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Reading for a Sustainable Fashion Industry

Part 2

By Jade McSorley

I love modelling and I love fashion, but our world is in a flux of change, old systems are broken and like any relationship, we sometimes need to make changes in order for what we love to be sustained in a positive way.

After 11 years as a fashion model for many fast fashion brands, I started LoanHood with my other female co-founders: a peer-to-peer fashion exchange that re-ignites the love of our existing wardrobes. We provide destinations to rent and swap your wardrobes, keeping consumption fast but without the need to buy new. Plus, from a model’s perspective, it provides a type of business that models can feel good working for knowing we are using our platform to encourage a different way to consume fashion.

LoanHood initially started as a passion project alongside my MA in Fashion Futures at the London College of Fashion, which focused on how we can increase sustainability within the fashion industry. One thing for sure about returning to university is you have to read ALOT of books. If you are a geek like me you will love the theory side of sustainability, but I took a lot from reading all sorts of books, articles, listening to podcasts and watching documentaries. It is women, in particular, who are standing at the frontline of climate change and they constantly inspire myself and my co-founders to keep up the strength and optimism that we can all make a difference. 

Here are a list of some of the books that have encouraged the team at LoanHood to make changes and to find optimism within such precarious times. Not only do we want to share our wardrobes, but share knowledge as well. 

Cradle to Cradle – Remaking The Way We Make Things by Micheal Braungart

Why read it: 

This is a really quick and easy read but will make you look at every designed and built object differently. You'll finish the book realising that circular economics is a no brainer and it will leave you wondering what on earth designers were thinking when they created products from non renewable resources without a plan to recapture those materials and a distinct feeling that for the last couple of hundred years we've been going about this all wrong. The principles here apply to all designed products including fashion.

The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organisations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World by Peter Senge (and Bryan Smith, Nina Kruschwitz, Joe Laur, Sara Schley)

Why read it: 

This book was suggested to me by my co-founder, Jen Charon. It blew our minds. Jen emphatically underlined whole paragraphs and wrote notes in the margins, questioning how examples of change, in say, the car industry, translates to the fashion industry.

It's part case study, part user manual of how to work collaboratively across industries and sometimes with your competitors to make change happen. Jen read this long before we came together to create LoanHood but upon reading it now, I can see it was a total primer for LoanHood and the system changes we want to make.

The Earth Logic Plan by Professor Kate Fletcher

Why read it:

If, like me, you like to read research papers (it’s true!) then you must read the work of Kate Fletcher. Her papers are academic but she writes in a way that connects to everyone. For me, she is a true activist and one of the first to tackle sustainability before it was the buzzword it is today.

Her most recent paper, The Earth Logic Plan, looks at new fashion landscapes to rethink fashion and is an urgent invitation to the industry to adopt the plan before it is too late for our planet to recover. 

Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes by Dana Thomas

Why read it:

If you're new to the sustainable fashion space and you don't work in the industry, this is a great introduction to the scale and spectrum of challenges facing the Fashion Industry today. Written with an American accent, the case studies mostly focus on American businesses, the principles are globally relevant. Particularly interesting for me were the later chapters focused on fashion and tech, customisation and of course fashion rental.

"And right now, renting may be about the most environmentally minded thing you can do. You can keep your look up to the minute, but the individual pieces go on to have a long life. It makes the current clothing climate somewhat sustainable." 

JADE MCSORLEY IS A FASHION MODEL, CO-FOUNDER OF SUSTAINABLE, rental and CLOTHES SWAP COMPANY LOANHOOD AND AMBASSADOR FOR THE RESPONSIBLE TRUST FOR MODELS

This article contains affiliate linked products. help to raise money for the Be Well Collective by shopping through the affiliate links.

International Womens Day

By Sarah Madderson

When my friends over at the Be Well Collective asked me to share my favourite books by women for women in honour of International Women’s Day, I realised that there was a very powerful thread running through my favourite books by female authors. That thread is VULNERABILITY. 

It’s no exaggeration to say that vulnerability makes the world go round. When we give up the exhaustion of pretence, when we bare our soul and our demons and expose the weirdnesses that we’re afraid no one else shares, that’s when the magic happens. That’s when people connect to us, doors open to us, and we realise that on the other side of our fears lies nothing but good. 

The books below have all been written by women who, in my view, are stronger because they show their vulnerability. I hope they inspire you, and give you any strength that you feel you need to take on the world!

In no particular order:

Brené Brown - Dare to Lead:

Brave Work.Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.

Brown is the queen of vulnerability, and in Dare to Lead she takes decades-worth of experience and data into the business realm. She explains why it’s far better to lead with vulnerability and an open heart, than to indulge in the ‘armoured leadership’ style that we see far too much of today. She also leads us through how to break down our layers of armour in the workplace. I believe this book belongs on the desk of all managers!

Abby Wambach - Wolfpack

How to Come Together, Unleash our Power, and Change the Game

Olympic gold-medallist Abby Wambach packs so much sisterhood and humanity into this short book, where she challenges us to build a bigger table to include all women. Each short chapter challenges an Old Rule and proposes a New Rule, with a Call to the Wolfpack at the end. Easy soundbites; bite-sized nuggets packed with wisdom.

Susan Cain - Quiet

The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking

Cain makes the case for introversion in a world that’s designed for extroverts. She opens up all of the personality traits that society tends to make us feel are flaws, and reframes them as gifts that should be nurtured and protected. This is a great read no matter where you fall on the introversion / extroversion spectrum and it’s certainly allowed me to understand, accept, and cater for myself and my needs more fully.

Marianne Power - Help Me!

One Woman’s Quest to Find Out if Self-Help Really Can Change Her Life

This is ostensibly a book about a journalist putting 12 self-help books into practice over 12 months, but really it’s about how horrifyingly omnipresent that nasty voice in our heads is, what happens when we decide to start questioning daily life and try to ’touch the void’, and whether self-help does actually help us or totally messes us up. It’s very poignant and also hysterically funny. Power really does share her most raw, vulnerable self. 

Elizabeth Day - How to Fail

Everything I’ve Ever Learnt From Things Going Wrong

Born out of her wildly successful podcast of the same name, Day embraces the F word and examines how important it is not only to fail in life, but to use those failures as lessons that we would otherwise not have learnt. I’ll take this one step further and say that I’ve decided there is no such thing as failure, only learning and changes of direction on this winding path we call life.

Lori Gottlieb - Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

I defy you not to fall in love with both Gottlieb and her intensely flawed, beautifully human patients. This is a therapist’s take on what happens on the couch, both from her perspective as a therapist and as a patient, after she’s dumped by her fiancé out of the blue. It contains wonderful stories of human healing and resilience, great tips for DIY therapy, and lots of humour too.

Gillian Anderson & Jennifer Nagel - We

A Manifesto for Women Everywhere

Co-written by the X-Files star, this is a blueprint for healing our wounds, putting ourselves back together (and Nagel and Anderson have been through a lot), and using our newfound strength to take up the baton as activists on behalf of women everywhere. It’s raw and searingly honest.

Tara Brach - Radical Acceptance

Awakening the Love That Heals Fear and Shame

This is an extraordinary book drawing on Buddhist teachings and Brach’s psychology practice. She draws on her own feelings of shame, vulnerability and despair and shows us how to build acceptance of ourselves into our lives, by seeing ourselves clearly and with compassion.

Jodi Kantor & Meghan Twohey - She Said

Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story that Helped Ignite a Movement

No list of extraordinary books by women would be complete without this amazing true story. Twohey and Kantor lay out how they used a mixture of tenacity and ingenuity to build the story of Weinstein’s abuse while showing great sensitivity towards his victims. An incredible read.  

Gabby Bernstein - Super Attractor

Bernstein uses the story of her own control issues and long, devastating battle to conceive as the background to a beautiful blueprint for choosing to feel good, despite what is going on around us. I’ve re-read this book several times and it serves as a wonderful reminder to feel joyous and to surrender - neither of which come naturally to many of us. 

Glennon Doyle - Untamed

due out on the 12th March. 

I can’t wait for it! It’s about trading in our constant striving to be ‘good’ and start listening to our inner voice. It’s also the story of how Doyle, who was trying to make her marriage work after her husband had confessed to having been unfaithful for its entire duration, fell in love with another woman (Abby Wambach, see above) and decided to be true to herself. As her publisher says, "Glennon decided to quit abandoning herself and to instead abandon the world’s expectations of her. She quit being good so she could be free. She quit pleasing and started living."

Reading for a Sustainable Fashion Industry

Part 1

By Jade McSorley

I love modelling and I love fashion, but our world is in a flux of change, old systems are broken and like any relationship, we sometimes need to make changes in order for what we love to be sustained in a positive way.

After 11 years as a fashion model for many fast fashion brands, I started LoanHood with my other female co-founders: a peer-to-peer fashion exchange that re-ignites the love of our existing wardrobes. We provide destinations to rent and swap your wardrobes, keeping consumption fast but without the need to buy new. Plus, from a model’s perspective, it provides a type of business that models can feel good working for knowing we are using our platform to encourage a different way to consume fashion.

LoanHood initially started as a passion project alongside my MA in Fashion Futures at the London College of Fashion, which focused on how we can increase sustainability within the fashion industry. One thing for sure about returning to university is you have to read ALOT of books. If you are a geek like me you will love the theory side of sustainability, but I took a lot from reading all sorts of books, articles, listening to podcasts and watching documentaries. It is women, in particular, who are standing at the frontline of climate change and they constantly inspire myself and my co-founders to keep up the strength and optimism that we can all make a difference. 

Here are a list of some of the books that have encouraged the team at LoanHood to make changes and to find optimism within such precarious times. Not only do we want to share our wardrobes, but share knowledge as well. 

Wardrobe Crisis by Clare Press

Why read it: 

The first book you should ever read about sustainable fashion and why clothes matter. At LoanHood, we have a bit of a crush on Clare Press. She is the sustainability editor of Australian Vogue and the author of this truth-hitting but relatable book that reveals the dark side of fast fashion. She also hosts the Wardrobe Crisis podcast where she interviews leaders and pioneers within fashion who are driven to find solutions to fashion’s detrimental impact on the environment.

Rise & Resist is another fave from Clare that will awaken the activist within you.

Why Women Will Save The Planet by Friends of the Earth

Why read it: 

This collection of letters by women who are shaping our future and campaigning for climate changes, will inspire and empower. It reveals the necessity of women and their durability to endure and fight for what matters, both on a human and environmental level.

Women will change the world and this book proves it.  

To Die For: Why Fashion is Wearing Out The World by Lucy Siegle

Why read it:

Another one of our crushes, Lucy Siegle is a journalist on environmental issues and ethical living and writes for The Guardian and Eco-age, as well as reporting for The One Show.

This book puts fashion under the spotlight and is filled with facts and solutions to make business and consumers wake up and think about whether fashion is, in fact, worth dying for.

Affluenza by Oliver James

Why read it:

I referred to this a lot throughout my studies as it really spoke to me within a digital age where we are constantly influenced by social media.

James states we are living through an epidemic of ‘affluenza’ which has created an obsessive, ‘keeping-up-with-Jones’ society, resulting in huge depression and anxiety.

What’s the cure? He says we need to adopt a new form of capitalism called Selfless Capitalism, where wealth may not always equal happiness. This book is definitely not a light read, but worth the effort! 

JADE MCSORLEY IS A FASHION MODEL, CO-FOUNDER OF SUSTAINABLE, rental and CLOTHES SWAP COMPANY LOANHOOD AND AMBASSADOR FOR THE RESPONSIBLE TRUST FOR MODELS

This article contains affiliate linked products. help to raise money for the Be Well Collective by shopping through the affiliate links.

This is what prompted my new book, Metamorphosis. I have a lovely life, but I didn’t exactly feel like I was giving it my best shot. I was in a very pleasant cocoon. But in nature, a cocoon is a temporary refuge, where a caterpillar can grow and undergo a staggering transformation into a butterfly. He does hard, important work, but when he’s done, the rewards are massive - he has autonomy, perspective, and a life of great beauty and purpose. I believe that we’re capable of reframing our cocoons as incubators. What if, instead of using them to hide out, we see them as a safe place to make wonderful changes to ourselves, and to our perception of our world? Then, we can emerge truly magnificent. 

Metamorphosis will show you how to do this. It’s a step-by-step framework for throwing off your cocoon and embracing your inner butterfly. It’s important to know that we are all already butterflies. Deep down, we are limitless. When we can identify all the limiting beliefs that we’ve allowed to accumulate over the years and see them for what they are—false narratives that are completely made up—then they lose our power over us and we’re free to be the author of our own lives. 

Metamorphosis is available now on Amazon, iBooks, Kobo and Nook. The audiobook will be released by the end of March.

SARA IS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND LIFELONG BOOKWORM ON A JOURNEY TO WAKE UP AND LIVE AS CONSCIOUSLY AS POSSIBLE. SHE LOVES TO CONSUME INFORMATION, JOIN THE DOTS, AND SHARE HER LEARNINGS. YOU CAN READ HER BLOG AT HTTPS://HEALTHYWEALTHYANDWISEUK.COM/

THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS AMAZON AFFILIATE LINKS. SHOP THROUGH OUR LINKS AND HELP SUPPORT THE BE WELL COLLECTIVE.

7 things you need to know about The Miracle Morning

By Sara Madderson

5 Books for your Brain on World Mental Health Day

By Sara Madderson

Over at the Be Well Collective, mental health is every bit as important as physical health. To celebrate World Mental Health Day, here are five books that we love to nourish this most incredible organ: our brain. We hope you enjoy dipping into these reads via kindle, audiobook or old-school paper: whatever floats your boat!

To get a fascinating look inside a therapist’s brain:

Why read it: 

Firstly it’s fascinating. Secondly it’s hilarious. After a bad break-up, all her training goes out the window and she suffers exactly the same neuroses and blind spots as the rest of us! The book switches between Lori’s own patients (you will fall in love with all of these beautiful, flawed humans and their heartbreaking stories) and her experience with her own therapist as she heals. There’s so much good stuff in here about how our minds work and why therapy is so valuable for anyone.

Our favourite quote: 

“One of the most important steps in therapy is helping people take responsibility for their current predicaments, because once they realize that they can (and must) construct their own lives, they’re free to generate change. Often, though, people carry around the belief that the majority of their problems are circumstantial or situational – which is to say, external.”

To re-wire your brain:

Why read it: 

Dr Dispenza shows us that we can completely change our brains at any time in our lives, erasing old thought patterns and transforming our habits and personality traits. And when you change your brain … you change your life. This is the Law of Attraction meets quantum physics meets neuroscience … but it’s written in plain English and leaves you with the most exciting feeling that you can manifest whatever you want in your life. 

Our favourite quote:

“I know that it’s frustrating when life seems to produce an endless succession of minor variations on the same negative outcomes. But as long as you stay the same person, as long as your electromagnetic signature remains the same, you can’t expect a new outcome. To change your life is to change your energy—to make an elemental change in your mind and emotions.”

To nourish your brain:

Why read it:

Like every other cell in our body, our brain-cells depend on tiny powerhouses, their mitochondria, to supply energy to the body. Headstrong is really a book about how to nurse our mitochondria back to optimum health, though Dave (founder of Bulletproof coffee) is mainly focused on the brain. His theory: that the slow brain degradation we see into old age is NOT a symptom of aging but of unhealthy mitochondria. He lays out how to rebuild your cellular health. This book is for you if your ‘normal’ is fatigue and brain-fog and yet you have the feeling that it doesn’t have to be that way. 

Our favourite quote:

“Before I learned that it was possible to increase my brain energy, I thought it was normal to get really pissed off in rush hour traffic, to wake up feeling exhausted after a full night’s sleep, to get snippy with the people around me in the late afternoon, to crave sweets after a meal …, to sometimes lose my train of thought midsentence, or to walk into a room and forget why I’d gone there in the first place.” Sound familiar?!

To quieten your brain (and demystify meditation):

Why read it:

The main reason most of us give up on meditation is because we feel like we’re not doing it ‘properly’. Emily removes all the reasons that make us feel like we’ve ‘failed’ at meditation. She is immensely practical, compassionate and no-nonsense. The Z-Technique that she teaches in the book is a super-straightforward, 15 minute practice to do twice a day wherever you are.

Our favourite quote:

“The mind thinks involuntarily, just like the heart beats involuntarily.” Hopefully this should remove all the guilt and frustration we feel when we can’t somehow ‘turn off’ our constant inner chatter during meditation! 

To codify your brain for a radical new life:

Why read it: 

I love this book and have read it so many times! Vishen uses the logic of computer science to set out a framework for changing your life by ditching your old (often unconscious) limiting beliefs, encoding a new model of reality (think of this as your operating system) and implementing new systems for living (your software). He proposes ‘conscious engineering’ which is literally engineering our reality rather than passively accepting it. 

Our favourite quote:

“When you replace disempowering models of reality with empowering ones, tremendous changes can occur in your life at a very rapid pace.”