S05 Episode 253 | Advocating for the U.S. to appoint a fashion czar, what are The Green Guides and more on the intersections of politics & fashion

Conscious Chatter

In episode 253, Kestrel welcomes Hilary Jochmans, the founder of consulting firm Politically In Fashion, to the show. Politically In Fashion & Hilary’s name have been popping up a lot in the fashion space, after she helped pen an official letter to President Biden, calling for him to appoint a fashion czar.

“You think about all the different areas that touch fashion and fashion, in respect, it touches as well. You've got immigration, you've got trade, you've got tax issues, you've got water resource issues, you have sustainability issues, you have labor issues, you have a myriad of issues that are currently handled in Washington in a dozen different agencies. So, the idea of the fashion czar was to pull someone who could look at all these different spaces (sort of at the 30,000 foot level) and say — 'okay, here's where we need to have everyone come together'.” -Hilary

Have you heard any of the chatter advocating for a fashion czar? And you may be asking - what in the world is a czar anyways?

Throughout history, the U.S. government has appointed czars for various reasons — they have focused on the auto industry, drugs, energy, and beyond. A czar is basically someone senior in the administration who has a very defined role and mission and most importantly - someone who has the ear of the President.

Hilary helped pen a letter to President Biden earlier this year, requesting that his administration appoint a FASHION czar to help regulate fashion like other big sectors — and to help elevate the issues and needs of the fashion & retail industry directly to the President.

This is just a glimpse of what we explore on the show. It’s all about the politics of fashion — from requesting a fashion czar to breaking down what The Green Guides mean, to unveiling more ways we can all get involved, this conversation is centered around deconstructing how policy intersects with fashion and sustainability.

Quotes & links from the conversation:

• “President Biden, Appoint A Fashion Czar!” in Fast Company, the original article by Elizabeth Segran that sparked the idea to send a letter to President Biden

• “I think the days of just ignoring government and pretending that there’s not going to be regulation — I think those days are over.” -Hilary

• If you don’t know who your members of Congress are — go to congress.gov and type in your address, and they will pop up.

• In their last update (2012), The Green Guides DID NOT touch on sustainability and they DID NOT touch on organic and natural.

• “I think it’s important — even if we don’t define the word sustainability — that we put some sort of guardrails on the term, cause if you’re just throwing the term around — this is sustainable, that’s sustainable, and there’s nothing to back it up, it’s gonna lose all meaning.” -Hilary

• “Speaking of beauty and cosmetics, The Cosmetics Act has not been updated since 1934.” -Hilary

• “FTC’s Updated ‘Green Guides’ Could Clamp Down on Greenwashing” in WWD

• “The Politics Of Fashion” in Marie Claire

• “Allbirds, ThredUp, More Ask Biden to Appoint ‘Fashion Czar’” in WWD

• ““We Have The Power Of The Purse”: Why It’s Our Duty To Keep Up The Good Things Happening In Fashion” in Vogue

• Federal Advocacy Guide by Politically In Fashion

• Green Guides 101 by Politically In Fashion

• Politically In Fashion website >

• Follow Politically In Fashion on Instagram >