Planet Champions: Jennifer Droguett – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Planet Champions: Jennifer Droguett – Springwise

One thing we often hear when we talk to innovators and corporates alike, is the importance of partnerships as we pursue our climate goals. We take a closer look at this trend and talk to Jennifer Droguett, Creative Director of Anciela, a London-based conscious womenswear label.

Founded in 2019, Anciela is a homage to Jennifer’s South American heritage. Taking inspiration from art, literature, and historical costumes, the brand offers re-worked tailoring and eccentric Ready-To-Wear, interwoven with a hint of the magical. The brand has been featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, L’officiel, and Forbes, among other independent publications.

Jennifer has seen the fashion industry from the vantage point of both established brands and her own startup. She spent 10 years at the start of her career working in brands like Viktor&Rolf and House of Holland. However, she took the plunge and started her own brand, after growing frustrated with the way big fashion works. She shares her views on the importance of partnerships and the ability of small producers to drive positive change by experimenting and taking risks.

A discussion with Jennifer droguett

“After four years I started feeling: wow, you don’t have a lot of influence,” she explained when she sat down with Springwise. Often, Jennifer highlights, you’re just a “small piece” of a much bigger machine. “I think what they don’t teach you at uni, it’s just this system – how fashion operates – is very out of necessity sometimes, it’s not really thinking about ‘how can this work for everyone?’”

“I did think: we need to do better. That really bothered me. Even if you have very little resources, or if you’re a massive giant – why aren’t we doing more? Why are we wasting things? It didn’t feel like everyone was on the same wavelength of: reduce, reuse, recycle. And sometimes with the choice of materials, people didn’t think, hang on a minute, this is super plastic, super oil-based, or polluting.” 

Materials matter

By contrast, Jennifer founded Anciela with sustainability as a core principle, and the brand works withlow-impact naturalmaterials such as Tencel, Hemp, Linen, wool, silk, and organic or recycled cotton.  

“The first principle when you have no resources is to work with what is already there, the famous deadstock that we all know. So then it’s just going to the warehouses and seeing what’s there,” Jennifer explained when asked about material choice.  

Offcuts were how Jennifer started, but as Anciela developed she was drawn to new experiments, and she ageed to collaborate with freelance textile designer Alice Timms. “At the beginning, we all wanted to try recycled yarns – recycled plastic was all the rage,” she explains. “Everyone was using NewLife yarns [made from recycled plastic bottles] for very nylon-y, outerwear, sporty things. But I was like, could we use it for something else?” That ‘something else’ was a jacquard weave (a complex woven fabric) made from NewLife yarns instead of silk. 

The next step was embracing more natural fibres like wool, hemp, and linen, while maintaining the focus on circularity. Jennifer added a compost bin to her studio that mixed food and textile waste – a move that proved to be extremely successful: “I was shocked, the worms loved the hemp and linen, it was gone in 12 or 15 days,” she explained. This was followed up with a weave made from recycled wool yarns, again in collaboration with Alice Timms.

Material choice is important for Anciela, but it is not the full story. Developing patterns that make the best use of material plays an important role, as does careful, low-volume ordering from local mills for the small portion of the collection that uses new fabrics. “We’ve been really strict on my collection plan, understanding exactly what I need,” Jennifer explains. You can’t be ordering extra ‘just in case’.

“That’s why I was transitioning to naturals, because that’s already so thin and small that [any offcuts are] perfect for the compost. So, all of that production waste can just go directly to the compost and that’s really beautiful as well.”

Collaborative efforts

With all these developments, Jennifer emphasises the freedom enjoyed by smaller producers: “As a small player you can do that… I can have my experiments.” This touches on an important question: how can small players like Anciela – which does everything made-to-order and most things in-house – have an impact in a market dominated by large, high-volume companies? 

“As a small player, you make all the decisions so there’s no excuse not to try anything. We have that advantage as a small business that you can pivot… When you keep things small, there is no risk, you’re not making thousands of garments,” she explains. And that’s something big companies can tap into through partnerships.  

Jennifer highlights her collaboration with Tencel Luxe – a luxury fabric made by multinational chemical company Lenzing. Normally, the company works with big brands that buy in large volumes. But Jennifer discovered that they too had an appetite for experimentation: “They wanted to help small designers make more experimental things.”  

To Jennifer that is the value to big companies of partnerships, which she believes are the way the world is going: “We’re all people, we all want to do something, whether you work for a big or a small company.”  

What can big brands do differently?

Beyond taking a risk and working with smaller, more agile companies, Jennifer highlights that the bigger fashion labels need a culture shift if they really want to commit to sustainable change.

“Don’t overproduce, there’s no need for that. It’s better to really put out there what needs to be out there,” says Jennifer. “Of course, it’s not as simple as it sounds – I understand because I’ve worked for bigger brands. I understand the machine – those companies are machines. But I feel there needs to be a shift at a business model level.”

“We have to be more mindful of what we’re putting out there and prioritise the quality of our supply chain, the quality of the life of the people in that supply chain and tracing all the way back.”

True sustainability goes beyond environmental concerns. Jennifer stresses: “We talk about climate change but it is about people, it is about looking after each other as people, from the farmers onward. You hear so many horror stories from every single step of the supply chain…When we can relate personally to a cause, the changes can happen very quickly. That’s the shift. Climate change is about people and it’s going to affect us all, whether we like it or not.”

Are you looking for more good news on individuals making positive change across industry? Take a look at the Springwise database for more inspiration, and make sure you’re subscribed to our monthly newsletter so you don’t miss the first look at our next Planet Champion.

Words: Matthew Hempstead and Matilda Cox

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Planet Champions: Emily Stochl – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Planet Champions: Emily Stochl – Springwise

September is traditionally the month when the fashion industry puts its best foot forward, with fashion weeks taking place in New York, London, Milan and Paris. Social feeds, magazines, and style sections scrutinise the latest collections and ‘what we’ll be wearing’, while fast fashion retailers race to get high street interpretations online and into bricks and mortar stores.

Of course, September isn’t the only landmark month for fashion and the fast fashion juggernaut is relentless, with Chinese firm Shein reportedly releasing on average 6,000 new products a day. Unwanted clothes often end up in landfill, or shipped to the global south where they are either sold in low-value markets or simply burnt.

Fortunately, there are countless innovators around the world looking to shake up the way things are done in the world of textiles, from the creation of new sustainable materials to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to make manufacturing less wasteful, as well as inspiring activist groups wanting to shed light on the unsustainable reality of our modern wardrobes and encourage change.

We sat down with Emily Stochl, presenter of the Pre-Loved podcast and Director of Education for the non-profit, global advocacy organisation Remake, which is fighting for fair pay and climate justice within the clothing industry.

A discussion with emily stochl

Remake is on a mission to disrupt our current destructive model of consumption and make ‘fashion a force for good’. “We take an ‘and, and, and’ approach,” says Emily. “Education for individuals, brand accountability and policy change. Those are the three pillars of our work because we believe that those three things work in tandem. It takes people to influence politicians and it takes policy to influence brands.” 

As Remake’s director of education, Emily ensures that the 1,700-strong global network of advocates have the materials they need to spread the word about more conscious consumption and fair treatment of garment workers. “I support those communities with ready-to-go materials, whether it’s for lectures, workshops, resources or curriculums – things they can use to communicate the Remake message in whatever space they are in. We believe in this grassroots model, we want to put the information in as many hands as possible.”

Building connection

As is the case for many now working in similar industries, the 2013 Plaza Factory collapse really opened Emily’s eyes to the dark realities of fashion production – and the individuals who are so central to a garment’s creation, but often left forgotten by the big brands they work for.

“Once that major disaster had happened, I wanted to make a difference, but this is a common story – people want to make a difference but we don’t know how to do it on our own. We need community around us. So I went out looking for that community in other sustainability spaces. I found that in the second hand community, I found Remake and the fashion advocacy community and so I got involved both in making the podcast and Remake about the same time around 2017 or 18. For me it was about finding other people who care about these issues so that we can do better together.”

And empathy is core to the Remake mission. “Pre-Covid, one of the things that we would do is take US college students in fashion programmes to meet garment workers similar in age to them in other countries to build a connection. It’s the idea that ‘women just like me‘ in the global south are producing our clothes.”

This insight that change can come through connecting the cheap top you’ve just bought to the person in a factory working up to 14 hours a day to produce hundreds of them is simple, but powerful.

#NoNewClothes

Emily also leads Remake’s #NoNewClothes campaign, which is just drawing to a close. Although as Emily says, “You can do it any time of year! #NoNewClothes is built off the ideology that it takes three months to build a habit that’s going to last. If we can get you to pledge not to buy anything new, to reset that mindset – which is automatically to buy something new – and you can commit for 90 days, it’s going to have an effect on you that we believe will last you for a long time.  

“So much about how we interact with fashion is about fast fashion and marketing messages that tell us to consume. We’re saying press pause for a moment to think about over consumption and see how you can make an impact through water saved and carbon emissions saved.” 

At the current tally, over 1,800 people have taken the pledge, saving around 17.6 million litres of water, and preventing 375,000 kilogrammes of carbon from entering the atmosphere. The ‘ticker’ is constantly updating on the Remake site. Each person commits to reusing clothes, buying second-hand or not buying anything new at all. The last point is the one that often gets missed but is crucial. According to a Time story earlier this year, TikTok influencer Drew Afualo, who has more than 6 million followers, defended a partnership with Shein by saying that “Sustainable fashion is a privilege,” and “Not everyone can afford to shop sustainably.” 

“What I’d put back to someone who is questioning whether this is something you could do, is to ask, ‘Do you think you have what you need to get by for three months?’ And I think for the vast majority of people in the global north they absolutely do. We have enough clothing, we have enough in our closet. The first question I get asked is ‘Where do I shop instead?’ And I get that impulse because we have been trained to think about sustainable swaps but really it’s about more than that. It’s about realising you have enough or that you could be fine with less.”

Looking forward

Reflecting on the enormous impact that fashion production has both on people and our planet is disheartening, and it can feel like the individual is fighting an uphill battle against mega-corporations that are resistant to change. Luckily, Emily is keeping the faith: “I’m an eternally optimistic person, but I stay optimistic because I see change happening every day. Because I get to be a part of campaigns and see people take action and see results. I’m constantly getting that affirmation that people deciding to make change has an effect.”

For instance, at the start of the pandemic, Remake was involved in the coalition working on the #PayUp campaign. When Covid put normal life on pause, big brands started cancelling orders that garment workers had already began production on – without payment. The campaign successfully put $22 billion worth of wages back in the pockets of those workers.

“I think when challenges come your way – like covid – you can think of those as challenges,” Emily says. “But you can also think about them as moments that make people care.”

Are you looking for more positive news on ways fashion is becoming more sustainable? Take a look at our Library for some inspiring fashion innovations, and make sure you’re subscribed to our monthly newsletter so you don’t miss the first look at our next Planet Champion.

Words: Angela Everitt and Matilda Cox

Reference

Vegan athletic shoe brand champions social change
CategoriesSustainable News

Vegan athletic shoe brand champions social change

Spotted: Reducing reliance on petroleum is a driving force in many industries, and solutions are varied. In the UK, athletic shoe brand Hylo produces a vegan sneaker that looks as good as it feels. Even better, every sale contributes to the social campaign Common Goal. Common Goal uses the power of football to help shape positive social changes. Members of the Common Goal group contribute one per cent of their salary or income to the fund.

Hylo’s sneakers are made in China, with the majority of materials sourced from within 60 kilometres of the factory and all delivered by road, not air. No animal products go into the making of the shoes, and the company makes supply chain and production transparency a priority. Each pair of shoes is numbered, allowing for full traceability of every product. The company also offers a take-back service for shoes that need recycling, and gives every customer that returns a used pair a £10 credit.

In July 2021, Hylo joined the Sustainable Apparel Coalition in order to ensure compliance with the leading means of sustainable, caring production. The company’s investment in biogas digesters near its manufacturing hub further offsets its carbon emissions. Having secured nearly €3 million in a recent funding round, the company plans to expand its marketing and product development.

Coffee grounds, carbon emissions, and algae are only three of the other sustainable ingredients Springwise has spotted being used to improve the environmental footprint of the footwear industry.  

Written by: Keely Khoury

Email: hello@hyloathletics.com

Website: hyloathletics.com

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