Wear Abouts

So here it is, our final episode of season two, and some might say that we've saved the best until last. Strutty B*tch sashayed onto our radar as the lead of an amazing collaborative project, in which MFI students work as production assistants on an incredible catwalk show at Homobloc, one of the biggest events on Manchester's cultural calendar. Strutty has worked on all kinds of events, and in this episode, we break down his journey into that world, what it's like to work behind the scenes of world-class experiential projects and why fashion is eternally obsessed with spectacle. It's a joyful, insightful and thoughtful journey into just one of the industries within the industry, and honestly, we can't think of a better way to close out the season. You can follow Strutty on Insta at: @struttybitch. Be sure to check out what he builds @homoelectric and @homobloc too. Thank you for all your support this season. We've loved creating this show and hope that it's helped you to explore why fashion matters and how it fits into your life. ✌️Did you enjoy the episode? Send us a text. 💬Subscribe now for new episodes every other Monday. Please take the time to rate and/or review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. We cherish every rating and review. They help to ensure this project continues.Join Wear Abouts over on Instagram for bonus video content: instagram.com/wearabouts_podYou can also follow Manchester Fashion Institute on Instagram: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstituteAnd check out our courses here: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk

We're back this week with a special episode previewing our Manchester Fashion Institute Showcase, taking place on Tuesday, 19th May. It's one of the best days of the year at MFI, and this year, we want to give you a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into the events. We've got four great guests in this episode... Christian Kuhwald, Senior Lecturer in Fashion Design Technology and MFI Showcase Lead. He's the man who orchestrates our jaw-dropping catwalk shows, so we're getting the scoop on what to expect.Rowan Simms-Ridgway is one of our final-year BA Fashion students, whose collection will be part of the first show on the night. (@rsr.fd / @proonwdasn)Amina Jeng's work will feature in our fashion communications exhibition. She's studying BA Fashion Art Direction. (@amina_jeng)Last but certainly not least is Shivani Bali from BSc Fashion Business and Management, whose project will be part of our business showcase event. (@shivanibali_)You can tune in to our livestream of the catwalks here from 5:20pm. Or, there might still be time to grab one of the last few tickets for the screening of the livestream in our SODA cinema here. Did you enjoy the episode? Send us a text. 💬Subscribe now for new episodes every other Monday. Please take the time to rate and/or review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. We cherish every rating and review. They help to ensure this project continues.Join Wear Abouts over on Instagram for bonus video content: instagram.com/wearabouts_podYou can also follow Manchester Fashion Institute on Instagram: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstituteAnd check out our courses here: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk

The fashion industry generates a gargantuan amount of waste year-on-year, with billions of garments going straight to landfill. Manchester-based start-up CircKit wants to help solve that problem and in the process, help brands to make money rather than waste it. Founder Joe Darwen and Brand and Communications Manager Annabel Lindsay (an MFI grad) join us this week to discuss their plans to "unf*ck fashion" through their AI-powered circular toolkit. They claim that there's a $700 billion opportunity across the sector through the development of truly circular products, so let's hear them out!Did you enjoy the episode? Send us a text. 💬Subscribe now for new episodes every other Monday. Please take the time to rate and/or review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. We cherish every rating and review. They help to ensure this project continues.Join Wear Abouts over on Instagram for bonus video content: instagram.com/wearabouts_podYou can also follow Manchester Fashion Institute on Instagram: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstituteAnd check out our courses here: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk

This week, we welcome two of our recent graduates back on campus so they can catch us up on their game-changing project that's bringing garment production back to Manchester. Jess O'Riley (@j.o.studioo) and James Robinson (@coldonasunday) met for the first time on one of their last days on campus at MFI and realised how much they had in common, as well as how differently they were building their respective fashion brands. What unifies them is a passion for designing and making clothes, but that's hard to do as a small brand. Rather than tap out, they joined forces to establish Making Room (@making_roommcr), a micro-factory and open studio in Manchester, dedicated to ethical, onshore fashion manufacturing. It's about time that small brands can have their collections made in Cottonopolis again. In this episode, we discover the back story, the mission and what the future holds for the city's most accessible micro-manufacturer. Did you enjoy the episode? Send us a text. 💬Subscribe now for new episodes every other Monday. Please take the time to rate and/or review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. We cherish every rating and review. They help to ensure this project continues.Join Wear Abouts over on Instagram for bonus video content: instagram.com/wearabouts_podYou can also follow Manchester Fashion Institute on Instagram: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstituteAnd check out our courses here: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk

We're buzzing with this week's guest as our first Manchester Fashion Institute alumnus of the season joins us just as his brand goes stratospheric. Ted Lloyd started the brand that would become MellowClo while studying BA Fashion Buying and Merchandising, but it was his experience working in the buying team at SEVENSTORE that really supercharged his understanding of how the industry works from a brand's POV. This episode is a must-listen for anyone who has dreams of starting their own brand. Ted has been steadily building MellowClo for years, and he shares lots of incredible advice with us. If you're not already familiar with MellowClo, find them on Instagram here: instagram.com/mellowclo. Major props to our producer Evie, who stepped in to host this week, as Cat couldn't make it. We think she absolutely smashed it. Be sure to comment and/or review if you agree. Did you enjoy the episode? Send us a text. 💬Subscribe now for new episodes every other Monday. Please take the time to rate and/or review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. We cherish every rating and review. They help to ensure this project continues.Join Wear Abouts over on Instagram for bonus video content: instagram.com/wearabouts_podYou can also follow Manchester Fashion Institute on Instagram: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstituteAnd check out our courses here: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk

This week, we welcome Laura to the show. She's currently Senior Brand Marketing Manager at Adanola and before that was Marketing Director at Aries. Driving the narrative for two of the biggest contemporary fashion brands of the 2020s is no joke, so we're really excited to learn about Laura's career path and to get some of her insight on the industry. In this episode, we talk about that route into brand marketing, the brands that are moving North, building the Aries marketing strategy and how Adanola have risen to the top of their sector. You can follow Laura on Insta at: https://www.instagram.com/laura_wardy/I don't think we need to tell you where to find Adanola and Aries, so...Did you enjoy the episode? Send us a text. 💬Subscribe now for new episodes every other Monday. Please take the time to rate and/or review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. We cherish every rating and review. They help to ensure this project continues.Join Wear Abouts over on Instagram for bonus video content: instagram.com/wearabouts_podYou can also follow Manchester Fashion Institute on Instagram: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstituteAnd check out our courses here: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk

Wear Abouts is back! This season, we're kicking things off with one of our favourite fashion photographers, Morgan Barfield. Her stunning work for brands like Hoka, Keen, Welter Experiment and Sums brilliantly captures outdoor and running culture. We discuss the state of play of female representation in the fashion industry's creative roles, switching specialisms, founding and running a creative studio (Gloaming Creative) and much more! Follow Morgan on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/morganbarfield/Check out Gloaming Creative on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gloamingcreative/We've launched our own dedicated Instagram account as well, so make sure you're following us at: @wearabouts_pod for lots of bonus content. We'll be spending more time with our guests, keeping tabs on the fashion industry and finding out why fashion matters and how it fits into everyone's lives. Did you enjoy the episode? Send us a text. 💬Subscribe now for new episodes every other Monday. Please take the time to rate and/or review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. We cherish every rating and review. They help to ensure this project continues.Join Wear Abouts over on Instagram for bonus video content: instagram.com/wearabouts_podYou can also follow Manchester Fashion Institute on Instagram: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstituteAnd check out our courses here: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk

Your favourite show about why fashion matters and how it fits into everyone's lives is back for a new season, with a new team just in time for Spring. Our hosts, Cat and May, are here to introduce themselves and the new crew to you. Make sure you're subscribed in time for our first episode of the new season, which drops on Monday! While you're at it, follow our brand new, shiny, dedicated Insta: @wearabouts_pod so that you can get stuck into the amazing content that Mia and Alice have created for your viewing pleasure. Did you enjoy the episode? Send us a text. 💬Subscribe now for new episodes every other Monday. Please take the time to rate and/or review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. We cherish every rating and review. They help to ensure this project continues.Join Wear Abouts over on Instagram for bonus video content: instagram.com/wearabouts_podYou can also follow Manchester Fashion Institute on Instagram: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstituteAnd check out our courses here: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk

As the Global Vice President of Product Innovation and Customer Creation at Nike, Jalaj Hora sat at the cutting edge of digital technologies in fashion design and manufacturing. From that perspective, he worked on and witnessed many positive moves towards sustainable practices, but also identified areas where things weren't joining up. In this episode, we find out how he's looking to fix some of those issues to help brands design in ways that move the needle when it comes to sustainability. We discuss fashion manufacturing challenges, how brands typically calculate their carbon footprint, AI as a design tool and much, much more. This is our sixth and final episode of series one, so it's a goodbye from Miriam, Laura and the crew. Wear Abouts will be back next year with a new team. We hope you've enjoyed the series. Thank you so much for your support, reviews, comments and feedback. We have loved making this show and seeing it start conversations around the world. 🫶🌍Did you enjoy the episode? Send us a text. 💬Subscribe now for new episodes every other Monday. Please take the time to rate and/or review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. We cherish every rating and review. They help to ensure this project continues.Join Wear Abouts over on Instagram for bonus video content: instagram.com/wearabouts_podYou can also follow Manchester Fashion Institute on Instagram: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstituteAnd check out our courses here: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk

University is often a journey of ups and downs and plenty of us get in some scrapes along the way. When Ellie Louise Brown fell over the "tiniest step" and badly broke her ankle during her time at Manchester Fashion Institute, she found herself feeling pretty frustrated. The experience of losing her mobility sparked an interest in designing for those whose disability makes finding usable, stylish clothes a huge challenge. Fast forward three years and Recondition is an award-winning fashion start-up based in Manchester, that's just shown at London Fashion Week. With the UK Government proposing sweeping cuts to a huge range of disability benefits last week, businesses like Ellie's go a long way to acknowledging the needs of the disability community. Everyone deserves to feel empowered through their clothes and we're delighted to welcome Ellie to the show this week to learn more about her journey as a fashion entrepreneur and disability ally. Follow Ellie on Instagram here. Follow Recondition here. Did you enjoy the episode? Send us a text. 💬Subscribe now for new episodes every other Monday. Please take the time to rate and/or review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. We cherish every rating and review. They help to ensure this project continues.Join Wear Abouts over on Instagram for bonus video content: instagram.com/wearabouts_podYou can also follow Manchester Fashion Institute on Instagram: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstituteAnd check out our courses here: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk