#39 THE MORE THE MERRIER - exploring the biggest challenges and opportunities for fashion’s rental revolution with the founders of Loanhood, Nuw and Onloan

Khandiz is a registered Chartered Environmentalist and an accomplished international creative and sustainability strategist who helps businesses and individuals to transform their vision into one that stimulates social, environmental and economic cohesion.Today, Khandiz runs her business, Vujà Dé (meaning: approaching old problems with a new perspective) Creative Solutions from her home in northwest London. Being a multidisciplinary artist gives her a distinctive way of seeing the world that enables her clients to see things through a different lens, and in turn, it helps them innovate, challenge, and lead.Khandiz who describes herself as a ‘Creative Sustainableist’ has been instrumental in leading the beauty industry towards a more sustainable approach through the many businesses and projects she has created.In this podcast we hear all about Khandiz’s journey from growing up in Cape Town, South Africa to what changed when she discovered mineral makeup in America and what it’s like to use creativity as a tool to challenge existing ways of thinking and doing. We also explore why she chose to become a Chartered Environmentalist and learn about her human-centric vision to communicate the nested model of sustainability.In addition to Vujà Dé Creative Solutions Khandiz has created several businesses and projects with include:CurrentFounding Member & Managing Partner, Conscious Beauty Union: CBU was founded by five leading conscious beauty experts – Khandiz Joni, Lou Dartford, Nat Van Zee, Sjaniël Turrell and Tahira Herold – in late 2018. CBU supports beauty professionals to develop a sustainable practice through ongoing education in sustainability, ethics and health and wellbeing – for us, our clients and the Planet.Founder of The I AM IMPACT Project; ongoing collaborative art project exploring the human impact on our fragile planetary boundaries.PreviousCo-founder, Managing Partner, Creative Director, Novel Beings: the first agency to exclusively represent stylists, hair and makeup artists, prop and food stylists who worked with a sustainable practice in the film, fashion and advertising industries. Plus, A Novel Approach: an award-winning boutique creative agency and sustainability think-tank that works with sustainable fashion brands and organisations like Birdsong and Fashion Revolution.Founder Untainted Magazine: a directional beauty platform, pushing the boundaries of clean beauty.www.vujadecreative.solutionswww.otherday.co.uk

The realisation of motherhood could be described as the moment when everything falls away and is replaced by something that will change your life forever, in ways that you could never have imagined. The awakening of motherhood and becoming climate aware feel incredibly similar and in fact are intrinsically linked. The desire to protect, love and ensure a healthy future after we are long gone is what we must do for both our planet and our children. This is the reason Jessie Brinton founded Mothership soon after becoming a mother. Motherhood is a community-focused platform that offers tools, support and joy for mums to re-nurture the planet for the kids. Before creating Mothership, Jessie worked for many years in fashion for well-known publications including Harper's Bazaar, Nylon, and The Sunday Times. But, after she became a mother, she was compelled to turn her focus to climate action.In this podcast Jodi Muter-Hamilton talks to Jessie about how she is organizing an extremely powerful climate movement of mothers, Mums, with some dads, aunties, grandmas, step mums, god mums, and other people who love kids a lot.Instagram @heymothershipwww.otherday.co.uk

If you’re longing to discover a beautifully curated selection of fashion by designers and artisans who are located in out-of-reach places, then Cult Mia is your destination. How we feel and react when we discover something new to us can be extremely powerful. The feeling of surprise, anticipation, novelty and newness trigger the release of dopamine. Which intern makes us want to go exploring in search of a reward. So, it’s no wonder that discovery is a big topic for the fashion industry. It’s what keeps us coming back to search for new editorial content, or the latest drops from our favourite brands. And it means big business for online retail. But, what if discovery wasn’t just about capitalising on that dopamine rush, and discovery actually became the key to unlocking a decent living as a creative for a female entrepreneur or unknown designer in a far-to-reach location? It puts a different perspective on why discovery is such a big part of Cult Mia. Nina came up with the idea for Cult Mia during her time at luxury trunkshow and designer pre-order business Moda Operandi. Competing against more than 100 businesses, Nina later applied to London Business School's accelerator programme, Launchpad, and won with her idea for Cult Mia. In 2019, Cult Mia’s first year, they onboarded over 70 designers from 25 different countries, including Georgia, Nigeria and Ukraine.Following on from the launchpad programme, Cult Mia joined London Business School's Incubator programme and received more than £200,000 of resources and office space for the first year of business. Cult Mia has recently raised its pre-seed investment, backed by strategic investors and family offices.What intrigues us about Cult Mia, is how the brand’s core values; sustainability, empowerment of women, inclusivity, and lifting local communities, drive Cult Mia and their partner businesses forward. All too often we see brands being ‘inspired by’ other cultures, platforms selling ‘authentic’ clothing without acknowledging they are ‘taking’ rather than celebrating, honouring and creating rightful remuneration for the clothing. Cult Mia is here to make that a thing of the past. When we consider Nina’s family background - her grandparents moved from Spain, Poland and the Netherlands to Mexico, where her parents were born and raised - and her international education, across Switzerland, USA, and the UK, it’s not difficult to understand why she has such an international viewpoint on life. Nina is the daughter of parents who both achieved great things. Her is father a successful businessman and her mother was one of the first women in Mexico to complete a computer science degree before moving on to set up the computer systems for some of the biggest banks in Latin America. Though her early career Nina spent time as part of The United Nations Women and Trade team supporting female entrepreneurs in underdeveloped countries by growing their micro-enterprises and connecting them to an international market. She also worked at Goldman Sachs in Geneva, covering Latin America.In this podcast, Jodi Muter-Hamilton finds out all about Nina, her vision for Cult Mia, and the biggest challenges and opportunities ahead for her business, female entrepreneurs and designers operating in a global economy. https://cultmia.comwww.otherday.co.uk

Faith, Claire and Florence have come together in a beautiful triangle formation to bring to life, creative ethics consultancy, CogDis. Their mission is to ease cognitive dissonance. Which is the discomfort felt when we behave in contradiction to our beliefs. And in doing so it’s their aim to rewire the future. Blending their unique talents and experiences, they guide brands, non-profits, talent and agencies towards solutions in communicating ethics and impact across the fashion industry. CogDis recently released their Manifesting Utopia guide, which shares community insights on how to energise sustainability & ethics in fashion via spirituality. In this podcast Jodi Muter-Hamilton finds out: How Faith, Claire and Florence came together to form CogDis What a creative ethics consultancy does How we can create projects that operate in service to Earth as well as our energetic selves What does it mean to really manifest something and how that relevant to business, life and our collective future

Sara Sozzani Maino is a curious seeker of emerging creative talent. As head of Vogue Talents, deputy director of Vogue Italia and international brand ambassador at Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Sara supports creativity to be recognised in an increasingly competitive fashion landscape. Sara began her fashion career in 1991, alongside her mother, Carla Sozzani, founder of the legendary 10 Corso Como boutique in Milan. In 1994, at the age of 19, Sara began her internship at Vogue Italia, which at the time was under the guidance of her aunt, the iconic editor in chief Franca Sozzani. In this podcast Jodi Muter-Hamilton and Sara Maino explore the less tangible subject of how to recognise and nurture creative potential. We also discuss: What kind of support systems and tools we need to have in place to help nurture creativity How culture and global influences shape creative vision Why we all must support the new generation to create responsible brands

I’m delighted to welcome you to our the first of our two special podcast episodes which accompanies our Defining Success report. For this first podcast we tackle a tricky subject for creatives: money. In search of expert guidance around what makes a creative venture attractive to financial investors and how we should plan for our personal financial future, Jodi Muter-Hamilton speaks to three incredible women for this podcast: Mehjabeen Patrick, chief financial and investment officer at Creative England and Creative Industries Federation Anna Sofat, associate director of wealth at Progeny Lottie Leefe, founder and director of DURA Private and The Dura Society Mehjabeen Patrick is responsible for the implementation and running of all operating functions across Creative England and Creative Industries Federation. With extensive experience as a finance director, Mehjabeen oversees all investment activity for the company and has a keen interest in growing its commercial activities and diversifying its income stream. Previously Mehjabeen worked as Director of Finance for the United Nations Association and Stakeholder Forum. Often referred to as “the voice of women’s wealth”, Anna Sofat, has been helping women invest their money for decades. Anna has changed the culture of wealth; by empowering women through advice & investment. As the pioneering founder of Addidi and now associate director of wealth at Progeny, we learn from Anna how to find your financial number. A number which creates a comfort point, been where what you need and want is sufficient. Lottie Leefe is a qualified wealth planner that advises UHNW/HNW individuals, as well as Next-Gen wealth, on their global assets and investments including art, real estate, wine, luxury goods and philanthropy. Lottie Leefe, who is the founder of DURA Private, a private client wealth consultancy, and founder of financial wellbeing platform The Dura Society. Both of which champion another kind of wealth. Each of these women has caved a path that is individual to them, but also one that supports others to gain an understanding of the many different ways in which we can create a more financially secure future for ourselves, our businesses and future generations. As creatives, we tend to leave money matters at the bottom of the to-do list. Maybe that’s because to us creativity comes first and financial reward second. Or perhaps it’s because throughout our lives we have not been taught how to manage our personal and business finances. However, we have the ability to gain knowledge and meet money matters head-on. “After all, as the saying goes, if you fail to plan, plan to fail.” Benjamin Franklin. This podcast is part of our Defining Success report and two accompanying podcasts. In our second Defining Success podcast we explore the less tangible subject of how to recognise and nurture creative potential with Sara Maino, head of Vogue Talents, deputy director of Vogue Italia and international brand ambassador at Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana.

Wilson Oryema is an Artist, Writer, and Entrepreneur. His endeavours are primarily concerned with “Human consumption and its effects on Human behaviour and the planet”. As part of SHOWstudio x Fashion Roundtable takeover our founder Jodi Muter-Hamilton spoke with Wilson and Jamie Windust about Fashion Activism. This left us intrigued to find out more about the social change initiative Wilson Co-founded called Regenerative Futures. Regenerative Futures is a four-year social change initiative which is working to bridge the intergenerational gap through collaboration and conversation. Working towards this goal they have created several realisations of their work including; The Regenerative List, is an open call to find 100 young pioneers from around the world whose innovative ideas will protect our people and our planet. This list is not like other kinds of lists we maybe familiar with that showcases certain people for arguably self-promotion of the organising body. The Regenerative List is not intended to rank people, but facilitate dialogue create innovative solutions between who want to design and live in a world built upon the principles of equity, fluidity, and sustainability. In this podcast we talk about Regenerative Futures, explore human ingenuity, ideas around responsibility and vulnerability and discuss what markers of success could look like. https://www.wilsonoryema.com https://otherday.co.uk

In order to turn an idea into a business, there are several exercises that entrepreneurs need to undertake to assess if their idea has the chance of success. A key element is to solidify the product-market fit by conducting competitor analysis. Imagine if you found there’s currently little competition for your amazing business idea. Then seemingly overnight more and more ‘rivals’ came onto the market all deemed to be fashion’s answer to our sustainability issues. Well, that’s precisely what happened in 2020 with fashion’s rental revolution. We pinned our hopes on rental as something that could fundamentally change fashion’s relationship with ownership. Of course, there were rental businesses who had previously launched and closed due to the fact that consumers weren’t quite ready to rent a few years ago. 2020 was the year that rental was beginning to take hold not only in our existing communities but in traditional retailers such as Selfridges with the Hurr pop-up and Liberty with My Wardrobe. Sadly, last year our hope of seeing fashion rental become mainstream was crushed by the pandemic. After all, we need somewhere to wear our new rented outfits, but what has not changed is the potential of rental. Post-pandemic, we will have lots of places to go and people to see, and we will want to reflect how we now feel as we emerge into the world. This is where rental has a real opportunity to flourish. It can offer new without being costly and give us fun, short-term wardrobe options without leaving us feeling guilty about contributing to social or environmental issues. Something that we feel is necessary to further action towards a more sustainable fashion industry is to collectively and openly discuss ideas, challenges and solutions. We feel a key part of our role at Black Neon Digital is to create a space that cultivates ideas, relationships and movements. It’s quite rare that founders of direct rival businesses embrace being so open with one another, yet is the very thing we need to see more of within fashion. On a purely practical level, if you know what your competitors are doing you can make sure your business offers something different. For our latest podcast, we invited the founders of three incredible rental businesses to come together and discuss where the rental market is heading and also what their business’s role is within the change. After all fashion rental is all about sharing, so let’s share our struggles and hopes too. Join our founder Jodi Muter-Hamilton, Jade McSorely Co-founder Loanhood, Aisling Byrne Founder Nuw and Tamsin Chislett Co-founder Onloan to explore the biggest challenges and opportunities for fashion’s rental revolution. www.blackneondigital.com

Making diamonds from mum’s cake, recycling precious metal to forge new memories and turning discarded abattoir waste into something beautiful useful. Meet three contemporary designers who are exploring the concept of value by repurposing meaning. What object do you value most? Is it something that evokes a deep-rooted joyful memory? Is it some we decide for ourselves, or are we led by narratives developed to sell a certain vision of luxury encapsulated? What if you could form a diamond from anything and create a truly meaningful gift? What if you could find ‘Hidden Beauty’ in discarded waste and lessen environmental impact at the same time, why wouldn’t you sit on a chair made from blood? These are the questions and more we discuss as we explore our relationship with value and meaning together with Aniela Fidler, Ariana Chede and Clemence Grouin-Rigaux. About our guests ANIELA FIDLER Aniela Fidler is a London College of Fashion, MA Fashion Futures Graduate who was one of the four graduates who took part in the Radical Sustainabilities event as part of the Class of 2020 Graduate Showcase. Aniela’s work is concerned with fashion as an expression of emotion. Aniela researches what humans wear to express collective and individual identities, as well as communicate and relate to each other. This is to better understand and map possibilities for more satisfactory futures. She investigates how environments, people, feelings, materials and products come together through storytelling by developing ideas gathered from multiple voices and uniting narratives. By employing an art and design aesthetic Aniela encourages us to reduce the fear of complexity and embrace its beauty. Through her project Diamond Makers Aniela explores radical new future scenarios for fashion where, meaning, luxury and narratives take new forms. After spending more than a year finding out what people value the most, which objects are dear to them and why. Aniela has identified 100 things that her interviewees care about and would consider turning into a diamond. Which answers the intimate question; What diamond source would align with your values? 'Diamond Makers' is a hybrid between a lab and a tailor-made retail experience, creating custom diamonds composed of unexpected items which hold emotional significance for the customer. Diamond Makers explores this area by exploiting the possibilities of already existing science, to fabricate lab-grown diamonds using a wide selection of surprising sources. Lab-grown diamonds grow under high temperature and pressure. They are formed from carbon which can be isolated from most types of organic ash. But maybe the diamond is in fact inconsequential or at least less significant than the meaning emerging from the source? What would be the value of the diamond made from the signature of the 'Diamonds Queen', Rihanna versus a diamond made from Notre Dame ash or your childhood teddy? What would those diamonds represent?' This focus on origin allows the customer of Diamond Makers to choose the meaning and emotional significance they want their diamond to have. The source is fully customisable and the selection process is designed to trigger personal reflection on values followed by desires. ADRIANA CHEDE Adriana Chede is half Brazilian half Lebanese was born in São Paulo and grew up in Brazil. Adriana completed a Product Design degree and courses in photography, fashion and goldsmith, before moving to Europe to study Jewellery Design at Parsons Paris and complete her Masters at the European Institute of Design in Rome. While developing her own aesthetic, Adriana worked with jewellery design houses in Copenhagen, Milan, Rome and Paris. She moved to London to set up her eponymous fine jewellery brand in 2018. For Ariana, jewellery has always represented a celebration of life. She discovered her passion for the craft in childhood when her father would give her mother a piece to celebrate the birth of each of their five children and special anniversaries. Through her modern, delicate collection pieces and her bespoke service, Adriana focuses on sustainability within her work, using recycled materials and responsibly sourced stones. Every piece of jewellery is handmade in her atelier, using natural Brazilian gemstones, diamonds, solid gold from recycled sources and sterling silver. The Sustainability Circle initiative offers customers credit for the price of the metal and discount on their next purchase. CLEMENCE GROUIN-RIGAUX Clemence Grouin-Rigaux is a French-born material designer based in London with an academic background in industrial design and graduated from Central Saint Martins with an MA Material Futures in June 2019. Clemence aims to change our perception of raw materials, re-engineer their qualities and eventually relocate them into new worlds. As a material designer, she challenges typical craft techniques and exploiting innovative manufacturing processes. By crafting everyday functional objects from a material of unusual origin, Clemence’s Hidden Beauty project aims to not only practically reduce the mountain of waste we generate every day, but also help to change our perception of it, both as a valuable commodity but also culturally as something that doesn’t need to be discarded. Every year in the UK approximately 2.6 million cattle, 10 million pigs, 14.5 million sheep and lambs, 80 million fish and 950 million birds are slaughtered for human consumption. Globally, the combined total of chickens (19 billion), cows (1.5 billion), sheep (1 billion) and pigs (1 billion) living at any one time is three times higher than the number of people, according to The Economist. It’s estimated 1 billion people are involved in the rearing, processing, distribution and sale of livestock, with half of those reliant on livestock for their livelihood. Agriculture as a whole makes up approximately 3% of global GDP, with livestock contributing 40% of that. The livestock economy is particularly important for poor rural populations in low- and middle-income countries. Animal remains present a constant and significant waste stream. Abattoir waste consists of blood, bone, fat, skin, hair, animal trimmings and urine, all of which can be hugely problematic to the environment by overwhelming natural eco-systems on our land, in our rivers and in our oceans. Although abattoir waste doesn’t yet have the same appeal as ocean plastic, it’s incredible to think of such huge volumes of potentially valuable materials go to unused. Interestingly, Clemence is vegetarian and has really pushed her own boundaries as well as challenging us to reassess our relationship with consumption and use on a fundamental level. After all, if we eat meat, why not make something beautifully useful from the by-products. www.blackneondigital.com

Making the switch from chemically straightened hair to natural curls, wasn’t as easy as Winnie Awa had hoped. This experience coupled with her expertise working at companies including LVMH, Net-a-Porter and ASOS, led to Winnie founding, Antidote Street. A digital destination for all things textured hair that not only offers a highly curated selection of products but has united some of the UK’s leading afro hair salons to create The Antidote Street Manifesto. The manifesto is an agreement to collaboratively set the standard that allows us to hold ourselves accountable for creating the best possible experience for our customers. One of the standout things about Antidote Street is how customer experience, and supporting a community are placed at the heart of the company. Bringing this to life, Antidote Street toured a mint green airstream caravan ‘Hair Lab’ around London; Brixton to Covent Garden and offered services including their most popular, ‘root analysis’ hair follicle test. By analysing what kind of hair people have, from the root - not the strand, that have been affected by styling and products - Antidote Street could really understand what kind of care is right for each person. This science and data-driven, analytical approach, in the words of Antidote street offers ‘the much-needed remedy to make 'hair' simple and easy’. This approach has since led to Winnie build Carra, an expert-led, tech optimised hair consulation and personalised recommendation platform. With Carra, you get to set your hair goals and meet your coach, who will analyse your needs and create a personalised routine for you. The hard work of deciphering ingredients, navigating often confusing marketing messages, can now be a thing the past. Also, by streamlining the process, Carra helps you buy fewer products that tend to sit around unused in a cupboard. Which, is a win, win for your bank account, and the environment. In this podcast our founder Jodi Muter-Hamilton and Winnie discuss: What its been like building carra during the current pandemic Why its so important to make the customer the heart of business Why its so difficult to understand product ingredients and information on packaging https://antidotestreet.com https://meetcarra.com https://www.blackneondigital.com