The fashion industry is complex, so the conversation around the solutions need to be just as nuanced. So perhaps in order to understand potential solutions, let’s discuss the lifecycle of a garment to shine a light on how our clothing is made and where changes can be implemented.

Love it or leave it, designer collaborations aren’t going anywhere. In fact, they are sought after. What many consumers don’t understand, and this is by design and lack of transparency in supply chains, is that in order to keep prices low, brands pay their garment workers poverty wages. What’s more, is that these practices grossly exploit the environment.

The age of the Victoria’s Secret Angels sauntering down the runway and gracing the cover of the Victoria’s Secret catalogs has come and gone. And now, in a way, has come again with the return of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. While gone is the era of the VS Angels that once embodied and epitomized sexy, the company seeks to expand its view of what sexy means to all women.

Over the past few years there has been an increase in consumers asking: “What is in the products I am purchasing and using? What do these vague labels actually mean? And are these marketing claims actually legitimate?” The rise in this consumer concern? The access to improved chemical testing and the increase in the finding of PFAS or ‘forever chemicals’ in many of our everyday-use products such as baby products, food containers, furniture and even our undergarments, specifically period products.

Does the concept of defining your personal style give you anxiety? Did you embrace the comfort of leggings and haven’t looked back since? Or is getting dressed an extreme sport? Perhaps everything is a theme party? Whether you are a fashion-loving baddie or a creature of comfort, you can curate your personal style in a way that works for you and it starts with your closet and making space.

There is growing concern from the international community as to the safety and rights to a fair trial of those incarcerated as the Iranian regime has already publicly executed three protesters after closed, biased hearings. The unlawfulness of the trials has been stressed by human rights groups due to a lack of legal counsel and the overwhelming prevalence of torture and coerced confessions.

One thing is never one thing. While this article is largely about Women’s Body Autonomy (or lack thereof) and how women are viewed through the lens of their clothing, at its core, it is about Mahsa Amini’s death in Iranian police’s custody for not wearing her hijab properly and the current state of Iran in the wake of the protests that followed.

Between decorations, gift wrapping and packaging, freight and food is it even possible to be mindful about your purchases? Even if you are a seasoned sustainable baddie, that doesn’t always translate during the holidays. For the sake of this article, I’m going to hone in on gifting. Consciously, of course.

The Fashion Workers Act is legislation that will support creatives and models in the fashion industry by holding management companies accountable and creates specific protections for fashion’s creative workforce.

The FABRIC Act seeks to extend the anti-wage theft guidelines and hold brands accountable for wages across their supply chain coupled with encouraging brands to manufacture or reshore their manufacturing to the US with tax incentives and grant programs.

Rather than weaving the fair and dignified treatment of women into their fabric and ethos, brands like Victoria’s Secret, Lululemon and Athleta have demonstrated, time and again, little to no regard in actually holding up these professed values.

When people don’t line up with the binary that we hold for ourselves, we start to “other” them or we attempt to “fix” them because we see them as defective.

It isn’t the fear of failure that’s holding most of us back, it’s the fear of success. Yep, that’s right! Not the fear of failure, but of achievement. Achievement often implies “work” and yes, there is a lot of showing up and actually doing the work that leads to “success.”

Confused about “Made in” labels when it comes to where your clothes are made? Yeah, you’re not alone. It is a convoluted schema of loopholes and corporate indulgences.

Sadly, it typically takes a tragedy for the world to sit up and take notice of the atrocities that are an everyday experience for many people on this planet.

This grief, this deep pain is not only mine, it is ours and it needs our attention in order to heal. But perhaps the beauty in this is the inescapable truth that we are all deeply connected.