Trish Langman of Sovereignty on the need for comprehensive fashion education from childhood and beyond, to help collectively shift awareness about how our clothes are made

<p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">In episode 288, Kestrel welcomes designer, Trish Langman, to the show. With over 18 years of experience working with a long list of prestigious fashion brands, Trish is currently the Program Knowledge and Content Lead for the Fashion CEOs Accelerator program by <a href="https://thesovco.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sovereignty</a>, a partner with Argentinian NGO <a href="https://www.hechoxnosotros.org" target= "_blank" rel="noopener">Hecho Por Nosotros</a> and an advisor to the Board of Fashion Ghana, West Africa.</p> <p><strong>"Obviously, the companies need to be complicit — you know, they should stop making stuff. But the consumer, you know, because they’re uneducated, they don’t understand what they’re buying. It’s just a piece of clothing, but they’re not thinking about any consequences of how it’s made or what it does to them. Is it shedding microplastics, is it clogging the water? The consequences of you buying something that costs two dollars means that somebody’s not being paid somewhere.” -Trish</strong></p> <p class="" data-pm-slice="1 2 []">Have you ever thought about some of the basic knowledge that’s shared with us in primary school? I’m thinking about the practical information that can help us in our everyday lives. </p> <p class="">For example – as this week’s guest mentions, the food pyramid is something most of us have probably learned about in school. (Ok, so I’ve read a plethora of concerns about the traditional food pyramid and how it was largely influenced by big business — hint, hint: grains, especially refined ones, are not necessarily the food we should eat the most of…) BUT the point here is, the idea of a balanced diet is relayed to us at an early age. It’s a basic component of the education system.</p> <p class="">However – how often are kids learning about the ingredients used in our clothes? How often are we taught that the fabric used in our garments can come from a plant grown on a farm, or from fossil fuels that are processed into thread?