S2: Ep 8 | Mothers of Invention

S2 - EPISODE 8:

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The fashion industry constitutes 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions today, and is reported to be the fifth-largest polluting sector in the world. But with a growing ambition to both revisit ancient practices and develop futuristic technologies, can fast fashion quickly adapt and reverse its reputation into one of positive change? Eco-fashion designer, Thao Vu of Kilomet109 guest hosts this week’s episode from Hanoi, Vietnam, as she, Mary and Maeve discuss what it would take for big business to scale up sustainability principles for good.

Episode 8 Notes:

As a result of long supply chains and energy intensive production, the fashion industry is now the fifth-largest polluting sector in the world constituting 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In this week’s episode, we take a look at the $2.5 trillion dollar industry to explore the potential of a triple bottom line: people, profits and planet. This week’s guest host is Vietnamese-born, Thao Vu, an eco-fashion designer and founder of label, Kilomet109. Her return to traditional dying practices, handmade silk production and waste management is opening up conversations on how to rethink what we expect from our clothing. And Céline Semaan is a Lebanese-Canadian sustainability literacy consultant and educator for the fashion industry based in New York. She talks us through the concepts of slow fashion and circularity, and whether it really can affect change in the industry.

MOTHERS

MEET THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION

Thao Vu

Eco Fashion Designer

Hanoi, Vietnam

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Thao is an award-winning eco fashion designer, and founder of Hanoi-based fashion label, Kilomet109. Kilomet109 is committed to preserving traditional Vietnamese weaving and dying practices, and is using her brand to educate new designers on sustainable fashion.

Thao was born near the end of the Communist era in Northern Vietnam where she grew up in a coupon economy in Thái Bình. At an early age, Thao learned how to make housewares such as chairs and lightbulbs, and eventually clothing, which put her in training for the over 200 pieces she would ship to her sister and friends after they had emigrated to the Czech Republic during the Cold War.

Watching the growth of the fast fashion industry in Vietnam, Thao was compelled to preserve traditional clothes-making practices, dignity for workers and sustainability practices back into the local fashion industry.

Support Thao by: reading more about her growing, dying, weaving and waste management practices and investing in her sustainable fashion at Kilomet 109 . You can also study natural dying with Thao in Hanoi via Vacation With An Artist.

Follow Thao on social media:

Instagram:

@kilomet109

Facebook:

@kilomet109

Céline Semaan

Founder of Slow Factory & The Library Study Hall

New York, U.S.A.

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Céline is the founder of The Library Study Hall, a forum she created to educate the fashion industry on sustainability literacy, and Slow Factory, a research and development lab that helps fashion brands determine how to repurpose their waste.

Céline was made a refugee by the civil war in Beirut, Lebanon. Her memories of Beirut are of a cosmopolitan, fashion-forward city, where sharp style and good tailoring were an essential aspect of modern culture.

Commuting between Lebanon and Canada after the war as a teenager, Céline saw the devastating effects on human rights and the environment in Beirut, juxtaposed with the disposable nature of fast fashion in Montréal- both experiences influenced her deeply. She firmed her unique perspectives on fashion in New York City, where she became known as a leader on sustainability literacy.

Today, Céline is an advocate, writer and designer preaching a triple bottom line: people, planet and profits. She consults global fashion brands on their waste practices, and educates on how to apply the UN Sustainable Development Goals to all aspects of the industry.

Céline encourages you to: attend the upcoming Study Hall at UNHQ New York in January 2010, or watch previous seminars on the Library Study Hall website. As well as sign up for the Library Study Hall newsletter to receive information monthly on sustainability, fashion, technology and human rights.

Follow Céline on Social Media:

Twitter:

@celinecelines

Instagram:

@celinecelines

Facebook: