A Model Citizen

20.12.11

1Culture

Eco Age interviews a true fashion pioneer.

Eco-Age: You’ve said that you have always felt in tune with nature and committed to environmental issues, but what directed you towards the fashion industry as a platform? Is fashion something that you have always been interested in?

SRO: Fashion was such a foreign industry - but it intrigued me because it was just so different from the world I knew, which was a life steeped in science and nature.

I wanted to understand the world of fashion because at the time (this was 10 years ago now) - I felt that it was the furthest away you could get from the environmental mindset. That was an exciting prospect because I had a feeling that if you can connect the two worlds, you’d be able to influence quite a bit of people and change an industry - hopefully for the better.

Eco-Age: It must have been exciting times forging new ground.

SRO: So exciting! It was completely uncharted territory. I started on a project with John Cooper called Organic Portraits - which explored the areas of the sustainable design and avant-garde art. This led me to finding all sorts of like-minded people including Lynda Grose, Sass Brown, Angela Lindvall, Jack Yan of Lucire, Barbara and Ed over at Designers&Agents and a host of others. That really provided enough of a foundation to explore the nexus of sustainability and fashion more seriously.

Eco-Age: Is that when you first came across Eco fashion?

SRO: Yes, about ten years ago now.  

Eco-Age: Is it something that you feel has been gaining ground in recent years?

SRO: It’s like night and day. I used to keep a list of all sustainably-minded designers in the world. After five years I couldn’t keep up with it. That’s when you know there is a movement underfoot.

Eco-Age: So you don’t think it’s a fringe movement any longer.

SRO: Not at all. But it’s still not dominant. Any individual or group can come in and be an influencer. That’s the beauty of it. Movements are malleable.

Eco-Age: You’ve clearly shown that throughout your work. In 2009 you famously collaborated with Rainforest Action Network and Tiffany & Co. for a campaign against the use of wood from endangered Indonesian forests for luxury shopping bags. How responsive have you found the fashion industry to ethically- and sustainably-centered campaigns? Is it something that major labels are interested in?

SRO: No brand wants to be called up and told they are doing the wrong thing. When I got a call from Lafcadio from RAN and he gave me the list of companies that were unknowingly purchasing paper products from APRIL and APP - the two Chinese-run paper pulp and palm oil extraction companies - I immediately got on the phone with my friends at Gucci, Levis, and others.

Most companies benefit from the lack of transparency - but so many of the brands acted as soon as there was more information on the supply chain. Tiffany & Co. was the first to act. Michael Kowalski, the CEO was a superstar. My friend Sean, who was with Levis at the time, was on his way to spend time with his family in Buffalo and he got on the case immediately. Gucci was the first to churn out a paper buying policy.

Now we’re seeing PPR (Gucci’s parent company) assembling an all-star team to address sustainability within the company’s operations and supply chain. The Outdoor Industry Association has galvanized a whole industry-wide collaboration around internal sustainability assessment so everyone can have standardized language, methodologies and metrics.

The industry is getting disruptive. If major labels aren’t interested in it, they better get interested in it - or else they’ll be far behind the curve. 

Eco-Age: The anti-fur campaigns of the eighties and nineties have been seriously undermined in recent years by many models choosing to wear fur both on and off the catwalk. Do you envisage issues surrounding sustainability playing out differently? How?

SRO: The difference then is that models were playing a role. In fact, the whole industry is about role playing. It’s mainly about fitting into a mold and playing a part. That never interested me.

But you have to be aware of it if you want play in the sandbox. And you have to be willing to change it through one’s actions if you want others to follow your lead.

What the industry really needs are change makers. System disruptors. People who don’t give a shit about giving a shit. And if you stick to your guns, the industry will start realizing that your differences are not a handicap - but an asset.

Eco-Age: Models are often viewed as mute vessels, and many do not court the press or give interviews. You, Lily Cole and Erin ‘O Connor are changing that by aligning yourselves with causes and campaigns. As a model and a college graduate, what sort of attitudes have you encountered in your line of work?

SRO: I applaud all those women and more - including Kate (Dillon), Shalom (Harlow),  Angela (Lindvall), and Coco Rocha. When you open yourself up to the world - you get a range of responses. . . but overall it has been an overwhelmingly positive experience.  

Eco-Age: Source4Style - the venture you co-founded with Benita Singh - launched the 2.0 version of the site this week. What are its main aims and objectives?

SRO: Benita and I saw an acute need to address sustainable sourcing in the fashion industry. Many designers say that sourcing is the toughest part of their job. And suppliers - particularly under-the-radar sustainable suppliers - have a difficult time reaching buyers.

We want to reduce the barriers to sustainable sourcing by creating a risk-free, global marketplace online. Designers can register for free and order swatches and samples. And they also have the option to upgrade to access unlimited global sourcing direct-from-the-supplier.

We’re still a fledgling company but we have a big mission of making sustainable design possible. We believe Source4Style is the key to unlocking that vision and were excited to build that with the greater design community.

Eco-Age: Can you tell us a little bit about the redesign and any new features that you have developed?

SRO: The whole platform has been significantly enhanced from the Beta version. For one, it went under a complete redesign. Secondly we’ve added a Trends section, which highlights everything from Curations by leading deign zeitgeists around the world to stimulating, informative articles in The Academy. Thirdly, we’re adding yarns, lace/trims, buttons and zippers to compliment the fabric categories in the Marketplace. 

Fourthly, we’ve upgraded the entire system to add a proper “Design Dashboard” where designers can see their message, track their packages, and more. And most importantly, we’ve gotten rid of the commissions and moved to a membership model to allow designers and brands to access unlimited global sourcing directly with suppliers from around the world.

Eco-Age: Which projects do you have lined up for the year ahead? 

I’d like to approach 2012 more fearlessly. Producing the film eXtinction was like therapy for me. It feels good to work with a talented, inspired team and produce a work that distinctly captures one’s vision, voice and soul.

I feel similarly about Source4Style. Our team is so damn dedicated and amazing. We have been through a lot to get it to where it is now. And so much opportunity is on the horizon.

Eco-Age: How would you like to see the fashion industry change and develop in the next few years? What would be the one thing you’d like to see done differently?

SRO: I would LOVE to see brands become more edited. Fewer products that are more meaningful. I know labels have built their empires on churning out more and more product, but most of it is rubbish.

It’s a frighteningly astonishing statistic that fewer than 3% of material processed - that’s any material - has any value after six months after it is extracted from the earth. Arguably it’s probably even less time in the fashion industry. Does that statistic bother anyone else? I sure hope to god I’m not the only one who thinks we’ve lost our minds. I quite personally would love to see a brand whose business is built on churning out new product pivot and reinvent itself. It would be a mind-blowing feat.