Book Club No.7: In Conversation with Professor Kate Fletcher | Fletcher's Almanac Vol. 2
Image credit: Rafa Aparicio
In the seventh Front Row to Front Bench book club from Fashion Roundtable, Meg Pirie talks with Professor Kate Fletcher about Fletcher's Almanac Volume 2, a pocket-sized book of short vignettes that moves through the seasons, between England, Ireland, Wales and Norway. The perfect companion to Volume 1.
Professor Kate Fletcher’s work on slow-fashion, degrowth, nature and systems change has had an effect on how many of us, including Meg, think about the fashion industry.
After more than 30 years working in fashion and sustainability, Kate has turned towards storytelling, arguing that what we need is a shift in perceptual consciousness. As she puts it: "You can't unstir the coffee from the cream. You put it all in together, you can't take it back. And yet we're sort of pretending like we can."
In this episode:
Fashion media often reinforces the illusion that clothes exist apart from ecology. What might change if every fashion story had to carry its landscape with it through a mandatory ratio of nature words
The UK's own fibres, from wool and flax to hemp and nettles, and how to look out of the window to see what naturally suits your climate. For Meg in Wales it was nettles and wool!
Seeing our wardrobes as a "hanging rail of capabilities."
The need for individual work and a shift in not only perceptual consciousness but also literacy in what clothes are when they are not sponsored by an industry view of what fashion should be.
And two policy proposals worth debating:
Mandatory month-and-year production date stamps on all clothing, to track the churn and time spent on resale platforms such as Vinted and Depop
Recognising ecocide as a crime in international law under the Rome Statute
Kate's advice for anyone wanting to start is to begin with the clothes you already own.
Fletcher's Almanac Volume 2 is published by Quickthorn, will be released on the 1st October and is available to pre-order now. Illustrated by Stephen Fowler.
Front Row to Front Bench is the book club presented by Meg Pirie, for Fashion Roundtable, the leading fashion and textiles think tank and consultancy.
Buy the book here: https://quickthornbooks.com/products/fletchers-almanac-vol-ii?_pos=2&_sid=44e87ff16&_ss=r
Find out more about Kate's work and her other publications here: https://katefletcher.com/
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