This week we look at the role of biotech in the beauty industry. It promises the ability to program and design molecules that can be less toxic, more sustainable, and customizable in everything from moisturizer to perfume. Our guest this episod

Gisele Fetterman to the rescue! Mom, founder, firefighter and thrifter

Jan 23rd, 2023 41m 9s

We wanted a minute of Gisele Fetterman’s time to hear about her advocacy work, how she champions thrifting and vintage, and what she learned from last year’s bruising campaign on behalf of her husband, Senator John Fetterman. But we got so much

The truth about vegan leather, organic cotton, and cow farts

Jan 12th, 2023 1h 2m

This week, we’ve decided the best way to understand claims of sustainable textiles and leather is to step outside the fashion universe and go straight to someone who lives at the source: in food, agriculture and climate. Tamar Haspel is the hos

Finding hope for sustainable fashion in 2023

Jan 5th, 2023 52m 21s

Happy New Year! We’re back with our review of 2022, and predictions for 2023. But first, we have to say goodbye to Dame Vivienne Westwood, and take a few more shots at Balenciaga for what can only be described as a rather cowardly approach to r

It’s beginning to look a lot like over-consumption season; the predatory side of women’s fashion; and… compostable underwear?

Dec 23rd, 2022 49m 12s

It’s the end of the year, and our listeners have been asking questions: What does it mean that menswear is often made with better materials than womenswear? How do we kick the overconsumption habit when it’s so baked into our culture? And is un

Charles Conn, Board Chair of Patagonia, on the company’s past and future

Dec 15th, 2022 43m 38s

This week, Charles Conn, Chair of the Board of Directors at Patagonia joins us to share his story of how the company made the landmark decision to “make Earth its only shareholder.” This was news not just in the apparel industry, but everywhere

DressX has designs on fashion's digital future

Dec 8th, 2022 51m 27s

We want your feedback! Fill out our listener survey for a chance to win a $100 Patagonia gift card.This week, we’re setting our news feeds aside and spending our time with Natalia Modenova of DressX, a multi-brand retailer and innovator for We

Balenciaga makes a bad move worse, Raf ends his label’s run, and COP27 mostly disappoints

Dec 1st, 2022 56m 46s

We want your feedback! Fill out our listener survey for a chance to win a $100 Patagonia gift card.First, we have to talk about Balenciaga. If you type “Balenciaga child porn” into Google right now, you get 2.6 million hits. That is not good a

Fashion’s having a metaverse moment

Nov 17th, 2022 38m 12s

We want your feedback! Fill out our listener survey for a chance to win a $100 Patagonia gift card.Join us on November 30 for a live, virtual episode of Climavores. Come ask a question about food, nutrition, and eating for the climate.We’re c

“Fast furniture” is clogging up landfills, Leo likes vegan shoes, and fashion is a bummer at COP27

Nov 10th, 2022 42m 13s

It’s COP27 week, so we look at how well the fashion industry is doing keeping its promise to dramatically reduce emissions. A recent report from Stand.earth gives most major brands a failing grade and shows how much work they still have to do t

The latest food group is the micro plastics we’re wearing — and digesting

Nov 3rd, 2022 47m 32s

This week, we’re talking about microplastics and what they’re doing to the environment and our bodies. We’ve heard plenty about the giant plastic trash island out in the Pacific and beaches across the globe littered with plastic bottles and bag

Made In the USA: American Giant’s Immortal Hoodies; Canceling Ye; Amazon Does Resale

Oct 28th, 2022 1h 2m

This week, we’re talking with Bayard Winthrop, CEO of American Giant. Bayard’s journey as the founder of an apparel company obsessively committed to sourcing domestically has resonated with the industry and with us. We talk with him about his j

Treet CEO Jake Disraeli joins to talk Shein Exchange; and Shein's labor practices exposed

Oct 21st, 2022 43m 38s

It was a busy news week in sustainable fashion, and Shein once again sucked all the oxygen out of the room. From being fined for a data breach to suffering a damaging investigation into its treatment of workers to announcing a peer-to-peer resa

Walmart is getting serious about apparel made in USA

Oct 13th, 2022 1h

We don’t always talk about haute couture; this week we’re taking a look at the new deal between Classic Fashion and Walmart, which will exclusively supply Walmart with cut-and-sewn apparel from a new production facility outside of Los Angeles.

Is sustainability in menswear any different?

Oct 6th, 2022 50m 48s

Don’t miss our live episode of Climavores in New York City on October 20! Sign up here for a night of live audio and networking with top voices in climate journalism.This week we’re responding to listener questions, and the first ones are from

Ultra-luxury resale is part investment, part sustainability

Sep 29th, 2022 1h 1m

This week, Secondhand September takes us all the way to the top of the fashion resale market: ultra-luxury. And we have questions. Is it a sustainability play? Is it an investment market akin to fine art? How do you police fraud? We talk with

Patagonia’s radical business move for climate

Sep 22nd, 2022 53m 14s

Secondhand September is going strong here on Hot Buttons. And this week, we’re talking with social media activist and slow-fashion advocate, Venetia La Manna. She’s a prominent voice of the slow fashion movement, and has lots to say about how w

Big brands are entering the resale market with “pre-loved” merchandise

Sep 16th, 2022 47m 5s

Don’t miss our live episode of Climavores in New York City on October 20! Sign up here for a night of live audio and networking with top voices in climate journalism. It’s Secondhand September, and we’re here to dive in. All this month we’re t

Can fashion weeks ever be sustainable?

1 Sep 1st, 2022 36m 34s

In this episode, we’re loving on fashion weeks. And not just the Fab Four of New York, London, Paris and Milan. Before these even kick off, Copenhagen fashion week had everyone talking earlier this summer. The combination of Scandinavian design

How we got so addicted to fast fashion

1 Aug 25th, 2022 32m 42s

Gen Z is driving the fast fashion machine. Seventy-two percent of college students say they have shopped fast fashion in the past year, and 40% say they scroll fast fashion sites and apps at least once a day. For many, it’s an addiction. But th

Using policy and law to hold brands accountable

Aug 19th, 2022 49m 54s

In this episode, we’re talking about the policies behind sustainable fashion with fashion law expert Betina Baumgarten. Betina’s career has included years as a civil litigation attorney, a fashion stylist, a specialist in fashion law, and now a

Repairing our way to sustainability

Aug 11th, 2022 40m 6s

One way to curb overproduction of clothing is to keep the clothes we have longer. It’s an old-fashioned solution but a simple one: instead of tossing worn and torn clothes in the trash, repair them. Major outdoor apparel brands have embraced re

The planet is awash in returns

Aug 4th, 2022 51m 37s

This week, we’re talking about returns. The more we shop, the more we return. And the more we shop online, the worse it gets.Retailers have embraced easy, free returns as a way to grab market share, but it’s coming at a cost to the companies a

Putting beauty products under the microscope

Jul 28th, 2022 48m 16s

This week, we take our first look at the beauty industry – skin care, cosmetics, hair care, and wellness supplements – and find it wanting. Kim Kardashian’s line of skincare, SKKN, got off to a bumpy start with lots of social media backlash ar

H&M’s sustainability deception

Jul 21st, 2022 42m 28s

H&M has an uphill battle to be taken seriously as a sustainable fashion brand, and last week it got even worse. Quartz published an investigation into H&M’s use of an environmental impact scorecard to misrepresent the sustainability of its clot