WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press

We know the struggle to resist the January sales is real! So this week's pod is for anyone who needs a reminder that some of the best things in life are free. Or, maybe you could use bit of encouragement to take a moment to ground yourself.

Consider it permission to forget capitalism, scary news headlines, the spectre of going back to work for while.

In this limbo time after Christmas but before the new year really kicks in,...

Lizzie Dibble wants libraries to lend clothes as well as books. Not just any clothes though. A carefully curated selection of donated second-hand fashion, imbued with the stories of former wearers, and volunteer-run.

With Love From… has built a collection of occasion-wear, mostly for women (though there’s also a children’s dressup box) for library members to loan in her hometown of Oswestry, UK. That focus is intentional, becaus...

Despite Shein’s new sustainability rhetoric, workers are still paying the price for the ultra-fast fashion giant’s success.

To 75-hour working weeks, piece rates and no contracts, we can add secrecy, opaque financial operations and a general air of mystery around its billionaire founder and how the brand does business.

This is the story they don't want told.

But thanks to Swiss NGO Public Eye's meticulous research and und...

Listen up! Yayra Agbofah is the founder of Ghanaian non-profit, The Revival. He's seriously stylish a poet, a creative upcycler, and one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders, as well a 2025 winner of the H&M Foundation's Global Change Award.

And he's got some advice for the global fashion industry...

Also covered in this charismatic convo: why wear a hat, the art of knowing yourself, community upc...

We're back! And excited to be kick off Series 12 with this fabulous interview with Copenhagen-based Moroccan Danish stylist, and excellent dresser, Samia Benchaou.

Clare and Samia met at fashion week when they got talking about the power of a great outfit. Can you relate? Bet you have a story of someone you met because of what they were wearing! (If so, tell us on Instagram).

Clothes speak before we do and fashion is a fun ...

Construction! Proportion! Craft!

What lies behind the enduring power of the suit? Of great tailoring? How is that amplified when it’s bespoke? What makes a good suit? Does it still matter? Why? And how much should it cost? All these questions, and many more are on the (cutting) table this week, as Clare sits down with Savile Row tailor Dominic Sebag-Montefiore, creative director of iconic bespoke house, Edward Sexton.

Thank ...

This week's guest, Glen Rollason, describes pattern making as the architecture of fashion. It's the bones, the structure, the technical process that gives our clothes shape, moves them from the 2D to the 3D, and helps them fit. Pattern making is drafting, design, and highly skilled technical process - but it's also team work.

No pattern, no coat!

From the basics (what is it, where do you begin) to the artistry (fit, form, al...

In the last of our mini series, Made in Melbourne, we meet Australia’s National Designer of the Year 2025, Amy Lawrance.

Amy launched her namesake label just a couple of years ago, but she's highly experienced - working for other labels, teaching at RMIT, and she is an extraordinary, couture-standard maker.

Her architectural patterns are blisteringly original, she uses mostly undyed silks and has been experimenting with decor...

What do your favourite clothes mean to you? How connected are you to most of what's in your wardrobe? If you had to start from scratch, what would you prioritise?

This interview is the third in a mini series of four about made in Made in Melbourne. This time, it's actually made in Ballarat, which is about 120 ks from the Victorian capital, but you get this idea. We're talking thriving in your own community, local production and ...

In the second of our mini series on emerging designers based in Melbourne, my guest this week Singaporean-Aussie designer Jude Ng.

Jude started out selling at design markets, and we talk here about how some people might view that as not elevated, somehow not fashion enough. And what rubbish that is!

As Jude says, it was having these direct relationships and conversations with potential customers that helped him build his busine...

A new generation of fashion designers is rejecting the current system, but what are they building in its place?

In the first of our mini-series, Made in Melbourne, Isabelle Hellyer, the designer behind All Is Gentle Spring, discusses her vision for small-scale, skills-based fashion trade we can be proud of.

These stories are Australian, but relevant wherever you are - exploring universal themes of staying small in a Bezos-wo...

According to Antoine Arnault, CEO of Loro Piana: "Luxury products are sustainable by nature."

Hmmm. What do we think of that, then?

Just because it's expensive doesn't make it ethical.

In case you are not across these names, Arnault is a member of the LVMH dynasty (his dad, Bernard, is one of the 10th richest people on the planet) and Loro Piana is a posh Italian knitwear brand known for its cashmere and $500 baseball h...

We've all had tough days at work, right? But I'm going to bet your last one didn't involve multiple colleagues fainting from heat stress.

My guest this week is researcher and academic Cara Schulte, author of an important new report, for Climate Rights International, that looks into the effects of the effects of extreme heat on garment workers in Bangladesh.

These don't stop at the physical. Workers describe feeling mentally u...

To mark NAIDOC week in Australia, which officially celebrates & recognises the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, we bring you this interview with activist, astronomer and knowledge holder Professor Ghillar Michael Anderson, who was central in the setting up of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra in 1972.

Michael is a Senior Law Man, Elder, and leader of the Eualeyai Nati...

This week's episode is an update from Accra, Ghana, and the situation at Kantamanto markets.

It was recorded during the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen, where I met up with Liz Ricketts from The Or Foundation. Liz was with several community members from Kantamanto, including market trader Mary and upcycler Latifa - both featured on the podcast. Ultimately this is a story of resilience, entrepreneurship, creativity and skill...

Over the past few weeks, we've been diving into the world of weaving with natural fibres, exploring local textile traditions and capabilities, and don't get us wrong - we will always love that. But there's also a whole world of sciency possibilities shaking up the future of fabrics and fabulous ways.

Pack your (metaphorical) bags for a European innovation tour!

And get ready to answer some wild questions, like...

What if bact...

Welcome to another episode about why it matters that we can make stuff locally.

After last week's ep on Yorkshire's centuries-old wool recycling expertise, this time, as promised, Clare's taking you back to Australia, to see another inspiring mill in action.

We're in Launceston, Tasmania to visit Australia's oldest continuously operating weaving mill.

Waverley Mills has always worked with local wool, and over the years has...

Ever wondered how mechanical textile recycling actually works? What shoddy and mungo is, and why we called it that? What the rag n' bone man collected back in the day and how the trade grew up, then scaled back? And what it will take to bring it back and keep what's already here, going?

Wonder no more! John Parkinson has a masterclass for you, complete with magic and secrets.

For 200 years, Yorkshire made recycled wool cloth...

What if the best place was the one you're already in? Meet Julia Roebuck, the powerhouse organiser behind Thread Republic Textile Reuse Hub and social enterprise in Huddersfield, UK.

We're talking about textile skills, mending, repair, sewing, the wellbeing economy and what that might look like - at home. What fashion can be when we remove the transactional, when it's not just about shopping. And the immense satisfaction to be g...