Since I have lived in the Far East and seen the destruction that fast fashion has brought to the environment and the people who work in it, I was convinced it was not the way forward. It was out of sheer frustration with the fashion system that I started the IOU Project in 2010. To start a project focused  on raising consumer awareness using technology to give full transparency seemed crazy and unfortunately very few really cared about our  #whomadeyourclothes campaign until the Rana Plaza accident in 2013. 
 
What needs to change in fashion industry in your opinion?

It is the business model that is no longer sustainable and needs to be changed. Our current model is based on over-production and then using the might of your dollar to buy eyeballs with social media /celebrity/ advertising to convince the consumer to consume frantically. Our industry is one of the few where prices of the product have gone down even when most inputs like raw material/dyeing/printing  have all become more expensive. We have relied on trying to find the cheapest labour and lowered quality to continue feeding the beast. This has led to the consumer addiction to a use and throw away mentality and ever-lower pricing. The most important change has to be in creating real transparency about the impact and re-education the consumer about the effect their behaviour has on the environment. We need a much deeper shift and need to add more value to the buying experience by making the customer participate in the process so that they learn to savour the final product in a completely different manner. Buy less but buy better. 
 
What is the main project you are working on now?

I continue to make wholesale collections in the IOU project as every season we try and add new craft communities to the line that we sell with specialty retailers like United Arrows, Arts and Science in Japan but what I am most excited about is a TV series that we are producing about heritage craft communities to hopefully enthrall a wider audience by the sheer beauty of what I most cherish in my work.

From your experience, how does culture and attitudes towards fashion differ around the globe? 
Unfortunately in the last 2 decades the homogenisation of the globe as far as fashion is concerned has been alarming. Before, when I travelled to India , Mexico, Perú or China I would find  completely different ways of dressing, colours, textures, textiles but now every major or minor city seems to be a carbon copy. On one side all the fast fashion shops and on the same boulevard the other side with the so called luxury brands. I call it “airport shopping” and it is heart breaking. Part of the pleasure of travelling was going back with something local that became part of your memory but now you are hard pressed to find authentic local craft of quality, all you have is cheap souvenirs that are mostly imported and of terrible quality. The developing nations have quickly caught the fever of conspicuous consumption and since the numbers there so large the devastation is even more.
 
Which small, everyday steps can each of us take to make a difference?

Buy local as much as you can! By buying directly from the artisan/producer/farmer/maker we ensure that our money impacts the local economy. It is important to vote and rally behind institutional change but it is the vote you give with the money you spend every day that has the biggest impact. Pick your cause and fight everyday for it. There is a lot that needs to be changed and the truth is, it is impossible to have zero impact but you can pick the causes closest to your heart research them and support the people and projects trying to make change happen however small they are. Like Mahatma Gandhi said: “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”
 
What gets you out of bed in the morning?

The fact that we are living in one if the most exciting times in human history where technological advances in the fields of AI, Robotics, Genetics, Biology will mean that even what it means to be human is under question. To make sure that we look back at this very exciting moment to reflect upon our history and past to ensure we don’t let technology become our master is what most motivates me right now. 
 
 
Founder and Creative Director
The IOU Project
www.theiouproject.com
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