In episode 253, Kestrel welcomes Hilary Jochmans, the founder of consulting firm Politically In Fashion, to the show. Politically In Fashion & Hilary’s name have been popping up a lot in the fashion space, after she helped pen an official letter to President Biden, calling for him to appoint a fashion czar.
“You think about all the different areas that touch fashion and fashion, in respect, it touches as well. You've got immigration, you've got trade, you've got tax issues, you've got water resource issues, you have sustainability issues, you have labor issues, you have a myriad of issues that are currently handled in Washington in a dozen different agencies. So, the idea of the fashion czar was to pull someone who could look at all these different spaces (sort of at the 30,000 foot level) and say — 'okay, here's where we need to have everyone come together'.”
-Hilary
Have you heard any of the chatter advocating for a fashion czar? And you may be asking - what in the world is a czar anyways?
Throughout history, the U.S. government has appointed czars for various reasons — they have focused on the auto industry, drugs, energy, and beyond. A czar is basically someone senior in the administration who has a very defined role and mission and most importantly - someone who has the ear of the President.
Hilary helped pen a letter to President Biden earlier this year, requesting that his administration appoint a FASHION czar to help regulate fashion like other big sectors — and to help elevate the issues and needs of the fashion & retail industry directly to the President.
This is just a glimpse of what we explore on the show. It’s all about the politics of fashion — from requesting a fashion czar to breaking down what The Green Guides mean, to unveiling more ways we can all get involved, this conversation is centered around deconstructing how policy intersects with fashion and sustainability.
Quotes & links from the conversation:
“President Biden, Appoint A Fashion Czar!” in Fast Company, the original article by Elizabeth Segran that sparked the idea to send a letter to President Biden
“I think the days of just ignoring government and pretending that there’s not going to be regulation — I think those days are over.” -Hilary
If you don’t know who your members of Congress are — go to congress.gov and type in your address, and they will pop up.
In their last update (2012), The Green Guides DID NOT touch on sustainability and they DID NOT touch on organic and natural.
“I think it’s important — even if we don’t define the word sustainability — that we put some sort of guardrails on the term, cause if you’re just throwing the term around — this is sustainable, that’s sustainable, and there’s nothing to back it up, it’s gonna lose all meaning.” -Hilary
“Speaking of beauty and cosmetics, The Cosmetics Act has not been updated since 1934.” -Hilary
“FTC’s Updated ‘Green Guides’ Could Clamp Down on Greenwashing” in WWD
“The Politics Of Fashion” in Marie Claire
“Allbirds, ThredUp, More Ask Biden to Appoint ‘Fashion Czar’” in WWD
““We Have The Power Of The Purse”: Why It’s Our Duty To Keep Up The Good Things Happening In Fashion” in Vogue
Federal Advocacy Guide by Politically In Fashion
Green Guides 101 by Politically In Fashion
Politically In Fashion website >
Follow Politically In Fashion on Instagram >
Wafa Ghnaim of Tatreez and Tea & Dr. Tanveer Ahmed of Central Saint Martins on preserving culture, decolonial frameworks, and how intersectional reform can be a pathway toward sustainable fashion futu
Sustainable fashion podcasters unite — Emily Stochl of Pre-Loved Podcast & Stella Hertantyo of Conscious Style Podcast help us reflect on 11 years since Rana Plaza, celebrating collective movements
Upcycling artists Francisco Alcazar & Ella Wiznia of Series NY are redefining sustainable fashion while reimagining craft & challenging the gender binary
How gender plays into the devaluing of knowledge and its links to sustainable fashion & wellness with Megan Schnitker of Lakota Made and Niha Elety of Tega Collective
Celebrating the cultural tradition, past and present, of Palestinian Tatreez with artists / educators Lina Barkawi and Eman Toom & why sustainable fashion must include cultural sustainability
Intergenerational knowledge & sustainable fashion — how clothing is more than just aesthetics; it’s about the upholding of cultural practices and the amplifying of knowledge & traditions
Vintage stylist Beth Jones & Dounia Wone of Vestiaire Collective on whether fast fashion brands fit into the resale experience
Why self work is integral to advocating for transformation in fashion & why we must deeply question our personal values to truly get active in creating a more sustainable fashion future
Denali Jöel on fashion as an art praxis rooted in Afro-Indigenous philosophies, interrogating the emphasis placed on the *industry* & reminding us of the possibility of creating new ecosystems
Julius Tillery aka the "Puff Daddy Of Cotton" on the need to remix both the perception of the cotton industry and the business model
Cassandra Pintro of Consumption Project on welcoming her community to challenge their buying habits and question what is *enough*
Jeanell English on navigating the pressure to project a certain image in business & across climate spaces and balancing the worlds of activists & execs as a leader in impact
Muchaneta Ten Napel on utilizing tech as a tool to change how fashion does business, not a crutch that will *save us all* & preparing for the fashion policy changes that are on the horizon
*Breaking It Down* with Rachel Arthur, lead author of The Sustainable Fashion Communication Playbook, an actionable guide co-published by UNEP and UN Climate Change
Tameka Peoples of Seed2Shirt on rebuilding equitable + just cotton systems & fostering the reclamation of cotton acreage for Black farmers
Lisa Diegel, Global Sustainability Director, on Faherty's Native Initiatives, what mutually beneficial relationships can look like in practice, and the nuanced ways brands must take responsibility for
Eric Liedtke of UNLESS on pressing fashion to ditch the plastic ingredients and ideating on what it will take for corporations to truly change
A new era of storytelling at Conscious Chatter, meet our newest team member Natalie Shehata & what slow media means for us in practice
Jessie Frances (@cappuccinosandconsignment) on the complications with resale's *moment* — fast fashion addictions becoming secondhand addictions, luxury's obsession with exclusivity & the gentrifica
Winona Quigley of Green Matters Natural Dye Company on reimagining what *scale* means for natural dyeing & how accessibility and limits also play into the idea of *growth*
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL