In Discussion With Nat Kelley, The Path To Making Change

In collaboration with actress and activist, Nat Kelley - we highlight her work in advocating for climate justice, especially within the fashion industry.

Nathalie is an Australian actress appearing in international series and movies across the globe. While her career has allowed her to explore her influence in fashion, her passion for human rights and climate justice has overseen her massive platform. 

Becoming one of the leading pioneers in the industry towards change - aside from her own platform, Nathalie has been an advocacy leader in communities such as Remake Our World, Oxfam US, Earth Rise Studios, Ritual Community and more. All of these share the common goal of educating the world on how we can make a conscious change.

While introducing ourselves to Nat, she shares that although she rarely buys new clothes, she found true joy in being able to read through our transparency embedded into our website and the information we provide on our brands and their resources.

Photography: Sergio Avellaneda, MUA: Claudia Oyanedel 

In our Soho flagship, we hosted a panel discussion alongside Remake Our World to kick things off for New York Fashion Week. As the moderator of the discussion, Nat dove deeper into changemaking in the fashion industry, and what we can do as leaders to keep pushing forward. “We’ve been talking about change forever, but can we make it happen already?” 

She asks the other panellists in the discussion, what systemic issues in the industry would we most like to see change? Whether it’s more upcycling, eliminating waste, deadstock fabric, circularity, fairness and justice within the supply chain when it comes to workers.

Our CRO, Justin Fine explains that our platform has been put in place to develop an ecosystem for independent brands to thrive. He adds the emphasis on our platform not only promoting these brands that are working to implement ethical practices - but to be a community for the brands to interact and further develop ideas of fairness. 

Photographer for the NYFW Remake Panel: Ryan Sides 

Yong Wang, the co-founder of Lost Pattern explains that sourcing a fine material of silk is how they initially knew they would create a sustainable brand, but there are elements to just how sustainable this can be. Converting to plant based silk and using natural resources such as yam juice for their dye, the brand is on a path to continue ethical fabric sourcing, upcycling and using deadstock from previous collections. 

Elizabeth Cline explains that the pandemic was an opportunity for the world to discuss bigger changes and to form a new kind of modern movement building. Through Remake’s monumental campaigns such as #PayUp and organising behind the California Garment Worker Protector Act, she explains how their work is changing the DNA in how people approach how fashion is made and what the workers who are making fashion rightfully deserve. 

In wrap of the conversation, Nat concluded that developing these communities is a vital part of making change. Intersecting our platform, involving policy makers, organisations, influencers and our designers to support the path to a diverse ecosystem. We look forward to continuing the conversation with Nat and our fellow communities.