A Panel and A Protest
The oxymoron of sustainable fashion has become a loaded term in our industry, as greenwashing is an ever-looming threat an we struggle to forge positive change. "A Panel and a Protest" is a piece written after an evening at the Triennale Milano, listening to a panel discussion where I was equally inspired by progress and comforted by the lengths we still have to go.
Last week, I attended a panel discussion held at the Triennale Milano called "The latest thinking on sustainability and innovation from all fronts." Finishing with an earnest protest, the evening was a true representation of different perspectives and made me think about what makes a productive conversation on sustainable fashion.
The panel included the founder of Yoox, Federico Marchetti, the creative directors of Sunnei, Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo, the director of Polimoda, Massimiliano Giornetti, sustainable fashion activist Marina Testino, and was hosted by journalist and fashion editor for "New York Magazine" and "The Cut," Cathy Horyn, and editor Dan Thawley.
©Triennale Milano
Taking my seat in the beautiful Triennale di Milano, I was faced with the impressive title for the evening's conversation, "Sustainability and Innovation From All Fronts." I come from a community in New Zealand that is very focused on sustainable development. I have been involved with and listened to similar discussions before, but everything about Milan feels different from home, and this event was no exception.
From the beginning of the discussion, it was clear that this conversation would bring a broad context to fashion today, including voices from design, technology, education, and innovation.
A key thread throughout the conversation was the importance of the consumer and our responsibility as an industry to be transparent. Influencer Marina Testino had a specific insight into this as she built her online presence through candid and engaging discussions on sustainable fashion. I was interested to hear about her inspiration and various campaigns encouraging responsible consumerism and slow fashion, as she has done a remarkable job of making these topics accessible in the mainstream social media conversation.
In response to these young designers' perspectives, the Director of Polimoda, Massimiliano Giornetti, commented on how his students are seeing the world of fashion today. Sustainable conversation is becoming a non-negotiable in fashion education worldwide, and the students themselves have partly inspired this shift. He spoke about how early we are in this journey to sustainable progress and how important communication and transparency are for our goal of sustainable change.
Founder of Yoox, Federico Marchetti, was quick to expand on this idea of transparency with his work in the technology space. He is working to develop digital passports for garments on mass so consumers can discover just how many miles their new purchase has travelled before landing in their wardrobe. Hearing about how the world of technological innovation was colliding with sustainable design was fascinating, and Marchetti filled the conversation with a kind of encouraging optimism that I think is imperative for positive change.
The thoughtful moderation of Cathy Horyn and Dan Thawley balanced the personal narratives of the panelists with topics of sustainable design and innovation. However, there were points throughout the conversation that felt slightly disconnected from the title. It wasn't the dialogue entirely committed to issues of sustainability I was expecting, and I wonder if this was because of who was speaking. "Fashion Sustainability" is not the perfect term, as the two words often act as an oxymoron, and hearing people in fashion discuss sustainability can be uncomfortable because to talk about the solution, you must also be honest about the problem. The panelists work in fashion; they are in many ways contributing to the problem, as is everyone who goes shopping, but they also have the industry understanding to forge realistic solutions.
©Grace Clarkson at Triennale Milano
While it hadn't been strictly about sustainable innovation, the evening had been a fascinating insight into the creative lives and thoughts of designers, journalists, influencers, educators, and innovators, and a window for me into the changing industry I am stepping into. As the conversation was in its final stages and questions were being asked, I felt my mind wandering toward the door, and it was then I noticed the woman beside me, hand resolutely in the air.
She was the last person selected for the evening's questions, and as someone passed her a microphone and she strode forward to address the stage, I realized this wasn't a question at all; this was a protest.
"I am so disappointed in tonight's conversation," she started, reverting from my slouch, I watched as the whole auditorium faced us. Continuing, she pointed out everything the group of people on stage hadn't spoken about: garment worker rights, chemical dyes, landfills, rising temperatures, and fashion's abuse of our resources. About three minutes in, I realized this was no moment of spontaneity; she was targeting people on stage, questioning them and their work in a way that felt accusatory; she had practiced. Her presence charged the room; her voice was emotional as it washed over us, and many of her words were true. When there was silence, a few began to clap; I half-heartedly joined in, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to. This woman was well-spoken and had impressive confidence; we so clearly have this passion for change in common, but it almost felt like she had pinned the world's problems on the seven people in front of us.
“From the moment you walked in here, you were going to be disappointed.”
©The Or Foundation | Kantamanto, Accra, Ghana
The panel handled the critique well; the sentiment of their response was much the same as it had been all evening: nothing has a simple solution, everything takes time, and sustainability is our goal, not our reality. To close the dialogue, Horyn addressed the woman beside me, saying, "From the moment you walked in here, you were going to be disappointed." And as sad as that made me, I knew why it was true. The conversation was between a group of people about their professional experiences and her expectations were answers to problems that no one has discovered.
If I am being honest, she was echoing my own disappointment, not in the evening's discussion, but at the fact we don't have a clear way forward, a future free of these problems presented. Fashion is a 1.7 trillion dollar industry built on a systemic culture of damage. Thinking about that reality can make discussing sustainable progress feel pointless, and I understand her urgency for answers. This woman's drive to raise these issues is vital to how we will grow the movement of sustainable change; I just wonder if these panelists were the right target.
Sustainable fashion dialogue is tricky to navigate because the issues we face are exponentially bigger than some solutions discussed at an evening such as this one. No one person has all the answers, and each of us can only contribute within our capabilities. So, while this woman's speech made me think more than any point the panel raised, her frustrated tone felt misdirected.
As the auditorium emptied and I walked out in silence, I thought about how the finale of the evening felt like a representation of our collective desperation. Working in fashion can feel like a rock and a hard place, of knowing the damage we cause and not having one clear trajectory to be better. I like to think this is where her abrasive words came from. But our way forward can be found in our ability to support each other, celebrate effort in whatever form it comes, and bring optimism as well as honesty to our conversations.
