S06 Episode 268 | Venetia La Manna on the need to *Remember Who Made Them* (our clothes) & whether we should buy fast fashion secondhand

Conscious Chatter

In episode 268, Kestrel welcomes Venetia La Manna, to the show. The host of All The Small Things podcast and the co-founder of Remember Who Made Them, Venetia uses her platforms to challenge fashion brands who are costing the earth and calls out retailers on their unethical practices in the fashion supply chain.

“Fashion brands are so willing to talk about organic cotton and to talk about their latest recycled range. There are two things that fashion brands refuse to commit to — the first is paying their garment makers a fair living wage, and the second is a drastic reduction in overall output. But these are the two things that would actually, truly change the industry.” -Venetia

Here’s a question I’ve posed on Instagram:

Is it OK to buy fast fashion secondhand?

I was watching Venetia’s YouTube channel recently, and in one video, she talks about this question. She says: “I think it’s worth us interrogating – but I’m not sure it’s worth us giving ourselves a hard time about.”

So, back to that question – is it OK to buy secondhand fast fashion?

Out of curiosity, I did a poll on Instagram the other day, and 96% of the respondents said *Yes, it’s ok to buy it*, with only 4% saying *No it’s not OK*.

On the show, Venetia and I do interrogate it a bit, along with other questions like – why aren’t garment makers centered in the ways we talk about and act on changing fashion? And how can we creatively share intense information about the unfair fashion industry to welcome more people into the conversation?

Quotes & links from the conversation:

• All The Small Things, Venetia’s podcast

• “I think the thing that has driven that is that focusing more on the environmental impact of fashion lets the majority of brands off the hook and allows them to continue to produce at a rate that our planet can’t sustain, let alone, the people creating our clothes and the people carrying our clothes at the end of the supply chain.” (22:48)

• “Fashion brands are willing to talk about sustainability and the environment if it means more money for them.” (24:55)

• “Fast fashion brands have literally hijacked the language of the slow fashion movement and incorporated it in their marketing campaigns.” (29:54)

• Munya Chawawa, content creator Venetia admires

• CC with Timo Rissanen (ep 47) about how creativity thrives with constraints

• The Or Foundation

• Follow Venetia on Instagram >

• Follow Remember Who Made Them on Instagram >

This week's episode is brought to you by Tradlands, a small business focused on timeless style, slow fashion principles, and small-batch production. If you’re interested in checking them out, you can use code CONSCIOUSCHATTER20 for 20% off. FYI — I don’t receive commissions from this partnership.