Talking sustainability with Lucy Siegle

When I’m not recruiting merchandisers or playing with silver jewellery, I have another side gig as a journalist for a local magazine. Last month I had the privilege of interviewing Lucy Siegle. She’s carved out a career as a passionate campaigner for a more ecological way of living, presenting on Sky, BBC’s One Show and a host of other places. Her book “TO DIE FOR – Is Fashion Wearing Out the World?” is one that we all need to read; published a decade ago, some of the points she makes are now finally being actioned. I couldn’t wait to chat about the crimes of the fashion world with her, and know that you’ll enjoy reading her thoughts too…

You’ve carved out a career around campaigning for all things eco. How did this passion begin?

It all goes back to when I was a child. My grandfather lived in a suburban area of Liverpool, and he’d always tell me about resources, and would never take a plastic bag from a supermarket – we’re going back to the early 80s here, so far ahead of modern thinking – he was very deeply ecological. I think it really instilled an awareness of nature and the planet in me.

Fashion and its impact on the environment is another subject you’re passionate about, and there has been much talk recently that the likes of Mulberry, ASDA, IKEA and other big name retailers are now adopting a more sustainable approach to what they do…

Yes, hopefully the message is getting through. What’s starting to happen is that COP26 is coming up and the Paris Climate Goals need to be hit. Net Zero is forcing all industries – including fashion – to reassess what they are doing by way of reducing carbon emissions. We have to consume less to hit the Paris Climate Goals, and that’s a huge challenge for fashion as we produce 120million new garments a year – almost all of which are from virgin resources – and we wear these things a couple of times, then ditch it and it becomes pollution.

And what of the new fashion rental concept?

I talked with a young entrepreneur recently who has a fashion rental platform, and he’s now working with a lot of the big brands, and he was saying that in the near future – alongside “add to basket” or “buy now” – we’ll see a button to rent from fashion brands. That’s so refreshing. And of course it helps tackle the problem of returns, as retailers do have to do something with them.

Over a decade ago you teamed up with Livia Firth (then the wife of Colin Firth) to lobby Hollywood and the big fashion houses on embracing more ecological and conscientious production methods…

Yes, it was called the Green Carpet Challenge. She says that I challenged her to do it in the first place, I truly can’t remember but of course I’ll take it! She was really busy on the red carpets at the time, because it was the era when Colin was up for all the awards for A Single Man & The King’s Speech, meaning that we had perfect access to huge exposure. So we got together all of our friends who are sustainable fashion designers to create dresses for her to wear, and get that look onto the red carpet. Everybody had always said sustainable fashion is not sexy… and THAT’S why we did it! We caught the imagination of (US Vogue Editor) Anna Wintour, and she said “I love this, let’s get Cameron (Diaz) in a dress by Stella (McCartney) at the Met Ball”. And after that it went mad, with lots of other actresses asking for us to dress them, and the likes of Valentino & Lagerfeld designing for us. So many of the designers said to us that they loved being involved because it allowed them to reconnect with why they were designing in the first place – they want to innovate! 

Do you think that social media is actually the biggest enemy of fashion’s attempts to turn green? Influencers who can’t be seen to wear the same thing twice, for example?

It’s truly the case that this apparent need by some not to repeat an outfit is really damaging, But with make-up or earrings etc, it’s possible to create a new look without needing to cause damage to the planet.

 I find it very frustrating that there’s a conundrum between the young consumers saying that they want fashion with a conscience, and yet shopping at brands with the cheapest possible prices, whose beliefs couldn’t be further away from that…

It’s so hard, because in so many cases they haven’t been brilliantly educated about it. There’s also a lot of counter-information out there, with brands claiming to be sustainable when they’re not. But also society is saying “this is your price range”. That was so different when I was growing up – I would spend a month’s rent on a pair of Helen Storey trousers from a seconds shop on Carnaby Street. In those days we had to do far more sourcing and scouting around for the looks we wanted, where now everything is so accessible.

In your book you say you want fashion to make you happy not really really angry…

Yes and it DOES make me angry! There seems to be no cap on what we are producing in the name of fashion, and there needs to be. The new CEO of BP announced that they are going to reduce extraction of oil and gas by 40%. There was a huge fear that the markets would crash following that announcement, but the share price rose. Now if oil & gas can make those kinds of reductions, surely fashion can. Yet nobody is saying that in fashion. Not one major brand, and it’s because they’re addicted to growth. And they’re going to cannibalise themselves as a result. We need to step away from the linear economy and get into the mindset of a circular economy. It will take time, but it’s so crucial.

People Tree was the forerunner for an ethical approach to fashion, and now it seems to be on the agenda increasingly for so many retailers.

I once went to Bangladesh with Safia Minney – founder of People Tree, who is a friend of mine – and she got the first organic cotton from India into Bangladesh, to put onto the handlooms which were being operated by the first women handloomers. That was the kind of pioneering stuff she did. She was pushing pushing pushing, and she just wouldn’t compromise. Just incredible!

And finally what about your own wardrobe? Where do you love shopping?

Much of what I wear is by Toast. I do that because I know the buyer there, and know how careful she is & how fundamentally she believes in the living wage & how to work fairly.