This event is a Nordic Spotlight, part of Nordic Bridges.
Overview
Where do our clothes come from and where do they go when we toss them? What is the life cycle of the clothing we buy? In our consumerist society, earth is paying the price for our purchasing decisions, and it’s time we started evaluating its cost.
In this Nordic Talk, explore the global fashion industry’s negative social and environmental impacts and discover the people who are finding the right solutions for the future of a sustainable fashion world.
This Nordic Talk is part of the Circular Fashion Festival, a week-long event presented by the Guelph Tool Library. Coinciding with Waste Reduction Week in Canada, the Circular Fashion Festival advocates for slow fashion, skill sharing and the circular economy.
About Erica Ngao
Erica Ngao is a journalist and fact-checker based in Toronto and a participant in Harbourfront Centre’s Nordic-Canadian fellowship in environmental journalism as part of Nordic Bridges 2022. For the fellowship, she is exploring innovative solutions found in the Nordic region that are working towards creating a more sustainable fashion industry. Ngao is currently the associate editor at Reader’s Digest Canada. Her work has appeared in publications such as ELLE Canada, Healthing and This Magazine. Previously, she was an Editorial Fellow at The Walrus and a mentee in the Solutions Journalism Network mentorship program.
About Kirsti Reitan Andersen
Kirsti Reitan Andersen is a Post Doc at the Copenhagen Business School and co-founder of Honest Fashion, an online platform offering educational material targeting the textile and fashion industry. She explores challenges and opportunities in transforming organizational practices towards sustainability in her research. With a particular interest in the textile and fashion industry, Reitan’s recent work investigates the role of local textile and fashion production in creating more sustainable textile and fashion value chains. She has extensive experience developing teaching material for business students and practitioners, including the open online courses Sustainable Fashion and Business Models for Sustainability, both available at Coursera.
About Maria Collings
Maria Collings is the co-founder of The Tardigrades, a sustainability and innovation agency in Sweden, supporting green and fair transition organizations.
Collings is a sustainability expert and an experienced strategist in sustainability communication. Her expertise is in sustainable consumption, sustainable fashion and the textile industry. For several years Maria managed the largest vintage fair in Sweden, where sustainable fashion was the central theme for fashion shows, workshops and lectures.
She has a background from Malmö University as a Strategic Communicator for the national arena of social sustainability and social innovation – Forum for Social Innovation Sweden – and as Managing Director for The Institute for Sustainable Urban Development. Collings has experience in project managing sustainability initiatives for creating a cross-sectorial commitment.
About Stephanie Crowchild
Stephanie Crowchild is an emerging Indigenous fashion designer from Tsuu T’ina in Treaty 7 Territory near Calgary, Alberta. She is the founder of Stephanie Eagletail Designs, a Canadian fashion label specializing in custom-made blanket coats based on its founder’s Indigenous heritage and traditions. Each piece designed by Crowchild is crafted skillfully using upcycled wool materials, including HBC Multistripe Point Blankets — a thought-provoking material rooted in the complex history of Indigenous Peoples and colonizers in Canada.
Crowchild travels throughout Turtle Island, sharing her knowledge of pattern design and garment construction, teaching Indigenous and Non-Indigenous peoples a skillset they can utilize for themselves. Alongside her father Hal Eagletail, Crowchild is also the Founder of The Eagletail House Society. Together they transformed her late grandparents, Fred and Eliza Eagletail’s home into a Healing home for Indigenous peoples. They are carrying their legacy, their traditional teachings and helping others.
Dates & Times
October 19
12pm – Premier