While dressing with less is one of the best ways to simplify your closet and your life, and is also very eco-friendly, I want to spend the next year exploring how we can do better. Let’s learn about the true-cost of fast fashion and how our shopping habits impact us, our families and the world.
Less will still be the focus but expect new challenges, thoughtful guest contributions and a greater understanding of how powerful your consumption decisions are.
I want to learn about how we can support sustainable fashion, but the truth is, I don’t know much about that. Like most of our journey, we will be learning together from the best in the industry.
I am happy to welcome and introduce our first expert and friend of mine, Shannon Whitehead. She will be helping us navigate the sustainable fashion landscape.
Shannon Whitehead
Tell us about some of the changes you’ve made in your life and career over the past few months?
There are so many! I’ll aim for the short version… From 2010 to 2012, I ran {r}evolution apparel, a sustainable clothing company for female travelers and minimalists, with my co-founder Kristin Glenn. We spent last summer driving a ‘93 conversion van down the coast of the Pacific Northwest on a “sustainable fashion tour.” In November, we finished the first production-run of our signature piece, the Versalette, one garment that can be worn over 20 different ways.
By the end of 2012, we started to reevaluate what we wanted for the future and where we saw ourselves in 2013. We had originally started our business to create freedom, passion and purpose for ourselves, but our initial vision had become foggy after such a whirlwind two years.
Kristin and I decided to close {r}evolution apparel, so we could each focus on the new goals we had for our lives. It was a huge decision to walk away from the momentum of a successful company we had built for ourselves, but we knew in our hearts it was right.
Moving forward, I knew I wanted to take what I had learned from starting my own line and help others in the sustainable fashion industry. I now work with designers and established ethical apparel companies on branding, social media and marketing.
What were you doing in Bali?
I launched my new website and business at 3am (Bali time) from underneath a mosquito net. Being on an island, so far from my normal life, was the perfect way to start something new. I was doing yoga, eating raw foods, drinking lots of green juice, and going for long walks. I was surrounded by rice paddies and solitude – it was amazing. I also started writing a book.
I felt strongly that the {r}evolution apparel story needed to be told, as well as my own transformation from a former shopaholic to a current “crusader” of sustainable fashion. The intention was to finish the book by the time I left Bali (basically in a month), but after writing 35,000 words, I scrapped the whole thing and started over. I’m now almost finished with the rough draft of the second version.
What is one small step we can take for big impact?
It definitely starts with baby steps. My own journey started two and a half years ago and is still a work in progress. My suggestion is to start by looking at the labels of the clothes you buy – just check out where the garment was made and what fibers it was made from. It’s such a small, easy thing, but it’s the first step towards becoming a mindful consumer. That’s really how change is made – by shifting your thought process.
Is the Versalette still available?
We’re completely sold out. The good news is that Kristin is going to incorporate the Versalette into her new company, Seamly.co. She’s working with designers in Denver on a clothing line of limited-edition, American-made apparel that will debut in April.
Back in September, we worked with designers in Portland, OR on a “Versalette 2.0” prototype, so I’m really excited to see it in production. Anyone who wants to get on the Seamly.co insider list can sign up here.
What are some interesting sustainable fashion brands or people doing important work in the sustainable fashion movement?
Fashioning Change is an awesome resource for ethical alternatives to mainstream brands. You can browse the site and cater your search, depending on what you’re looking for (style, color, price, etc.). I love what the Fashioning Change team is doing, and they have incredible standards.
There are also two websites, Twice and Nifty Thrifty, that are basically online consignment shops. You can sell your old clothes (depending on quality and designer), and they’ll pay for the shipping. On the flip side, you can also buy used clothes from them. I’m a huge advocate of thrift shopping – it’s an awesome way to reduce the amount of textiles going into the landfill and give “trash” a second life.
I also have to mention Stacy Flynn from the Future Resource Collective, Kate Fletcher (www.katefletcher.com) and her Local Wisdom project, Orsola de Castro and her Reclaim to Wear initiative, authors Lucy Siegle and Elizabeth Cline, and the team at Redress Raleigh. All are innovators and doing big things for the future of the fashion industry.
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Shannon Whitehead is a sustainable fashion consultant, writer and speaker. In 2010, she co-founded {r}evolution apparel, a sustainable clothing company for female travelers and minimalists that has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes.com, TheWallStreetJournal.com and Yahoo! News.
Shannon has appeared as a speaker at the World Education Congress and a guest lecturer at San Francisco’s Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. She now works with companies and designers to propel them forward as frontrunners in the sustainable fashion movement. To learn more about her work visit www.shannonwhitehead.com or follow her on Twitter at @ShannLW.