A Moment of Change Podcast — Sustainable Fashion: Elizabeth Rich & Sabinna Rachimova

A Moment of Change is a podcast created by the On Purpose London community. In Series 2 of ‘A Moment of Change’ we are talking to key change makers from the worlds of food, fashion and the green economy who are all working to be part of the climate solution.

Episode 3.1 Elizabeth Rich and 3.2 Sabinna Rachimova

What needs to change for fashion to become sustainable?

Fashion. It impacts our lives every single day — from the moment we wake up and decide what to put on, to the pyjamas we wear at night. But have you thought about who made your clothes? Where do they come from? What impact do they have on the environment and communities around the world?

In June this year, the fashion industry laid out its race to zero roadmap, which is “aimed at steering the fashion industry towards a zero carbon future”. Alongside the roadmap reports also revealed that at its current trajectory, the fashion industry is projected to go over the 1.5 degree pathway by 50%.

So what is it going to take to reverse this course? In our 2-part series on Sustainable Fashion, we explore this question with two amazing guests and thought leaders, who have extensive experience in the industry. We discuss how to change current consumer behaviors, how to reform our different business models so that they don’t lead to over-production and how to redesign our fashion supply chains that “realistically haven’t been looked at in over 15 years”. Each of our guests bring unique perspectives and solutions to the table but they both agree, there is no single solution to reshape the industry. It will take enormous effort, determination and radical thinking from ALL players in the system.

This week on the A Moment of Change podcast we’re joined by Elizabeth Rich, a sustainable fashion strategist from Forum for the Future and Sabinna Rachimova, a fashion business founder (Sabinna), consultant and lecturer to discuss sustainable fashion and what we can all do to make a difference. Both shared with us what inspires them about sustainable fashion and how they got started in the industry, as well as their perspectives of the 4 goals of COP26 — Mitigation, Adaptation, Finance and Collaboration.

You’ll learn about some great global collaborations from Elizabeth, including her work as Chief of staff at Fashion Makes Change.

As a business owner and designer of her eponymous sustainable fashion brand, Sabina shared with us the business decisions she had to make and the different approach to interacting with her customers.

Listen and subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, iTunes, Acast, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Useful links

Sabinna: https://www.sabinna.com/

Fashion Makes Change: https://fashionmakeschange.org/

Forum for the future: https://www.forumforthefuture.org/

Task force for climate disclosure: https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/

Mark Carney’s call for action: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-climate-change-companies-accounts-idUKKCN26F2X9

The Empowerment Collective: https://empowermentcollective.org/

UN ILO Better Work Programme: https://betterwork.org/

Gaps P.A.C.E program: https://www.gapinc.com/en-us/values/sustainability/social/p-a-c-e-empowering-women

Care International: https://www.careinternational.org.uk/get-involved/corporate-partnerships/financial-inclusion/Vulnerable-Supply-Chains-Facility

Her project: https://herproject.org/

Link to IPCC report here: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/

The Trampery — Hackney Wick: https://thetrampery.com/workspaces/fishislandvillage/

Fashion Revolution — The impact of COVID 19 on people who made our clothes: https://www.fashionrevolution.org/covid19/