

Fashion accounts for around 10% of all humanly created greenhouse gas emissions so join our host Wayne Hemingway, as he talks to some of the most influential people in the industry about the cost and impact of fashion on our planet. Our panel will discuss the latest thinking and the ideas and developments which are set to change the industry and give you a few tips on how to improve the impact of your wardrobe.
The recording of this session is below, please note it does contain some mild swearing!
Wayne Hemingway, HemingwayDesign
Wayne built Red or Dead from scratch into a globally-celebrated fashion label alongside his wife Gerardine. After they sold in 1999, they embarked on a new adventure: HeminwayDesign. Wayne has spent 6 years as a Design Council Trustee, has been a Mayors London Leader and currently supports the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan as a Design Advocate. He is an advisor to House of Commons Select Committees on coastal regeneration, a Professor in The Built Environment Department of Northumbria University, and a Doctor of Design at Wolverhampton, Lancaster and Stafford. He received his MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list of 2006.
Mathilda Tham, Professor in Design, Linnaeus University
Mathilda is a feminist, metadesigner, and activist whose work through co-creative transdisciplinary processes seeks to seed new legends and practices for how we can make our home together within Earth’s limits. She is co-founder of Union of Concerned Researchers in Fashion and Co-author with Kate Fletcher of Earth Logic Action Research Plan.
Maria Chenoweth, TRAID
Maria is the Chief Executive of TRAID, a UK Charity working to tackle the negative socio-environmental impacts of production, consumption, and waste in the fashion industry. TRAID keeps clothes in use for longer by providing the public with a network of clothes reuse services and charity shops. Maria has worked in the charity sector for three decades. After completing an MBA with the Open University, she became a fellow within the Faculty of Business and Law.
Kate Fletcher, Centre for Sustainable Fashion
Kate is a Professor at the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, London College of Fashion, and her work, including that on post-growth fashion, fashion localism and nature, defines and challenges the field. She is a co-founder of the Union of Concerned Researchers in Fashion, and has written and / or edited nine books available in eight languages. this includes Earth Logic which she co-authored with Mathilda Tham.
Safia Minney, People Tree
Safia Minney, MBE, is an award-winning social entrepreneur and internationally recognised for the company she founded, People Tree, a pioneer of sustainable fashion. She led the business as Global CEO for 20+ years in Japan and Europe. Safia is recognised by the World Economic Forum as Outstanding Social Entrepreneur and is a leading influencer and international speaker on sustainable business and supply chains, climate action and Fair Trade. Safia is an advisor, executive coach and author of nine books including; ‘Slave to Fashion’, and ‘Slow Fashion – Aesthetics meets Ethics’. Safia recently launched www.realsustainability.org to promote sustainable living and leadership and joined other business leaders inspired by XR to establish www.businessdeclares.org
Kalkidan Legesse
Kalkidan is a social entrepreneur who creates businesses aimed at doing social good. In 2014 she founded Scarves for Sustainable and quadrupled the income of weavers in rural Ethiopia by taking their product to the world market. In 2015 she founded Sanchos’ Shop, a marketplace of ethical brands, and in 2018 she launched the Slow Fashion Show. Now in 2021, Kalkidan is developing Shwap, a digital resale platform for sustainable fashion brands. She is a published writer, an active consultant, and a business strategist.