Magnifeco Radio

When Jessica Schreiber first appeared on Magnifeco Radio (Episode 5) she had just launched FABSCRAP, a fabric pickup and recycling business in New York City. Almost one-year later, she rejoins Kate to discuss the growth of the business, the current state of commercial textile waste and life as an entrepreneur. Magnifeco Radio is powered by Simplecast

In a world drowning in plastic, today's guest co-founded a mycelium-based product that can be used for everything from insulation to furniture. Eben Bayer of Ecovative joins Kate to discuss following your passion and creating a sustainable product with endless uses and how to share it with the world.

It's not just the fashion industry, we are making and buying 'stuff' at unprecedented rates. But what happens to it when we are done? Steven Bethel has been creating innovative solutions for the crisis of stuff for over twenty years and he joins Kate to talk about what recyclers and the used goods industry does with all of our stuff.

When they opened their vegan shoe store MooShoes in 2001, sisters Erica and Sara Kubersky were ahead of the curve. By creating a retail solution to meet their personal problem (where can vegans buy shoes?) they met a market need and have cultivated a faithful following. Erica and Sara join Kate to discuss creating a successful, mission-driven business.

French women care about two things: food and skin care. On her journey to overcome breast cancer, Valerie Grandury started to create her own skincare line. One that was freshly made and 100% organic. Valerie joins Kate to discuss how Odacité meets the French expectation of great skincare without preservatives or harmful chemicals.

When Stephanie Benedetto cofounded a textile company with her college roommate, she was surprised to learn how much excess inventory brands and manufacturers had on their books. Set to fix that problem, she launched Queen of Raw, a technology platform to pair designers, students and brands with low cost inventory (textiles, finishings, even sewing machines). She joins Kate to talk about running two businesses, having a family and trying to save the fashion industry from waste.

The organic and natural beauty market is booming (the value is expected to reach $13.2 billion by 2018). Celebrity make-up artist and all around green beauty expert, Katey Denno, joins Kate to discuss the growth and dispel myths about the industry. Can we have clean, green beauty?

Seeing a void in the circular economy for apparel brands, the Renewal Workshop aims to help mitigate fashion waste. Co-founder Jeff Denby joins Kate to discuss this new business and how he plans to solve hard problems and create new systems that do what is good and right for people and for the planet.

Kavita Parmar is a fashion designer, serial entrepreneur, founder and creative director of the IOU Project. Through the IOU Project she has built a bridge to connect consumers with artisans. Winner of UNSSC Leadership Award, Winner of the Luxury Briefing Award for Innovation of the Year in London, Winner of SOURCE Awards by Ethical Fashion Forum London, Winner of the Sustainable Luxury Award Latin America in Buenos Aires, part of the New York city NY Venture Fellows program, selected for the Unreasonable at Sea program and more, Kavita joins Kate to discuss open source and the opportunities facilitated by technology to support artisans and their craft.

Disturbed by the textile waste she witnessed in Cambodia, Rachel Faller pivoted and started zero waste fashion brand Tonlé. She's created jobs and mitigated waste all while producing a ready to wear line. She joins Kate to discuss the journey.

Liz Dee became a vegan as soon as she discovered the realities of factory farming. An ethical vegan and angel investor, Liz joins Kate to discuss veganism, disruptive companies and the future of conscious business models, across fashion, food and more.

Berlin-based entrepreneur and changemaker Andrea Bury created The ABURY Design Experience (ADEx) in 2015 as the first international contest to match one emerging designers with a traditional craft community to create an accessory capsule collection using traditional crafts knowledge from different cultures. Kate talks with Andrea about: the mission, the contest (which is now open and seeking a designer to work in Ethiopia) and whether design can inspire change.

Is fashion ready for a revolution? Orsola de Castro and the team behind Fashion Revolution think so. Founded in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza factory collapse, Fashion Revolution is a global campaign that seeks greater transparency in the fashion industry. With events in over 90 countries, Orsola shares with Kate why (and how) everyone should get involved.

When accessories designer Francisca Pineda got sick from the leather she was working with, she knew she had to make a change. She co-founded Bhava Studio to redefine premium vegan footwear. She sits down with Kate to discuss the slow and steady task of building a (vegan) footwear brand.

Professor Rebecca Earley is a UK-based researcher and strategist for sustainable textiles and the circular economy. She sits down with Kate to discuss new closed-loop materials and products necessary to make fashion more sustainable.

With her many hats: model, scientist, activist, entrepreneur and author, one thing has remained constant for Summer Rayne Oakes, her urban oasis. Nestled into her Williamsburg apartment, Summer has over 500 plants and has now turned her attention to helping others become more attuned to nature in the city. Kate sits down with Summer to discuss this new endeavor, how to have a smaller footprint, and how to grow a salad in a closet.

March 22 is World Water Day. Today's guest is one at the forefront of tackling the unseen problem of microfibers in our water. Microfibers are shed by clothing in the wash and are, by count, the single largest contributor to watershed plastic pollution in developed countries and account for a significant portion of plastic waste entering the ocean. Stiv Wilson, Campaigns Director for The Story of Stuff, championed the campaign to ban micro-beads and is now demanding that clothing companies take responsibility for microfiber pollution.

3D printing minimizes waste and could revolutionize the future of fashion. Sylvia Heisel is a fashion designer and creative director working with new materials, manufacturing and physical computing for fashion and wearables. She joins Kate to discuss the intersection of technology and the sustainable future of fashion.

The global textile and apparel industry employs around 75 million people, three quarters of whom are women. With International Women's Day around the corner, this week we sit down with NY fashion designer Mara Hoffman, who is not only shifting her brand and focus towards greater sustainability, but is adding socio-political messaging to use fashion as a platform for solidarity. Fashion as feminism.

For the past ten years, anti-fashion waste advocate Dr. Christina Dean has been pushing the agenda for a less polluting fashion industry. Today she announces that the EcoChic Design Award, a sustainable fashion design competition challenging emerging fashion designers to create mainstream clothing with minimal textile waste is now open to US designers.