Fashion Institute of Technology Feedback | SamataHome.com

Fashion Institute of Technology Feedback

Friday, September 27th 2013, in Musings, Talks

Thank you for such great feedback from the New York City panel the other month. Read the comments and feedback from students and attendees here.

Previous Article

Fashion Institute of Technology Talk in New York City

Next Article

Fashion Institute of Technology Talk, New York City

Comment Cancel reply

I’ve shared before how much I love headwraps as

I’ve shared before how much I love headwraps as a symbol of cultural (Ghanaian) pride. I went into it in further detail and set historical context in my @consciouschatter podcast interview so check that out please hyperlinked on my IGTV. A little levity for anyone needing it after a pretty intense week. This video is a throwback. #CultureIsKing #SamatasHeadwrap

Every part of society has a vital role to play in

Every part of society has a vital role to play in protecting nature. Business has not typically been an ally to biodiversity, but this could be changing. ⁣
🍃⁣
Recently, @IPBES_ launched their first-ever podcast series, entitled: Nature Insight – ‘Speed Dating’ with the Future – which aims to bring issues of biodiversity and perspectives on the values of nature to a much wider audience.⁣
🍃⁣
This week’s guests are myself, speaking as CEO of @RedCarpetGreenDress, and Marie-Claire Daveu, the Chief Sustainability Officer at Kering, a global luxury group that manages brands such as Gucci, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, and others. Join us as we talk about the value of nature to business and how the private sector can help 'bend the curve' of biodiversity loss.⁣
🍃⁣
Have a listen to this extract about why I fell in love with this sector. and link to full interview in Stories and bio! Other snippet on my last post about how we can all connect the dots. 🙏🏾

Part 1: Would it help if we took the word FASHION

Part 1: Would it help if we took the word FASHION away and replaced it with CLOTHES?
🍃
If you don’t think the word fashion relates to you, if you don’t feel fashionable, or if you see the fashion industry as something so separate from yourself, how can you feel part of it? Even if you consider yourself well dressed, do you consider yourself ‘fashion’ or part of the fashion industry? Probably not, right?
🍃
But my hypothesis is that anyone who wears clothes (approx 99.9% of my followers…pretty sure there is a nudist in amongst you lot) IS part of the conversation.
🍃
So…do you think the word fashion being replaced with clothes would help make the conversation more accessible and less intimidating?
🍃
This is an extract from an interview I did with IPBES which is GOING LIVE TODAY! @IPBES_ are the global biodiversity platform working to deliver best-available science and evidence on issues about nature to the attention of decision-makers, to enable better policies.
🍃
Link to full interview up later today!

Short extracts from my recent conversations with p

Short extracts from my recent conversations with people from a range of ages and backgrounds…⁣⁣
⁣⁣
- The sustainable fashion community feels judgemental⁣⁣ and triggering.
🍃
I get that. It can look like it’s a bunch of people telling you you aren’t doing the right things enough and how crap the world is. However, this space is also full of people advocating for human rights, social justice, environmental protection, animal rights, fair trade, companies to be transparent and not take advantage of marginalised groups all the way down to encouraging you to see the creative in you (@PSIMadeThis). Once you cut through the delivery (which isn’t always the best but is often as harsh as it needs to be to get folks to wake up), then you get to the WHY. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
That’s when you will fall in LOVE with this sector.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
- I’m just one person, I don’t have enough impact to make a difference to climate change.
🍃
Everyone has impact AND your actions inspire those around you. Take a look at @ProjectDrawdown (tagged) and find out about Climate Solutions and dozens of ways you can have impact.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
- I am not a busy mum, I don’t have time for sustainable fashion. It doesn’t relate to me or my family.⁣⁣
🍃
We all wear clothes every single day, so the way clothes are made, and who this impacts, is something we are all part of. Did you know that certain chemical substances contained in pyjamas can be found in a child's urine 5 days after a single wear? Or that the way fashion is made can create a range of health problems including carcinogenic elements, infertility, reduced IQ and endocrine disruption?⁣⁣
⁣⁣
- I doubt I could make a difference⁣⁣...
🍃
Sometimes, one person is all it takes to start a local, national or even global movement. Don’t underestimate yourself.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
- I don’t know where to begin!
🍃
Try @Ecosia (an eco alternative to Google which plants a tree every time you search). You know that search engine you go to when you are trying to source a remote vintage car part or the best place for a deep tissue massage in Timbuktu? Yes, that one.⁣⁣

A little motivation for the week ahead.⁣ ⁣ Wat

A little motivation for the week ahead.⁣
⁣
Watching Beyonce’s BLACK is KING Visual Album and this scene of the black and white chess game resonated.⁣
⁣
It does feel like we face the presence of what is wrong and counterproductive every waking moment. From the silencing of our communities voices across to the fears of further suppressive legislations across to the treatment of our earth as a waste site, and the subsequent impact on earth communities.⁣
⁣
We are in constant dialogue with wrong and right, the counterproductive and the productive. And things might never be all the way right. Why? Because we have seen time and time again that when one person/groups’ paradise is created, often, so is misery at the other end.⁣ Linear - take, make and waste, versus circular - regenerate, regenerate and regenerate.
⁣
Can we redress the imbalance? YES, can we ever fully erase it? I am asking you. We can work on being less bad, supporting less bad, promoting more good, doing more good and always realising this is a conversation and not always a battle. Strengths and weaknesses go hand in hand. Nothing appears on its own. ⁣
⁣
As Criss Jami says, “Good...if you've done things you aren't proud of. It means you have a conscience.” ⁣
⁣
One day, you might be the good piece and another you might not. It’s ok to realise this is the journey.⁣
⁣
Happy Sunday.
#Beyonce #BlackIsKing #Balance

I wanted to write a post sharing why I got involve

Extremely patronising article in @Forbes by @ tec

Extremely patronising article in @Forbes by
@ techstyler flattening the contribution of my work as CEO for Red Carpet Green Dress and attributing our latest project to white saviourism and tokenism, despite the fact that the campaign initiative and NGO partner selections were devised by me, a black woman, a woman of colour.
🍃
Why is it so hard for some (white) journalists to recognise that black women can advocate for other BIPOC authentically without assuming that the idea and leadership came from their white peers or counterparts? Or assuming we only see these partnerships as AID projects? Is that because that is how they see it? We don’t use the word AID as it is outdated and racist. No one is saving anyone. We are working with our allies, a group WE owe support to more than anything else.
🍃
In addition, assuming our objectives for these collaborations without even doing the work to consult us on them? Disappointing, poor journalism and very tone deaf in this current moment. Divide and conquer tactics at play here - meaning BIPOC can’t support each others work and initiatives without an unworthy motive? All this without interviewing me or anyone from our organisation about our objectives (short or long term). Silencing at its very worst on a topic we are beyond passionate about and dedicated to.

2020 is not the year for this behaviour people, we are calling it OUT. Do your research and the work please.

*Update - the article has been amended to remove White Saviour and RCGD but still no apology from @ techstyler?*
🍃
Check Stories. Link to tweet in Stories. #Intersectional #OrNah

Our design contest closed today so finally surfaci

Our @RedCarpetGreenDress Global Design contest clo

Our @RedCarpetGreenDress Global Design contest closes tomorrow at 5pm ET! So I wanted to share a little about why this is such a significant moment for me personally.
⁣⁣⁣⁣🍃
I entered it at 11:58pm in 2010. I was last of all and umm’d and ahh’d for the longest about this. After all, I had stuck a pin in my design career (having experienced a fire where my clothes and NY collection were destroyed) and was deciding ‘What next?!’⁣⁣⁣⁣.
⁣⁣⁣⁣
My idea of what sustainable fashion was back then was simply HEMP… with a little hemp and a trim of…hemp. It didn’t include design solutions like our biodegradable TENCEL Luxe materials, or social justice fights for fair wages or decolonisation, or business strategies which centred people and planet on equal footing as profit. OR any of the trillion elements I now know it is rooted in. I am passionate about connecting the dots for other people too, as this space is nuanced and has depth. Come in and be CHALLENGED.⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣🍃
@SuzyAmisCameron opened a can of worms with her design contest and looking back has never been an option since.⁣⁣⁣⁣
A root connection to people communities around the world and the earth communities of species - check. For the childhood tree climber that is me, I found my perfect uncomfortable/comfort space.⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣🍃
The two NGOs our contest supports in Myanmar and Bangladesh do incredible work for OUR garment workers, women (mainly)we are in allyship with, not helping or saving. Their daily sacrifices facilitate the shoppers who trawl the high street for bargains, their powerful backs carry our shopping bags. It should not be this way though, and we all know this.⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣🍃
Finally, I wanted to draw it back to one thing fashion should be but isn’t due to the unjust foundation it is built on. FUN. The purest form of self-expression, clothes help us craft an image of ourselves and communicate in a silently powerful way. Clothing should be enjoyed. Our work is to disconnect clothes from being the symbols of pain they currently are to so many people across the world (WhoMadeYourClothes) and reconnect them with joy, creativity and authentic value.⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣
Contest link in bio. 🙏🏾 @jmperezphotography

Should a country’s effort to BE sustainable be t

Should a country’s effort to BE sustainable be thwarted by a sustainable fashion MOVEMENT? ⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣🍃
Second hand clothes are not a black and white issue, and they are not all good.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣🍃
Knowing your purchase or donation will do good for other communities or causes does not negate the reality of how lucrative the second hand clothes industry is for the so-called developed world, and the hand-tie situation it presents to the countries it exports to.⁣⁣⁣
🍃⁣⁣⁣
As a British-Born Ghanaian, it is close to my heart to share that the continent of Africa is being used as a dumping ground. Awoken to this reality, several East African countries (including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Sudan) are refusing to accept limitless second hand clothes and in turn are being threatened with exclusion from beneficial trade deals. This impacts their ability to be prosperous and self sufficient.⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣🍃
For the African countries who want to support their own homegrown design talent, and create their own thriving fashion capitals full of native luxury conglomerates or high street giants? To not rely on these cheap imports to ‘define’ their fashion industry on the global stage, it is opportunity denied. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣🍃
Like I said, one of the ways that sustainable fashion is not intersectional is by who is chooses as the messenger. Who it shackles to a limited prosperity. ⁣One where it dictates the terms of growth and oversees the image of who is helping whom. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣🍃
These countries are being punished because of their desire to build domestic textile industries, to build their own. ⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
Why are certain countries forced to sacrifice development in order to remain connected to the so called advanced world?⁣ FYI - 70 percent of donated garments end up in Africa.⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣🍃
The western world has realised it has too many clothes and not enough people interested in wearing them (second hand clothes are called the “clothing of calamity” in Mozambique - such is the madness of the piles we throw away without a second thought). That doesn’t mean that all manner of garments should be exported to Africa. Or that Africans - across the 54 countries - should feel grateful for the burden.

John Boyega coming with those FACTS. Too many peop

John Boyega coming with those FACTS. Too many people policing the ways others find joy and lift their spirits. Let’s all stay in our lanes and allow each other the joys we find, wherever we find it, as long as you aren’t hurting anyone else!

“Please don’t let anybody police your self confidence. As long as you’re not using it to belittle others. The humility police will have you skipping the part where you’re supposed to know why you’re the s***. Know it, work on it and give it to dem.”

#HumilityPolice #KeepYourHeadUp @johnboyega

I have joined a few others to share pledges for th

I have joined a few others to share pledges for this year with @revenvert.
⁣🍃⁣
I didn't have much else to say as I feel like my mission with our work is pretty clear. See the other pledges through link in bio.
⁣🍃⁣
My pledge is to ensure that our work in the sustainable fashion world always champions global sustainability. Our limited view of who brings sustainability to the world is damaging our efforts to have real impact. We don’t include the affected communities around the world in our dialogue, strategy or actions and I believe that is why we are moving so slowly as an industry.
🍃
My pledge is to always ensure that the right representation is taking place so that sustainability as a word will ring true for those who hear it and those who say it.
🍃
Nothing will change.
#SustainableFashion #Fashion

🍃 非常非常谢谢你这么卓越的报道。

🍃
非常非常谢谢你这么卓越的报道。
我非常感激有机会接触你的观众。可持续发展是一个全球性的话题，衷心感谢您允许我与您的读者交流。
🍃
Thank you so much @Wonderland.China for this excellent article. I really appreciate the opportunity to reach your audience. Sustainability is a global topic, and I sincerely thank you for allowing me to communicate with your readers.
🍃
Link in bio. Thank you @veronicachou_ for helping me translate this properly 🙏🏾.
#SustainableFashion #Fashion

Keep your head up and shine bright like a diamond

Keep your head up and shine bright like a diamond Sis. Sparkle courtesy of @laurabasci.
#SustainableFashion #Fashion

You don’t get what you paid for, you get what yo

You don’t get what you paid for, you get what you can afford, so who is really empowered to buy better?⁣ “Buy less, choose well, make it last” doesn’t speak to everyone.
🍃⁣⁣
The three pillars of sustainability are social, environmental and economic. Now for me, the latter means the entire length of the value chain - from the farmers to the consumers. That means if the business is doing well, all the hands involved in creating the end product should be thriving and doing well too.⁣
🍃⁣⁣
The idea that a consumer should profit from a purchase might seem strange at first, but not when you consider that the items we buy should have value, as we have paid money for them. If you work hard for your money, and let’s face it, budget is a really big word for so many people right now, then shouldn’t you expect more than you are getting right now for the items you buy? ⁣
🍃⁣⁣
Design obsolesce is the fast fashion hustle. Items designed to fall apart and you aren’t allowed to demand more because, hey, what did you expect for the few pounds/dollars/insert relevant currency here that you spent? The unspoken message is not just that you get what you pay for, but also, you get what you can afford. This implies people within a lower income bracket or even at a stage in their lives where affordability is a barrier to entry, shouldn’t expect quality, they shouldn’t expect better.⁣
🍃⁣⁣
The time has surely come to ask, “Shouldn’t you expect better from the items you spend your hard-earned money on, whether you are in a low, middle high income bracket?”⁣
⁣Musings.
#SustainableFashion #Fashion ⁣

What’s the difference between me wearing this be

What’s the difference between me wearing this beautiful turban showing my hair slightly (or not), and my Muslim sister from another wearing a hijab?
🍃
Why is it that when some women wear turbans or head-wraps as a style statement it is celebrated and called beautiful (Boho chic even)? Yet when other women choose to wear hair coverings for reasons of modesty they are made to feel unsafe? Apparel is political and it can be weaponised.
🍃
Part of our conversation about sustainable fashion needs to include how oppressive movements can deface, and soil, the meaningful relationships entire groups of people have with the items they wear to express their identity.
🍃
We show a lack of culture when we fail to understand - or at least attempt to understand - the rich meaning behind the apparel other people wear every single day.
#SustainableFashion #Fashion #ModestFashion

My mind is gone. I just had the most powerful chat

My mind is gone. I just had the most powerful chats today, one with @NikkiReed which we will be sharing soon. Thank you for being such a powerful voice Nikki, to the point where a few mins in I was relaxed enough to take my shoes off and have the kind of conversation we needed to be having.
🍃
A really real one. Thank you for creating such a relaxed space and for your honesty about doing the work.
🍃
And @ConsciousChatter you asked the kinds of questions which created space for depth and vulnerability.
🍃
Coming soon!

#SustainableFashion #Fashion #RealTalk

Set your clocks! I am polishing off my moderating

Set your clocks! I am polishing off my moderating skills to chair a discussion about sustainability during the @Glamhive Digital Summer Bazaar on July 11th. The all-day event will feature 27 panels with 75-plus speakers...and I’m doing a ticket giveaway here for two people who would like to join us so read below!
🍃⁣⁣
Top stylists, makeup artists, and hairstylists to talent such as Lupita Nyong'o, Kristen Stewart, Lizzo, Emma Stone and many more are sharing their experiences, expertise, and insights online as part of the Bazaar.⁣
🍃⁣⁣
I’m excited to moderate a sustainable fashion panel which includes talented stylist Evet Sanchez whose clients include Leonardo DiCaprio, James Franco, and Gisele Bundchen, Tara Swennen (known to style Kristen Stewart and Matthew McConaughey - whose incredible wife @camilamcconaughey was an ambassador for @redcarpetgreendress in 2017), and more.⁣
🍃⁣⁣
Tickets are available (through the link in my stories) but as I said, I’m also giving away 2! All you need to do is:
1) Follow me here
2) Tag the friend you would like to share your tickets with (if they use Insta)
3) Complete this sentence with your own twist in the comments under this post. ⁣⁣
“The best sustainable fashion is...”. ⁣

I will pick a winner on Wednesday 8th July!⁣
🍃⁣⁣
Good luck!
#SustainableFashion #Fashion #Giveaway

My first bit of ‘ready to wear couture’ was Ni

My first bit of ‘ready to wear couture’ was Nico Didonna. This isn’t the particular piece but this look is head to toe from him: Palazzo trousers - long women's trousers cut with a loose, extremely wide leg that flares out from the waist, and the silk Devore top.⁣⁣
🍃⁣⁣
Nico’s shop in Soho was and is a pretty special place. He had an atelier out back and it was a bit of a hang out spot. We would go there and talk to him, try stuff on and he would put his infamous wrap dress on you which could be work a million different ways.
🍃⁣⁣
He made every piece in his atelier, with fabrics locally sourced from the textiles stores nearby or from Italy. Nico really made me appreciate tailoring and how spending a little on a local tailor to take the waist in or lift a hem made a piece look luxury, made it look like it was made for you.⁣⁣
🍃⁣⁣
One of the ways you can make sustainability part of your wardrobe is in tailoring and adjusting the beautiful items you have. Fit transforms a piece. You don’t have to have an endless budget to look ‘couture’ - you just need to care about the things you have and invest in making them fit you. 🙏🏾

#SustainableFashion #Fashion

A little note for the platforms and people who hav

A little note for the platforms and people who have recently reached out to ask me to join panel discussions….⁣
🍃⁣
It’s important not to assume that all POC want to exclusively and only talk about BLM. Just because you recently discovered me as a POC, it doesn’t mean that the roles I occupy are not of interest for me to talk about either.⁣
🍃⁣
As the CEO of @RedCarpetGreenDress I want to talk about the global design contest we have open to design talent around the world with an incredible prize which simultaneously benefits two NGOs...or about our global textile range which is fully biodegradable (and doesn’t exhaust natural resources)⁣. I’m proud of this work and want to talk about it.
As the founder of @The___Tribe, a women’s empowerment collective and its associated journal, I want to to discuss women’s empowerment⁣ and self-esteem issues.
And I have a passion for fashion entrepreneurism and emerging designers. >>> @FDRBook.
🍃⁣
Of course, I can add value to the BLM conversation and fashion’s colonisation of the industry, however like any other person - I have depth and nuances. When you assume I only want to talk about BLM, you once again flatten who I am as an individual. ⁣
🍃⁣
I appreciate the platforms who have asked if I am comfortable with talking about BLM in some way, instead of assuming I am happy to represent the voice of all black people. Part of the way you ensure intersectionality is by respecting the presence of a POC in a room for the work they do, not just as a spokesperson for their race.⁣
🍃⁣
Important: You don’t have to ask a black fashion activist for THE black point of view, you can ask the black fashion activist for HER point of view, safe in the knowledge that it will inherently be coming from her point of view as a black person. I don't remove my skin colour when I speak...it informs my words consciously and subconsciously.⁣
🍃⁣
Also…slide right.⁣
⁣
And finally, last slide.⁣
Second slide should say *Than on you*
#SustainableFashion #POV #DoingTheWork