On November 13, fashion innovators and eco-conscious educators came together for the sixth session of the CFDA and Theory’s Good Talks series.
Titled “The Language of Conscious Design,” it was moderated by Wendy Waugh, Founder of Golden Collective Incorporated, with panelists including Tina Bhojwani, co-founder and CEO at Aera; Danielle McNally, executive editor at InStyle; and Carmen Gama, director of circular design at Eileen Fisher.
The conversation went past the usual buzzwords of sustainability, diving into the practical realities of innovation, consumer behavior, and the shared language needed to make sustainability a priority for everyone.
Here, some highlights from the conversations.
Wendy Waugh: Throughout your career, what has been your biggest “aha” moment?
Carmen Gama: We are really trying to scale textile recycling. The biggest “aha” moment so far has been figuring out how to design a system that supports those products. It can’t just be one person or team; it has to be an integration with goals and values. It must come from top leadership, from the C-suite level.
W.W.: What have been some of the challenges you have faced when it comes to integrating sustainable materials within your shoes?
Tina Bhojwani: It has been a little over five years now, and there have been so many challenges. You are trying to innovate something as the world is shutting down, while also balancing wholesale and partnerships.
W.W.: What do you think consumers are responding to right now in terms of buying sustainability?
Danielle McNally: Definitely transparency and clarity. There is a lot of confusion around what is transparent. There are talks about renting clothing and asking if it is actually sustainable. Also, emotion encourages a lot of how the consumers respond. Right now, nostalgia is huge, and it encourages vintage, thrifting, and retail. Their [consumers’] first thought is vintage is really cool right now.
W.W.: How can sustainability share language between creative, technical, and marketing teams?
C.G.: It has to become common ground. It has be a foundation for all and then everybody just follows that so it’s not like a silo team or a one-person team job.
Final thoughts from the panelists
T.B.: I think [Jane Goodall] is so remarkable in the work she did. She said something very simple that has always resonated with me – “Every single person in this world has an impact.” It feels overwhelming for people to see what’s going on in the world and to understand the problems and to feel like they’ve made a difference. We just need to remember that each one of us does have the power and one small difference can contribute to something really important.
C.G.: It’s baby steps, we can’t change this monster industry overnight, it has to be baby small, incremental steps because with everything that is happening in the world, it is very easy to get discouraged.
D.M.: Make that promise to yourself that at least one gift that you buy will be from a sustainable company, or that you regift something that doesn’t work for you personally anymore. Just make some sort of sustainable gifting decision this season.
