We caught up once again with HASOU Mentor, Gemma Metheringham to delve deeper into the shifting landscape of sustainability in fashion 💫

Black and white portrait of a smiling person with curly hair and glasses, wearing a leopard print shirt, centered on a background with large purple letters.

Part 2 of our 3-part conversation drops today, following last week’s opening episode.

Gemma is a circular fashion consultant exploring how the rise of second-hand fashion can help cut the industry’s carbon footprint. Her Instagram project “The Elephant in My Wardrobe” @the_elephant_in_my_wardrobe and her MA in Fashion Futures reflect her mission to challenge throwaway culture and inspire change.

❓ How can small fashion brands adopt sustainable practices without significantly increasing their costs?

Gemma –

Gemma – I think small fashion brands are well-positioned to start incorporating circular practices, such as repair, rental, and resale, into their businesses. Certainly, if I were starting a brand today, I would design it as circular from the start as a way of building closer connections with my community. I think understanding how people use your clothes, how long they keep them, and whether there are any issues that need repairing are all really valuable data sources that designers can use to inform their collections. There’s also lots of research saying that people increasingly consider the resale value of new clothes before they purchase and so offering an easy resale route and enhancing the resale value of your brand are innovative ways to future-proof what you do.

📷 Gemma Metheringham