who here is wearing clothing raise your
hand if you don’t I’m gonna assume
you’re sleeping and not naked I spent
most of my life working on social and
environmental justice issues so
naturally when I graduated from college
I started the clothing company this jump
from politics to fashion came as a
surprise to some people close to me but
I really believe that what we wear
matters see fashion is the second most
polluting industry in the world one in
six jobs globally are tied back to the
industry in some capacity in the US less
than 3% of the clothing that we wear
here is made here that’s down from over
95 percent in the 1960s we’ve outsourced
middle-class manufacturing jobs in
search of cheap unregulated labor to
deliver lower prices on consumer goods
now fashion doesn’t have a monopoly on
labor abuses or toxins it just happens
to have an abundance of them and it’s
also very personal
we all wear clothes they impact how we
think about ourselves and how others
perceive us it’s this vast scale and
emotional connection that make fashion
an important part of changing the world
as we know it I want to start with four
myths that are getting in the way of
that change the first myth is that
somehow we can separate ourselves from
the clothing that we wear in 2013 a
factory collapse in Bangladesh killed
over a thousand workers it was one of
the worst tragedies in garment history
industry history and three of the four
have happened in the last four years at
the time I was working on social causes
and I had a closet filled with stuff
made by modern slaves and toxic
conditions there was a disconnect
between how I was trying to live and the
way that I was getting dressed I felt
guilty and that was healthy because it
changed the way
that I behaved but I don’t think guilt
is the key to changing this broken
system I think we need to find things
they were excited about and move toward
them just like I can feel bad putting on
something made in a sweatshop I feel
great
putting on something made by a company
that represents and lives out the values
that I stand by second myth is that
sustainability is somehow extra I
believe strongly that environmental
stewardship and fair working conditions
are not special they’re the way things
should be I don’t think we should have
to designate businesses that do things
right as sustainable or as responsible
rather businesses that exploit workers
that pollute waters that create products
designed to be tomorrow’s waste that
objectify women and feast on
insecurities that’s not business as
usual that’s criminal
I don’t think we have a right to a lot
of stuff but I do believe that we all
have a right to things that don’t come
at the expense of our fellow human
beings the third myth is that somehow we
can buy happiness clothing can add
meaning to an already balanced life but
clothing alone will never give life
meaning study after study shows that the
more stuff we have it doesn’t mean that
we’re any happier it just means that we
have more clutter this hopefully
presents us with the opportunity to have
less and really love the things that we
do have to buy quality and to pay more
for products that represent what we
stand for and that’s important because
our current expectation around price is
set in a system that relies on
exploitation to keep prices low and it’s
not just five to ten percent more
expensive to do things right it’s often
five or ten times more expensive I want
to make it clear though that I don’t
think having less stuff that paying more
that sustainability is a sacrifice no
it’s a shortcut to focusing on the
things that matter in life we often use
fashion as a tool to search for some
level of external validation we’re
chasing status through logos and through
trends but fashion is that its most
powerful when it represents who we are
inside and the values that we stand and
hold for and hold dear so the final myth
is that this is the way it has to be I
strongly believe that we can break this
addiction to consumption that we can do
better that we can produce in ways that
are regenerative and not destructive I
look to the organic food movement for
inspiration I remember as a kid growing
up in a small town in Michigan going to
the grocery store with my mom and her
asking the store manager if there were
any or there was any organic food in
in the story he looked at her with his
blank look but now a decade and a half
later that store is filled with organic
options just look at what’s happening
with locally grown food in this city in
the last decade we as humans have
created as a culture have created these
problems are on exploitation and
pollution that means that they’re
entirely human constructs there’s no law
of nature that says this is the way that
we have to act we’ve created these
businesses and these values and we can
change them now when you raise your hand
if you could not buy any clothes for the
next month and it wouldn’t be a problem
do you think you could go a full year
without adding anything to your closet
and still walk around with a shirt on
your back good I know that that I could
and that puts us in a special position
it means that we don’t have immediate
needs it means that we have the power of
choice it’s a blessing it’s a privilege
and it’s also a huge responsibility it’s
not those it’s not up to those at the
bottom of the system to change it those
that don’t have the power of choice it’s
up to us what does that look like it’s
different for all of us but here are a
few things that I’ve found helpful I
remember finding out about that factory
collapse in Bangladesh and wanting to
throw out my entire wardrobe I quickly
realized that one I couldn’t afford it
and two the most sustainable clothing
the most sustainable fashion is the
stuff that’s already in our closet so I
set out to purposefully knowing that I
didn’t have any immediate needs by the
things that I loved when I’m shopping I
look for things that fit me and fit my
personality because I don’t have room in
my life and neither do you for things
that don’t excite you and I know that
for me I can’t get excited about
something that doesn’t match how I’m
trying to live my life
so I would encourage you to take this
responsibility and not think of it as a
burden but to recognize this is an
opportunity to make meaningful choices
meaningful contributions and focus on
what matters in life thank you [Applause]