The Price Of Making Sustainable Fashion The Norm with Selina Ho of Recloseted
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fitsShow Notes
In episode 96, we ask the question: is it possible for fashion brands to be both sustainable and profitable? My guest, Selina Ho, the founder and CEO of sustainable consultancy Recloseted, paints a picture of what a renewed fashion industry could look like and what it would take to get us there. She shares practical steps that brands can take now to improve their sustainability efforts at each stage of business and how to communicate those efforts in specific and honest ways.
Selina is the Founder & CEO of Recloseted and she's on a mission to transform the harmful fashion industry. Her consulting firm Recloseted launches + scales sustainable fashion brands and helps existing brands become more conscious. Selina is also the host of Recloseted Radio, the top podcast for sustainable fashion entrepreneurs.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
What a transformed fashion industry could look like
What it will take to make sustainable fashion the norm
A better way to set sustainability goals
How to approach hard sustainability conversations without backlash
Whether it is possible to be both sustainable and profitable
Why voting with your dollars also applies to fashion brands, not just consumers
Why sustainability can’t be the only selling point
How much money it actually takes to start a sustainable fashion brand
People and resources mentioned in this episode:
Recloseted website
Recloseted Fund Your Fashion Line Training
Recloseted How to Launch a Profitable Fashion Brand Masterclass
Listen or Watch: Breaking Down the Fashion Design Process — Interview with Alison Hoenes on the the Recloseted Radio podcast
Has listening to How Fitting helped you create a better fit in your fashion business? Episode 100 of this podcast is coming up and I’m planning a special episode featuring the most notable moments from the 104 guests I’ve had on this podcast so far – plus your story! Click here to tell me about your favorite How Fitting episode and how it has impacted you or your business.
Do you want fashion business tips and resources like this sent straight to your inbox? Sign up for the How Fitting newsletter to receive new podcast episodes plus daily content on creating fashion that fits your customer, lifestyle, and values.
More from How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
If we’re talking about how values show up in the creation of specific clothing styles, you won’t find a better example of this than fair trade fashion. For fair trade fashion brands, the process is just as important as the product. Collections don’t begin with design inspiration, they stem from family-owned production partners, long-term boutique relationships, cross-cultural collaborations, and a commitment to each person involved.
A good product is not enough. As much as we’d like to pour our creative time and resources into creating the most beautiful design and exquisitely crafted product and then let it sell itself, it just doesn’t. In fashion business, the job doesn’t stop when the garment is produced. Marketing it is just as important. And that job actually starts before the product even exists.
If you run a slow fashion brand, you’ve probably experienced this. You saw how wasteful the fashion industry can be and vowed to run your brand differently. You want to pursue quality over quantity, sustainable materials and practices, fair labor, and avoid over-production. But how does this slow fashion intent meet the reality of factory MOQs, wash tests, and production costs for a new brand? Plus, as the brand grows, is there a scale where a slow fashion brand is no longer slow fashion?
As entrepreneurs, we didn’t start businesses to create a job that we hate. In fact, for most of us, it is quite the opposite. We want our work to be fulfilling. But we also want it to pay the bills and not burn us out. So how do we build a business that is both fun and financially stable? That offers both creative confidence and commercial control? Where the day-to-day process feels magical, but also manageable?
We’re told in fashion business that your brand’s patterns are your IP, don’t let anyone else have access to them. It is true that your patterns are one of the most legally protectable aspects of your brand’s unique fit and design aesthetic, but is gatekeeping patterns really necessary for fashion business success?