Recap: FashionUnited's most interesting interviews in 2018

In 2018 FashionUnited has had the pleasure to interview several interesting figures in the fashion industry. Inspiring entrepreneurs, insightful experts and disruptive starters have shared their views with FashionUnited throughout the year and, as the year draws to an end, we’ve gathered some of our favorites.

Why Denim Expert Ltd is one of the safest factories in Bangladesh

“My factory is a bit different than other factories in Bangladesh. People asked me ‘why are you taking so much time to build a factory? You could build five factories with that amount of money.’ I said it is because I want to make it safe. Then people asked me what is the definition of a safe factory, as they did not know. Unfortunately in 2013, Rana Plaza happened and then people began to understand what building a safe factory really means."

Education’s new frontier: Fashion school for children

“Kids are more and more removed from the materials and practices that make up our known world. The act of sewing is an essential skill that is being lost to the average person. Knowing how to make a simple stitch is an empowering act”.

Startups that aim to change the way people buy clothes: Universal Standard

“The idea of ‘plus size’ as a separate category, and as ‘niche’ has got to go! Some 67 percent of American women are over size 14, and the average size of women in the US is 16-18. That is not a niche - that is a vast majority”

How Adam Frisby grew In The Style into a fast fashion powerhouse

“I didn’t have a business plan as such, or a set goal. Even family and friends would say to me that I’m crazy. But I always believed it was going to work. But I know it’s indeed crazy to have gone from nothing to a 40 million-pound turnover, that is amazing, and in that respect it has exceeded my expectations”.

Sustainability instead of fast fashion: an interview with the Arket CEO

“Our goal was to create a new kind of destination, a modern market that combines carefully curated collections with a new Nordic vegetarian café. We looked at what experiences we as customers were missing, where we get inspired and feel good, where we easily find what we are looking for and where we can understand the quality of the products”

Silk Inc secures 30 million in funding thanks to alternative to petroleum-based chemicals

“We’ve been so concerned about what we put in our bodies through the food we eat, that we’ve neglected to think about what we put on our bodies by way of skincare and clothing that literally sits on our skin 24 hours a day”.

Four years out of school, one fashion graduate’s story

“The one thing I wish someone would have told me is, get an internship, stay there as long as you can and really grow with the company and don’t leave until you find a job elsewhere or until they hire you. And be patient. So many kids leaving school are so eager, after three months they are worried they should have gotten a job already. It really shouldn’t work that way”.

Interview: Jean-Claude Jitrois on the past, present and future of leather

“Vegan leather is a marketing stunt. It claims to be ethical and inexpensive, when in fact it is fast fashion’s latest attempt to load the market with more polyurethane and polyester, putting an unnecessary strain on the atmosphere during its production and generating plastic waste than ends up in the ocean. How can you ban plastic straws and promote plastic faux leather?”

Vegan fashion: Q&A with mother-daughter brand HFS Collective

“Creating vegan products the right way, using sustainable materials and paying a living wage to people who cut and sew them, is expensive, it drives up costs. Many vegans’ number one concern is about animal welfare and they feel they cannot afford to pay more to insure fair working wages or sustainable materials”.

Totally Good Time founder Kyle Menard on creating pop culture fashion

“When you have an e-commerce shop you can get easily lost in the digital world. It's vital to step into the real world and see what people are wearing and listen to what they're saying”.

HUND HUND: Paving the way for 'radical' transparency in the fashion industry

“The more of a light that we shine on how things are made, the more people question the process and the larger companies will be pressured to improve their own processes”.

Startups that aim to change the way people buy clothes: Curated Crowd

“The creativity of designers is often diluted when they work for fashion houses which are predominantly dominated by the bottom line. But things don’t have to be this way. In fact, studies show that when a brand cares about its values, and the main focus isn’t about money, it ends up making more profit”.

Photo: courtesy of Universal Standard