Fashion & Founders The Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

This week I spoke with Manya and Naama founders of Threads of Tech. Together they are creating a community in the fashion tech community from putting on events during NYFW to their job board and connecting people to their dream jobs. 

Naama has a background as a software engineer and knitwear designer and Manya as a Data Analyst and Fashion Designer. What started out as a roommate search ended up with them putting on two major events in 5 weeks and becoming co-founders.

Manya and Naama are often behind the scenes making sure their events run smoothly, so I am excited to share their story here and help others learn more about the really exciting work they are doing. 

Maybe you follow data but make it fashion on instagram or have seen a cool new fashion tech startup, if you’ve ever wanted to learn more about fashion tech whether you’re a student or someone looking to use their tech background at a fashion brand this episode is for you because they share a lot of insight. 

Follow Interwoven
Interwoven IG: @interwovenstories.pod
Victoria TikTok: @vfsmith11
Interwoven LinkedIn: Interwoven Stories
Victoria Pickle Closet: @victorias
Interwoven Substack: @interwovenstories

Follow Threads of Tech:
Instagram: @threadsoftech
Job Board
LinkedIn: Threads of Tech 
Substack: Threads of Tech

Follow Naama:
Instagram: @mieuxnaama
LinkedIn: Naama Paulemont

Follow Manya:
Instagram: @manyaownbusiness
LinkedIn: Manya Jain

Listener Story:
Instagram: @too.many.jackets

Share your own stories about vintage, thrifted, preloved, secondhand, rental, and any meaningful pieces you have! Get featured and submit your own story here!

Thank you for listening!

This week I am joined by Kaley, editorial director at Cascale, formerly known as Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC). You may have heard of the Higg Index, a collection of tools that measure the environmental and social impact of products and supply chains in the apparel, footwear, and textile industries

In 2009, Walmart and Patagonia founded the SAC to convene apparel industry stakeholders on a pre-competitive basis and develop a common approach to measuring sustainability and in 2010 they launched the Higg Index. Each year, over 24,000 users rely on the Higg Index to measure their footprint, improve and take action. 

Kaley played a founding role as Sustainability Editor at WWD, covering business, spearheading digital properties like the “Sustainability Scene,” and moderating live events. After 5 years at WWD, Kaley now oversees editorial and currently guides Cascale’s distinctive voice across content and live media operations, all key to the organization’s rebrand’s success. 
 
An avid community gardener and activist, she’s contributed to U.N. Women USA NY during the chapter’s reign, and recently served as an advisory committee member for the 2023 U.N. Conscious Fashion Campaign & Lifestyle Network.

Listen for some shoutouts for vintage and repair stores in New York too. With such a strong record in sustainable fashion journalism, Kaley is a thought leader in this space and offers great insight in this episode, I’m very excited to share it.

Follow Interwoven:
Interwoven IG: @interwovenstories.pod
Victoria TikTok: @vfsmith11
Interwoven LinkedIn: Interwoven Stories
Victoria Pickle Closet: @victorias
Interwoven Substack: @interwovenstories

Follow Cascale:
Instagram: @cascale_org
LinkedIn: Cascale
Website: cascale.org

Follow Kaley:
Instagram: @kaleyroshitsh
LinkedIn: Kaley Roshitsh
Website: kaleyroshitsh.com

Listener Story:
Instagram: @sofia_bergstrom
Business: @stchsbys

Share your own stories about vintage, thrifted, preloved, secondhand, rental, and any meaningful pieces you have! Get featured and submit your own story here!

Thank you for listening!

This week I spoke with Nora, the marketing manager at Colorifix. Colorifix is a business creating a natural dye solution through a biological process using bacteria as opposed to the toxic chemical dyes currently being used by most of the fashion industry. These dyes have multiple environmental consequences like water pollution which was the genesis for the founders of Colorifix to begin on this journey. 

Nora breaks down how Colorifix creates dyes that mimic nature and I know it’s science but it also kind of seems like magic to me. They are able to sequence the DNA of the color wherever it is found in nature, transfer that DNA code into a microorganism that the can produce that color then through fermentation, and without using any additional harsh chemicals to fix the dye onto a fabric.

We discuss material innovation in the fashion industry, what is going on behind the scenes in the supply chain to help move the industry forward, the scalability of such innovations and the the big potential business opportunity in investing.

Colorifix
Ig: @colorifix_

Follow Interwoven!
Instagram: ⁠@interwovenstories.pod⁠
Tiktok: ⁠@interwovenstories⁠

Featured intro story:
@cbyevoli
@_clementine_music_

Vintage find:
Diane Freis Dress on Vestiaire Collective which can be altered with Sojo!

Share your own stories about vintage, thrifted, preloved, secondhand, rental, and any meaningful pieces you have! Get featured and submit your own story ⁠here⁠!

Thank you for listening!

This week I spoke with Michelle Gabriel an educator, researcher, and sustainability strategist in the fashion space. 

We met at The Sustainable Fashion Forum back in April as she kicked off the conference with a workshop on policy. Michelle has been involved with the New York Fashion Act and in this episode shares her insight and breaks down the act. 

Michelle shares her diverse range of experiences in fashion and what lead her to where she is now in education and academia. For anyone not on a linear path with multiple interests who wants to work in fashion you will definitely find comfort and inspiration in hearing her background.

I find the New York Fashion Act to be a really exciting piece of legislation as it written in a way that attempts to tackle global issues the entire fashion industry faces on a state level since the fashion economy in New York is one of if not the largest in the world. 

Whatever component of sustainable fashion you are interested in you can learn something from this episode and the different facets of this bill. 

More on Michelle!

New York Fashion Act Links!
The Fashion Act
Ig: @nsifashion2030

Follow Interwoven!
Instagram: ⁠@interwovenstories.pod⁠
Tiktok: ⁠@interwovenstories⁠

Featured intro story:
Upcycled jeans by Sadie!

Vintage find:
Dolce & Gabanna Jacket that Victoria Beckham wore

Share your own stories about vintage, thrifted, preloved, secondhand, rental, and any meaningful pieces you have! Get featured and submit your own story ⁠here⁠!

Thank you for listening!

This week I am joined with two amazing leaders at Fashion Revolution on the US team, Kelly, who manages education and Madison who leads the community work. 

Fashion Revolution is a nonprofit founded by Carry Somers and Orsola de Castro in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013. Fashion Revolution has a global reach with teams all over the world and is a go to source for educating yourself on ethical practices and they have lead a multitude of campaigns, you may have seen people holding signs that say “who made my clothes?” Or “what’s in my clothes?”

With many efforts towards creating more transparency in the fashion industry, the organization also releases an annual report called the Fashion Transparency Index where they rate the biggest fashion brands based on key indexes of disclosure, supply chain practices, and many other factors in ethical and sustainable practices.

Fashion Revolution has many ways for anyone to get involved and they are opening up their ambassador program and looking for city leads so check out the link in bio to apply to get involved.

Fashion Revolution Links!
Ambassador Application
Ig: @fash_rev

Follow Interwoven!
Instagram: @interwovenstories.pod
Tiktok: @interwovenstories

Vintage Fashion Finds
Dress
Ig: @thegreatvintagescavengerhunt

Featured intro story!
Ig: @cg.dezign

Share your own stories about vintage, thrifted, preloved, secondhand, rental, and any meaningful pieces you have! Get featured and submit your own story here!

Thank you for listening!

Introducing the first episode of my new series Fashion 3, 2, 1: News, Trends, and Vintage Finds

This week covers

3 pieces of fashion news
 
1. Pre-loved luxury items being sold on TikTok Shop
Is this a step forward for secondhand, or a step back for slow fashion?

2. Chanel’s legal battle with upcyclers
Is there a way for fashion houses to work with upcyclers and resellers to give their products another life?

3. Luxury’s returns problem
Will brands decide for themselves that even though it's not the industry standard yet, they’re going to pioneer sustainability efforts and find solutions in what seem to be their problems?

2 Secondhand Finds
Linked to the trend so you can stay on trend and shop secondhand.
⁠Depop⁠ & ⁠Poshmark⁠

1 Fashion Trend
The Charlotte Russe Leopard Print Sequined Shorts that took TikTok by storm creating a bidding war in the comment section of a Poshmark listing that began at $6 and went to over $100.

Excited for this week’s episode and with Rachel Kibbe. We met at the Sustainable Fashion Forum in Austin in April and I’m so glad we had the opportunity to keep talking about her work.

We discuss the Americas Act, a bipartisan bill introduced in March 2024 and the textile circularity portion Rachel wrote, incentivizing innovation in the US.

Rachel is the CEO of Circular Services Group and American Circular Textiles with members leading the circular fashion space such as The RealReal, Rent The Runway, Reformation, Trove, and many more.

Follow Rachel:
Ig: @circulargurl

Follow Interwoven!
Instagram: @interwovenstories.pod
Tiktok: @interwovenstories

Featured intro story!
Ig: @katie_capozzi

Share your own stories about vintage, thrifted, preloved, secondhand, rental, and any meaningful pieces you have! Get featured and submit your own story here!

Thank you for listening!

This week I spoke with Marika a content creator who shares her thrifted outfits on instagram.

We talk about how social media has impacted shopping behaviors and outfit repeating, and our own personal style as we are flooded with content.

From upcycled jumpers, a coach bag passed down from her mom, to a jacket she loved so much she actually bought it from her sister, which I find hilarious and something anyone with a sister can probably relate to.

If you’re interested in starting out as a sustainable fashion content creator and looking for a creative outlet definitely listen to this episode and you can watch the video version on Spotify to see the pieces we talk about and follow along.

Follow Marika!
Ig: @thecolourfulthrifter

Follow Interwoven!
Instagram: @interwovenstories.pod
Tiktok: @interwovenstories

Share your own stories about vintage, thrifted, preloved, secondhand, rental, and any meaningful pieces you have!

Thank you for listening!

This week I spoke with Xyee, the founder of Fairycity. A luxury vintage boutique specializing in the most stunning clothes from lux French designers to rare runway Blumarine. She expertly curates pieces for girls around the world, with even Matilda Djerf following her. 

With over 15K Depop followers, her pieces are not ones to miss. Definitely check out her instagram and depop for some incredible vintage inspiration that definitely embody “fairycore.” 

Xyee is passionate about giving clothes a second life and sharing the the timeless beauty and quality of the vintage pieces she sources. Definitely check out her page on Depop and Instagram for some incredible vintage inspiration. 

I hope you enjoy this episode getting to know the the stories behind the brand Fairycity. 

Follow FairyCity!
Ig: @FairyCityx
Depop: @FairyCity

Follow Interwoven!
Instagram: @interwovenstories.pod
Tiktok: @interwovenstories

Share your own stories about vintage, thrifted, preloved, secondhand, rental, and any meaningful pieces you have!

Thank you for listening!

This week I am joined by Sarah, the founder of rental company Our Pinterest Wardrobe based in the UK. She is also a By Rotation ambassador and exemplifies how to you can still be sustainable as a fashion lover and even make money from it. 

We talk all things rental fashion and Sarah offers tangible tips on getting started and the business side of renting out her closet. 

Although somehow Sarah has never seen the Sisterhood of the traveling pants movie, she shares stories behind the experiences girls create through her shared wardrobe from birthdays, nights out, to potential proposals. 

If you needed a reason to book your first rental or starting making money off the clothes sitting in your closet, keep listening.

Follow Sarah!
Ig: @ourpinterestwardrobe
Use code SARAHINTHECITY15 for 15% off your first By Rotation rental!
By Rotation

Follow Interwoven!
Instagram: @interwovenstories.pod
Tiktok: @interwovenstories

Share your own stories about vintage, thrifted, preloved, secondhand, rental, and any meaningful pieces you have!

Thank you for listening!