WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press

This week's episode is an update from Accra, Ghana, and the situation at Kantamanto markets. It was recorded during the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen, where I met up with Liz Ricketts from The Or Foundation. Liz was with several community members from Kantamanto, including market trader Mary and upcycler Latifa - both featured on the podcast. Ultimately this is a story of resilience, entrepreneurship, creativity and skill.Kantamanto is one of the world’s biggest for physical markets for second-hand clothing, receiving an estimated 15 million used garments from the global north, EVERY WEEK. On the night of January 2nd, 2025, a huge fire ripped through 10 of the 13 sections in the market, affecting the majority of the estimated 30,000 people working there. It's a miracle more people weren't killed. Six months later, the market structure has been rebuilt, but there's still work to do. Find out how fundraising has been deployed, improvements have given all stallholders access to electricity and a new association of traders has been set up along with a unified security force trained in fire management. However problems persist around waste, the quality of what's in the bales and the dangerous work of female porters...Find Episode 150 with Liz, here.Read Clare's columns & support the show on Substack - wardrobecrisis.substack.comFind all the links for what's mentioned in this episode at thewardrobecrisis.comTell us what you think? Find Clare on Instagram @mrspressGot recommendations? Hit us up!And please leave us a rating / review in Spotify/ Apple & help us share these podcasts.THANK YOU x

Over the past few weeks, we've been diving into the world of weaving with natural fibres, exploring local textile traditions and capabilities, and don't get us wrong - we will always love that. But there's also a whole world of sciency possibilities shaking up the future of fabrics and fabulous ways.Pack your (metaphorical) bags for a European innovation tour!And get ready to answer some wild questions, like... What if bacteria could help us co-design a new generation of sustainable fabric dyes? Could we build a machine for that?Where does all the grape waste go from France's vineyards, and hey, what if we turned it into a fancy new animal-free leather alternative?And, how might one creative woman figure that out, DIY style, starting with a coffee grinder in her home kitchen? We all know polyester is plastic, right? So how come we expect our exercise gear to be moisture-wicking, when we're all at the gym encased in what's essentially sweaty, non-breathable, plastic-baggings? Who's ready for the ugly truth about the massive list of potentially toxic fabric finishing agents that fly under that radar? Okay! Don't panic - there's a new generation of clean, safe, bio-based alternatives...Featuring:Charlotte Werth, a bright young German Biodesigner specialising in bacterial dyeSamatha Mureau, an almost-French former fashion buyer turned alternative leather pioneer working with waste from the wine industry in the South of FranceMatthias Foessel, the infectiously upbeat force behind Swiss green chemistry company Beyond Surface TechnologiesFuture Fabrics Expo is on in London now - discover here.Find all the links & further reading at thewardrobecrisis.comTell us what you think? Find Clare on Instagram @mrspressGot recommendations? Hit us up!And please share these podcasts.THANK YOU x

Welcome to another episode about why it matters that we can make stuff locally.After last week's ep on Yorkshire's centuries-old wool recycling expertise, this time, as promised, Clare's taking you back to Australia, to see another inspiring mill in action.We're in Launceston, Tasmania to visit Australia's oldest continuously operating weaving mill.Waverley Mills has always worked with local wool, and over the years has woven all sorts of fabrics, from tweeds to flannels, but it's their blankets that made them famous. This is a story of tradition (during WW2 they produced blankets for the army), innovation (think, collaborating with Nudie Jeans to make the world’s first recycled blanket out of old denim), and continuity. But above all, it's about community - who's worked here for decades and who is apprenticing to learn the trade today; who grows the wool, and who has seen the ups and downs of this place over the years, and has a long view on why it matters. It's a story about ethical manufacturing, the possibilities for re-shoring, fibre sovereignty and being able to manufacture textiles where we live - just, all the important sustainability stuff! Enjoy!Find all the links & further reading at thewardrobecrisis.comTell us what you think? Find Clare on Instagram @mrspressGot recommendations? Hit us up!And please share these podcasts.THANK YOU x

Ever wondered how mechanical textile recycling actually works? What shoddy and mungo is, and why we called it that? What the rag n' bone man collected back in the day and how the trade grew up, then scaled back? And what it will take to bring it back and keep what's already here, going?Wonder no more! John Parkinson has a masterclass for you, complete with magic and secrets. For 200 years, Yorkshire made recycled wool cloth for the world. But don’t think its all disappeared. John’s mill in Huddersfield is aptly called iinouiio - an acronym for It Is Never Over Until It Is Over. With centuries of accumulated of skill and knowledge, they’re doing what they always did, only better.Find all the links & further reading at thewardrobecrisis.comTell us what you think? Find Clare on Instagram @mrspressGot recommendations? Hit us up!And please share these podcasts.THANK YOU x

What if the best place was the one you're already in? Meet Julia Roebuck, the powerhouse organiser behind Thread Republic Textile Reuse Hub and social enterprise in Huddersfield, UK.We're talking about textile skills, mending, repair, sewing, the wellbeing economy and what that might look like - at home. What fashion can be when we remove the transactional, when it's not just about shopping. And the immense satisfaction to be gotten from making something with your hands that you’re proud.Discover Thread Republic here:threadrepublic.co.ukFind all the links & further reading at thewardrobecrisis.comTell us what you think? Find Clare on Instagram @mrspressGot recommendations? Hit us up!And please share these podcasts.THANK YOU x

How do you feel about competition? Do you think it’s healthy? Natural? Are you that person who has to win at Scrabble or tennis or the pub quiz?Or maybe you've read your Gaia theory and are hooked on the idea of a harmonious, post-patriarchal ecosystem that's all about balance and working together.Many of us have come around to thinking that, at least when it comes to sustainability, it's being hyper-competitive that got into this mess. So you might be surprised to learn that competitive sustainability is the latest thing... we were!This week on the pod, find out what else we gleaned from Australia’s first big sustainable fashion conference.Featuring: New Era Bio, Alt Leather, Wildlife Drones and more.Thank you to the Growth Activists for making this episode possible.Find all the links & further reading at thewardrobecrisis.comTell us what you think? Find Clare on Instagram @mrspressGot recommendations? Hit us up!And please share these podcasts.THANK YOU x

Want a side of modern slavery with that?Didn't think so.Modern slavery is organised crime, and no one wants that lurking in their supply chain. Yet fashion and textiles are key industries implicated in this travesty that traps an estimated 50 million people worldwide in forced labour, debt bondage and human trafficking. Twelve per cent of those in forced labour are children, while women and girls are disproportionately affected. And the problem is growing, despite many countries introducing legislation to ensure large companies are taking steps to ensure their supply chains are slavery-free.All this is intrinsically linked to low wages and wage insecurity.As Outland Denim's James Bartle points out: "It isn't possible to make a pair pf jeans for $20, and pay people a living wage."So, where are we at with legislation and reporting on modern slavery today? What steps can brands be taking now to ensure exploitation is part of story of their products. Why do we still have so few brands paying living wages in 2025? And finally: is it time we built the true cost of a product into its final price?Recorded live at the Good For Business Sustainable Fashion Summit in Sydney.With thanks to The Growth Activists, Australia's leading B Corp consultancy,and speakers:Dr Nga Pham, senior Research Fellow, Monash Centre for Financial StudiesFraser Tier, Group Commercial Manager, Active Apparel GroupJames Bartle - CEO & Founder, Outland DenimSarah Rogan - Oxfam Australia's Economic Justice & Strategic LeadFind all the links & further reading at thewardrobecrisis.comTell us what you think? Find Clare on Instagram @mrspressGot recommendations? Hit us up!And please share these podcasts.THANK YOU x

Continuing our theme of fashion's crazily wasteful ways, and our focus on Latin America, this week, more Brazilian goodness, as Clare sits down with São Paolo-based industrial upcycler Agustina Comas.We're talking fast fashion, big business, athleisure's reliance on synthetics and rethinking pattern-cutting.BTW: how much do you know about pattern-cutting?If you've ever done this yourself at home with paper dressmaking patterns, you'll know that you pin these onto the fabric and cut around them.Sometimes using tailor's chalk to add markings. It's often trickier than it should be!The scraps - or offcuts - are the wastage round the edges. And they can pile up.On an industrial level, technicians also use paper markers. Multiple layers of fabrics are laid on the table, and many garments are being cut at a time, often using computer-controlled machines.Of course brands try to make the most of fabric yields, even if only to save money, so if multiple styles use the same fabric, you might see these placed intricately on the marker to form a complex jigsaw puzzle. At the end of the day, they still sweep the offcuts into the bin. Who cares? It's just scraps.In some cases, these scraps account for 35% of the fabric.Instant waste! Mad!Making new stuff out of wasted old stuff is a noble idea.But wouldn't it be better if we used less in the first place?Agustina's got a plan for that.Also up for discussion - Brazil's mighty craft heritage, and how women are leading the way; Shein's designs on the country (and everywhere else); and which South American designers are pushing innovation.Find all the links & further reading at thewardrobecrisis.comTell us what you think? Find Clare on Instagram @mrspressGot recommendations? Hit us up!And please share these podcasts.THANK YOU x

Hello! What are we actually doing? Our unwanted clothes don't belong dumped in Chile's beautiful Atacama Desert...Everyone knows reasons why the global north exports used clothing to the global south - it's because fashion is too fast, quality is too low, volumes are too high, and for rich countries it's often cheaper to export your problem than it is to deal with it onshore. But even if that wasn't the case, even if you had a big dream and deep pockets, that horse has bolted - the system at scale today is about global trade.Certainly, some of it is a reuse stream, some of it does get re-worn and recycled. Also sorted, processed and re-exported. But the fact is, too many of of these clothes become unsustainable waste that, once they reach their final destination, escape into the environment and pollute Nature and communities.According to the UN, about 40% of the clothes imported through Chile's Iquique free trade zone in the northern Atacama, have no value in the local second-hand clothing market and cannot be re-exported. Many end up dumped in the desert.In our annual Fashion Revolution ep, we meet the activists and creatives behind a genius campaign - Recommerce Atacama. Bastian Barria and Angela Astudillo from Desierto Vestido have joined forces with creative agency Art Plan, ecommerce platform Vtex, and Fashion Revolution Brazil to sell these clothes back to where they come from. The price? Zero dollars. The slogan: "Don't buy, rescue!"Clare sits down with Fernanda Simon and Paula Lagrotta to unpack the issues.More info at thewardrobecrisis.comTell us what you think? Find Clare on Instagram @mrspressGot recommendations? Hit us up!And please share these podcasts.THANK YOU.