‘Owning it’, with me, Rachel Arthur, is all about empowering people to work in the fast-paced and ever evolving world of sustainable fashion. It’s about enabling more of you to arrive here and indeed, own it, as well as then thrive within it.

In 2023, I started a series of monthly office hours sessions on sustainable fashion. These are virtual drop-in calls for students and young professionals in this field to come and ask me questions; a type of group mentoring if you will. The idea was in response to the fact that I, like many others, get dozens of requests every month to speak to people about the work that I do, how the industry is changing, how to move into sustainability, what career advice I can share, and beyond. While I have always tried to have as many of these conversations as possible, it’s impossible of course to do all.

So I came up with a solution I hoped would enable me to reach more people in as open a way as possible, and it was wildly more successful than I ever expected it to be. This Substack is my latest incarnation of that thought process; a platform to further support such discussions.

‘Owning it’ is aiming to paint a picture of what it's like to be in sustainable fashion as a profession, from the reality of the work - all the highs and all the lows - to the who to know and what to know and where to find out more about it. It's intended to help those in fashion wanting to be in sustainability, and those in sustainability wanting to be in (sustainable) fashion. It's as much for those starting out as those starting over. And it will accordingly also be a place to connect over it all, to build a community of like-minded individuals and to facilitate some solid peer-to-peer networking.

Note: the notion of ‘owning it’ is also a play on words - thus you can expect this space to further be about my favourite (and day job) topic of redirecting consumerism and indeed ownership in a world of overconsumption and oversupply. This isn’t a place to talk business as usual; it’s about how we drive genuine and large scale systems change, and how we own our role and responsibility as changemakers to do so. Fashion today is a world of unchecked growth, extraction and exploitation - nothing else will cut it.

To own it (verb): Taking ownership and doing a thing well and thoroughly; to embrace and exhibit something about oneself with confidence; to make something (all) your own.

To own (verb): Belonging to a particular person or thing.

How does it work?

To become part of this community of like-minded individuals finding their way in sustainable fashion, please participate in the comments section, support this work with a subscription or join me for my next call.

My sustainable fashion office hours are continuing for free on a first come, first served basis for students and young people (those with under five years professional experience) every month. You will always hear about them here first, so sign up to receive notifications.

But, from now on, and in response to ongoing requests, there will also be additional sessions for those more established in their careers to join. To do so, you will need to become a professional member of the ‘Owning it’ community.