How to "own it" in sustainable fashion
Your new guide to working in the fast-paced and ever evolving world of sustainable fashion.
When you first live in New York as an expat, the experience feels intensely unique. You're a newcomer in the big city, figuring out how to make it among all those already in the flow of the bright lights and busy streets. You cluster with those who have found their way there through similar work, or who come originally from the same place as you (in my case, London).
It's not until you've found some rhythm and started to step out of your comfort zone a touch, that you realise everyone else is in the same boat, or certainly has been. Yes there are native New Yorkers, those born and bred in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and surrounds, but the majority of inhabitants at any one time are also outsiders still finding their feet no matter how many years it has been.
Sustainability is just like that. And per my experience, sustainable fashion is especially. Of course there are those who have lived and breathed environmentalism or human rights (for instance) their entire lives, but in the main, we have all arrived from somewhere else. We have found our way to this place and we're steadily understanding how to make it home, not to mention how to truly make an impact. We’ve realised at some point along the way, that this is the only work that matters. That if we’re going to work in fashion, we have to contribute to changing it from the unsustainable model it is built upon across environmental, economic and social angles. And thus, we've grabbed hold of all of the opportunity it presents us, and we're owning it.
I'm fascinated by those journeys - that version of 'how did you get here' and 'why did you come', and how indeed you are owning the nuance (so much nuance!) of the role you're now in.
I know people in sustainable fashion from design, from marketing, from finance and beyond. I know someone who started with costumes in Hollywood, and someone who has walked the catwalk of every designer brand you can think of. I know someone who comes from writing about oil, and someone else who started out on a shop floor selling clothes and selling them hard. We are a mixed bag and a varied bunch, with a million different experiences to learn from and to offer up in this rapidly evolving landscape.
And THAT is what makes the potential of the systems change we need for sustainability to become a reality, feel possible. We are forging new ground every day, and for that, we need to lean in hard to the role that all of us can individually, and thus collectively, play.
So ‘Owning it with Rachel Arthur’ is aiming to contribute to this element of what sustainable fashion needs to be about in a bid to enable more people to arrive here and indeed, own it, as well as then thrive within it. I could spout constantly about the day job; about what is happening in the sector to realise real change away from its model of unchecked growth, extraction and exploitation (and no doubt at times I will - focused particularly on areas such as overconsumption and oversupply; aka the other side of what I mean of course by 'owning it', or the mountains of product that refers to).
But what I get asked by people the most is what they themselves can do, how they can get involved and what advice I have on how to be a part of this world. The short answer is very simple in all honesty: find the thing you love, the thing you're good at, and apply it. Then ultimately, own it. Do it now and don’t look back. We need everyone and every skillset.
But, of course, there’s far more to unpack than that. So here we go...
'Owning it' is aiming to paint a picture of what it's like to work in sustainable fashion, 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 - for the fledglings and the phoenixes, with a few fashion peacocks thrown in for good measure (nod to Suzy Menkes here and a reference link for posterity!) 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.
I already do monthly office hours calls (virtual drop-in mentoring sessions) for students and young graduates, which, as pictured above and off the back of LinkedIn alone, have been a huge success. But I’ve been repeatedly asked to open those out. So from now on, per the professional member option on here, there will also be other sessions for those more established in their careers and in a position to pay to join.
I should caveat all of this with the fact I am by no means a careers expert (if you’re looking for one, I regularly work with an incredible coach of my own FYI). I don’t have the perfect advice always for what to do, but I want to share the experiences I have had in sustainable fashion, the things I am fortunate to have access to, and the insights I gain from others along the way.
So join me! I can’t wait to get to know you all and to welcome you to this world. It’s bloody hard work, but we’re doing it, and hopefully, we're owning it too.
Looking forward to these discussions and about all the journeys.
This is the leadership we need in the sustainable fashion industry! So excited to be a part of this movement.