIN'S LA DOUBLE J
37:58Suzy has a lively conversation with JJ Martin, the American entrepreneur and designer who has taken Italy by storm. Produced by Natasha Cowan @tashonfash Edited by Tim Thornton @timwthornton Music by @joergzuber Graphics by Paul Wallis To find Suzy's articles visit https://suzymenkes.com ...find Suzy on Instagram @suzymenkes and Twitter @thesuzymenkes
2. BOB MACKIE
30:40Suzy has a wide-ranging chat with the sultan of sequins himself, Hollywood costumier Bob Mackie. Link to the V&A exhibition Diva https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/diva Produced by Natasha Cowan @tashonfash Edited by Tim Thornton @timwthornton Music by @joergzuber Graphics by Paul Wallis To find Suzy's articles visit https://suzymenkes.com ...find Suzy on Instagram @suzymenkes and Twitter @thesuzymenkes
1. STUART VEVERS - COACH NYC
35:58Suzy is back for her ninth season! On the eve of his tenth anniversary at the company, Suzy speaks to her friend Stuart Vevers, Executive Creative Director of Coach New York. Produced by Natasha Cowan @tashonfash Edited by Tim Thornton @timwthornton Music by @joergzuber Graphics by Paul Wallis To find Suzy's articles visit https://suzymenkes.com ...find Suzy on Instagram @suzymenkes and Twitter @thesuzymenkes
SUZY ON "IF JEWELS COULD TALK WITH CAROL WOOLTON" - THE ROYAL JEWELS
41:32For this Coronation bonus episode, we're bringing you a great conversation with Suzy on If Jewels Could Talk, the podcast presented by Vogue's jewellery contributing editor Carol Woolton. They speak about Suzy's jewel predictions for the big day, who she thinks is the best-jewelled Royal, what it truly means for an item of jewellery to "belong" to the Royal Family - and much more.Thanks from Carol to Suzy, for letting her share the episode!For more of Carol's podcast, visit http://carolwoolton.com/podcastsThis episode is brought to you by @fuligemstonesFollow Carol Woolton: @carolwooltonProduced by Natasha Cowan @tashonfashMusic & editing by Tim Thornton @timwthorntonSuzy's theme by @joergzuberCreative direction by Scott Bentley @bentleycreativeIllustrations Jordi Labanda @jordilabandaRead Carol Woolton in Vogue magazine – vogue.co.uk/fashion/jewellery and carolwoolton.com