WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press

Breathe in deeply through your nose... What can you smell right now? Can you identify it? How does it make you feel? Is it fresh, bright, pleasant? Nostalgic? Disgusting? How often do think about smell? If you only tend to notice when it's something particularly lovely - your favourite dish being cooked, a preferred flower - or horrid (let's not go there); you're not alone.As this week's guest Susan Irvine explains, a couple of thousand years' of western philosophy has conditioned us to prioritise sight and sound, relegating smell to the senses' lower division. Why? Well, short of holding your nose (spoiler alert, there's some of that in this podcast!) smell isn't something we can generally choose to take in or shut out; it doesn't invite us to apply our discernment. But while the art and design worlds have long overlooked scent, that's changing. Agenda-setting creatives are using it in their storytelling - and we're not talking about perfume campaigns.Welcome to the mind-blowing world of smell as material. We'll leave it to Susan to explain.Susan Irvine is a writer of excellent books including novels, short stories and non fiction. A former Vogue beauty editor, she's a current Visiting Lecturer at London's Royal College of Art, where she teaches a course on using 'smell as material' based in the Fashion Programme. Can you help us spread the word ?Wardrobe Crisis is an independent production.We don't believe in barriers to entry and are determined to keep this content free.If you value it, please help by sharing your favourite Episodes, and rating / reviewing us in Apple orSpotify. Share on socials! Recommend to a friend.Find Clare on Instagram @mrspressTHANK YOU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Bangladesh has come out of a lot of difficulty in the past. Bangladesh is a place of hope, is a place of resilience ... We could again come together as a nation, with the ertailers and the brands supporting us, and make the transformation. It's a huge, huge opportunity."Rousing words from this week's compelling interview with manufacturer Shafiq Hassan, of the Echotex manufacturing facility in Gazipur, Bangladesh.Last year Bangladesh was ranked the third-largest exporter of clothing globally (after China and the European Union) exporting USD $38.4 billion worth of garments. The nation is home to over 40K garment factories of various sizes, and over 4 million garment workers.A decade after Rana Plaza, much progress has been made, including around environmental sustainability. Bangladesh now has 186 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified factories, and, according to Reuters, lays claim to 9 of world's top 10 'green' garment factories (considering carbon, water and energy footprint, waste, logistics, and using more sustainable materials).Clare interviewed Shafiq in London, in September 2024, a little over month after peaceful students protests in Bangladesh toppled ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, then presiding over an increasingly corrupt and authoritarian regime. Her government's response to the protests - appalling violence - is well documented. This week, a new report by the current interim government, titled Unfolding the Truth, implicates Hasina in as many as 3,500 cases of forced disappearances during her time in office.Warned the Solidarity Centre in August: "The economy of Bangladesh, depends on garment factories, but producers say customers are concerned about violence and disruption." What's more, the previous government's "repression against workers seeking to form and join unions has prevented garment workers from achieving the living wages and safe working conditions they have sought to achieve."So what's next?The Nobel peace laureate and economist Muhammad Yunus (founder of the Grameen bank) is leading the interim/ caretaker government. The factories are back working. Leading facilities like Echotex continue to innovate. What's unfolding is very relevant to the fashion sector, and to all of us who care about ethical production and want to understand the role brands have to play when it comes to what we hope are long term partnerships with suppliers.Can you help us spread the word ?Wardrobe Crisis is an independent production.We don't believe in barriers to entry and are determined to keep this content free.If you value it, please help by sharing your favourite Episodes, and rating / reviewing us in Apple orSpotify. Share on socials! Recommend to a friend.Find Clare on Instagram @mrspressTHANK YOU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Victor & Rolf's "Get Mean" frock through Jordan Gogos's radical upcycling projects to Paul McCann's "Sovereignty Never Ceded" gown, certain items of clothing speak loudly - with intention - about the times we find ourselves in. Let's not forget the long traditions of tapestry-making, quilting, embroidery, and the newer but related concepts of stitch-n-bitch craftivism. Cloth can be a radical medium. You might call it soft power, for its undeniable tactility - but don't mistake soft for weak. "Textiles galvanise communities. Through wars, pandemics and disasters, textiles have offered a way to mobilise social and cultural groups and build connections. In the late nineteenth century, British artist and designer William Morris sought to counter the mechanisation and mass-production of the Industrial Revolution by weaving tapestries on a manual loom with hand-dyed thread. Today, many artists are experimenting with the materials and techniques of textile design as a ‘slow making’ antidote to the high-speed digital age." With an introduction like that, how could we not respond? This week, Clare sits down with Rebecca Evans and Leigh Robb, curators of RADICAL TEXTILES - a major new exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia.Up for discussion: do textiles belong in museums? Is fashion so often dismissed as some sort of lesser art because it's considered unserious women's business? How did political movements of the last century use textiles to get their messages across? What's with Don Dunstan's pink shorts? And so much more!Can you help us spread the word ?Wardrobe Crisis is an independent production.We don't believe in barriers to entry and are determined to keep this content free.If you value it, please help by sharing your favourite Episodes, and rating / reviewing us in Apple orSpotify. Share on socials! Recommend to a friend.Find Clare on Instagram @mrspressTHANK YOU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New York, London, Milan, Paris? So last season! It's time to spotlight less discussed design centres. This time, Dundee, which is home the two emerging menswear designers you're about to meet - both recent graduates from the Jimmy Choo Academy.First we'll hear from Sasha Clegg, whom with a wink, called her label The English Man. Despite being neither. She chose the name to call out the pale, male-dominated fashion industry. Sasha, who is of Zambian and Scottish descent, wants to "celebrate multiculturalism, heritage, diversity, and inclusivity." Her graduate collection, titled Mother’s Tongue, blends inspiration from her Scottish upbringing with nods to English football culture, and features kilts, tartan, and '80s-to-2000s influences. Our second interview is with Robyn Green, whose work explores subcultures and challenges Scottish stereotypes, with a political twist.Too often fashion mines working class communities for their idea and creativity without giving credit - that, says Robyn, is a form cultural appropriation. Her brand, Gadgie, is inspired by "the resilience and creativity of Scotland’s working-class communities" and she's on a mission to create opportunities for underrepresented voices in fashion. How to begin? Head home. After studying in London, she's back in Dundee, setting up her new studio, working with local hand-knitters and crochet artists and championing Made in Scotland.Can you help us spread the word ?Wardrobe Crisis is an independent production.We don't believe in barriers to entry and are determined to keep this content free.If you value it, please help by sharing your favourite Episodes, and rating / reviewing us in Apple orSpotify. Share on socials! Recommend to a friend.Find Clare on Instagram @mrspressTHANK YOU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.