Granadas

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INTERVIEW WITH: Kayleigh Merriweather

By Nadia Nelson

1. Introduce yourself:
Name, major, where you’re from, any oth-
er interesting facts.
Hi. My name is Kaleigh Merriweather
from Houston, TX. I am an Apparel Mer-
chandising major and Entrepreneurship
minor at Baylor University.
2. How has COVID-19 affected you as
a creative?
COVID-19 really held up a mirror to me.
Throughout quarantine, I was forced into
this space of reflection. It was harder to
create as much as I wanted, but I was able
to actually sit and dissect what narra-
tive(s) did I want to tell through the work
that I was/ was going to be doing.
3. Has there been any upsides to work-
ing under quarantine?
Reflection definitely became an upside for
me. Upon returning to school, I was able
to be far more intentional with my work
down to every detail unlike what I was
doing before. The space of quarantine felt
like being put in a bubble in a field of oth-
er people in bubbles. You were forced to
stay in your head space without influence
of others, which is so important, yet you
could tell others were in the same boat. It
helped me focus so much on myself and
I got to learn more about me and what it
is I am placed here to accomplish. Now, I
didn’t gain a whole lot of clarity on what
exactly that is, but the period of quaran-
tine has lit a fire in me to lean further into
the things I want to do.

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4. Any weird/unique things
your drawing inspiration from?
Struggling not to say my mind.
Somehow I have managed to hold
onto the more youthful type mind-
set so I tend to want to try crazy,
out of the box things just for the
sake of seeing it in real life. Outside
of that, I have been into interior
decoration has a huge inspiration.
Dancing is also an interesting inspi-
ration too. If you ever dance while
doing something-i.e. your hair, a
drawing, putting on clothes-you’ll
tend move yourself and whatever
you’re doing in ways you normally
wouldn’t and something amazing
can really be created from that.
5. Any plans after college/has
covid changed your plans post
graduation?
My plan for post graduation as al-
ways been mainly getting a job,
obviously not an impossible goal. I
have been set on moving to NYC,
which could possibly pose as a
problem, but I think it’ll be okay.
COVID hasn’t changed many of
plans. It has really only made the
industry just a little tougher to get
into since company’s aren’t as will-
ing to hire or take interns , however
I have already mentally prepared
myself to fight for my foot in the
door anyways. I will say though, my
teacher and I were toying with the
idea of doing an internship abroad
somewhere in Europe and that has
looked less likely to happen.

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6. How do you think the fash-
ion industry will change post
COVID-19?
I love this question. This has been
my favorite question to watch vari-
ous people in the industry
and peers talk about. Ideally, I
would like to think the industry
would slow down. That this time
has shown them that the speed and
abundance at which everyone was
producing, selling, and
buying was a little outrageous and
even strenuous to organic creativ-
ity. However, as some designers
have decided to change their cal-
endars, others still want 4 collec-
tions with 60 fits each. Fast fashion
stores somehow managed to only
slow down partially during peak
COVID-19. Instead of bringing in
models, they sent pieces to influ-
ences to take pictures in at home
(genius by the way) and they posted
those pictures along with pictures
of plain hanging garments on
their websites. Sales were still heavy
and promotion of the newly loved
“Work From Home” outfits were
crazy. The only thing that slowed
for them was their amount of New
Arrivals , but that didn’t stop them
from pushing product. Basically, to
think the industry will completely
bust a 180 is highly unlikely.

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7. What’s your opinion on sea-
sonless lines/more autonomy for
brands?
I love the idea of seasonless lines
but personally would still want
some structure. In all honesty, it’s
been challenging for all of us to
keep with Pre-Fall, FW (which is
always a completely different collec-
tion from Pre-Fall oddly), SS, and
Resort especially with each having
45+ outfits. It’s kind of ridiculous.
I would still like to keep the format
of FW and SS just for organization-
al purposes of pieces and themes
but if a designer felt compelled to
release a curated collection on a
whim in the middle of July, that
would be great. The current sched-
ule brands are tryna keep up with is
dulling the beauty of fashion shows
and collection. It’s like they’re try-
ing to keep up with fast fashion.
Seasonless lines would just be far
more interesting and organic. Even
during COVID, as brands tried to
still put on shows- they used recy-
cled material and had collections
featuring around 20 outfits. What a
difference. It seems so much more
spotlighted in this fashion to me.

8. Do you see the fashion world
becoming less exclusive/aspiration-
al and more down-to-earth or con-
sumer driven?
I go back and forth with the idea
of this. With celebrities becoming
YouTubers, YouTubers becoming
celebrities, TikTokers bGeRcAoNmADiAnSg 65

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models, it seems like everything
is kind of blending. I like this and
don’t at the same time. The mix of
platforms is so cool to see as de-
signers have begun to show more
of themselves and people have
become so multifaceted on so-
cial media, but then again it kind
of..... cheapens it? For instance, and
please don’t come for me, Emma
Chamberlain was a YouTuber with
standard “this Instagram girl can
dress’’ style. However, because so
many girls were attracted to that,
she got invited to Paris Fashion
Week. I was confused. Sis was not
a fashion girl at the time and it
seemed gimmicky on the designers
part. (She has leveled up a lot since
then). But then again it helped
them reach that younger audience.
The industry used to be so much
more mysterious and elite than
that. To put it in words, the fashion
industry is becoming more down to
earth so that they can be more con-
sumer driven. Now of course you
will still have people and brands
that prefer it more exclusive, where
they are the leaders and consumers
follow and that’s just as valid. That’s
how the fashion industry has al-
ways been, but the shift is there.

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9. Any other opinions on the
fashion industry/being a creative
during COVID-19?
I think we are in the middle of a
unique transition that COVID-19
has sparked in the fashion indus-
try. Shows are online and photo-
shoots are digital or over facetime.
It has pushed the industry into this
space of “hey look you gotta do
something different here” and it has
been so fun to have a front row seat
watching it unfold. Some brands,
like Cushnie, however haven’t
been as successful at the transi-
tion and have fallen. The time for
change is now and the people
have almost begun to demand
change at this point. It just depends
whether or not the industry
actually cares.

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“[Working in the industry] opens up your
eyes to a lot more problems you don’t neces-
sarily learn in school and you actually have
to be in it and understand [that] it doesn’t
make any sense, why people are working
the way that they do [and] how the industry
hasn’t changed in the [...] last hundred years.”

-Danielle Elsner

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Sustainability in Small Town America:

By Nadia Nelson

Nadia, our editorial director, sat However, with friends there... They
down for a personal conversation were more or less like family and we
with her mother, Latonya Nelson. did a lot of things with them to help.
Latonya is an Army veteran, cur- It was just really a lot of things that
rent lead medical support assistant we really did and we were talking
at Houston’s Veteran’s Hospital, and about earlier, furniture, things we
the founder of her own non-profit had in the home we would just give
that helps women and children in away when we moved. Gave away a
at-risk situations. Here, she speaks lot of your childhood furniture.
about how living in a small town [A] young lady that needed fur-
and being heavily involved in a niture we just gave that to her be-
good community connects to living fore, just really nice things. I had a
sustainably. good friend that we just switched
furniture. She was going into a nice
NN: So we lived in Hopewell, Vir- apartment. She still had a home.
ginia from around 2004-ish to 2015. A big home. But she moved into a
And Hopewell, Virginia is a small small apartment. So we switched
town. There were about 22,000 peo- out small things. That was our sus-
ple living there at the time. So right tainability, I mean, it was based on
now we’re going to talk about what community. We also helped, right
life was like living there and how we now, which is still in affect. We
were sustainable in community. started a community garden in Pe-
tersburg.
LN: Okay, so again, my name is La- Now...it’s huge...It has a place that
tonya Nelson and Hopewell, what you can sit, just sit in the garden
brought us to Hopewell was the mil- and that community, year after year
itary. Your dad was stationed at Fort has gotten their fruit and vegetables
Lee, kinda stayed there though he from there. And they go in there
kept moving. We stayed there for a and take a bag and whatever. And
long time, about 11 years total? At I think just to be a part of that is
the time I had - well, I still do - my amazing.
own non-profit organization so that Going through Boys and Girls Club
added to the communal type things and helping them out. Backpacks
that we used to do a lot of things.
Helping out in our community with
the non-profit.
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for school. Then they’ll do that for LN: Yep, we had conversations like
someone else, you know. Just differ- we’re having right now. I would
ent things that you did. There was bring people into the home. Let’s
not a whole lot to do in Hopewell not talk just about people that need-
but it - ed a place to stay and lived in our
I don’t wanna say it forced us. But, home.
like you were talking about with NN: For days, weeks, months
Amazon. We didn’t have Amazon. LN: Yeah, I had at least three young
We just used what [we] had. We ladies and one actually had kids and
actually borrowed things that we stuff that stayed in our home for
needed. Went to the dollar store. various reasons and that was, again,
But we always had what we needed. community.
You know, we used our community And it wasn’t think twice. It was
library which was awesome. like, you need it. What? You needed
Yeah, the community library. For a place to stay? You just did it. And
some reason we had a new home they helped while they were there.
that we built for some reason we Helped clean the house or what-
couldn’t get a good internet connec- ever but seeing their kids running
tion there. around that gave us joy.
NN: The internet was trash. NN: Yeah.
LN: We were at the library almost LN: And we just did it. It wasn’t all
every day for a long, almost every- about oh, how much food we had.
day for some reason. Books. We We had what we had. Yeah, cause it
read a lot of books. We got DVDS was just you and I most of the time.
and stuff from there. Borrowed You know cause your dad was, you
from there. know, in New York. Meals [were]
LN: Yeah, we borrowed it. You done when I got home or whatever
know. And also, that saved money. Jamie* would cook. She would teach
NN: We benefit[ed] from our com- you how to play basketball.
munity and we gave back to it. Like NN: And it worked the opposite.
you were saying in the last conver- Like, whenever you needed some-
sation it was a circular [economy] one to watch me. It wasn’t even a
cause we were just going back and question
forth.
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LN: But most of the time I had like, for me. Always willing to stick their
cause, we, uh. neck out for me.
I’m a veteran myself so I work with
a lot of soldiers and they would LN: Let’s mention Miss Daisy*.
come over and we’d cook together Yeah, she was always there watching
or whatever and [they’d] do favors over you. Stuff, taking you to school
for me like braid [your] hair. Always for me. And not just [her], our
giving you stuff, taking you places. church community. They were, like
With their families. awesome. We had a huge yard, they
[They’d] come to your school would come and do our yard.
events. They would visit our church. NN: Sarah’s* mom would drive
We learned a lot sitting and talking me to ballet practice cause we had
with them like this. Or I would sit dance at the same time.
and talk. You’d be right there. You LN: We were always there for the
may not be [asking questions] church or VBS (Vacation Bible
But you were soaking it in. School). We cooked, we cooked and
NN: Yeah. ate.

LN: From that type of thing. We’d We took food when it was our turn
visit their homes, we didn’t have but most of the time there was al-
family there. They were our fami- ways food there. Because we worked
ly. And it was not perfect but it was there.
great. LN: And we had like, every other
Sunday, there was a lunch? Yeah,
NN: Yeah, I think that’s really what we’d always have some type of a lun-
taught me, like, especially being a cheon or something for some rea-
military kid that you have to make son. Yeah, it wasn’t perfect. But we
the people living around you your got support. A whole lot of support.
family and everything and you
know what to look for when your NN:
making friends and I feel like af- [In Hopewell] your primary focus
ter that it was, not easier for me to was family and that came before
make friends, it was easier for me to anything. People were thrifter….
spot the real people. And bringing it back to sustainabil-
ity….a lot of the stuff we did was it
Cause I knew what it was like to
have people who were always there
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was less expensive. It made practical sense, but like you were saying earlier,
the root wasn’t, it’s less expensive, it’s more sustainable, it was just natural-
ly sustainable because your mindset was, I wanna take care of my people.
And when you have that mindset then -
LN: You don’t have to put a word onto it
NN: Like this is ethical...this is sustainable….
LN: Yeah.

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Danielle Elsner: A Conversation M: So, Danielle, I would like you to
introduce yourself to our readers
By Mary Cordero first.
D: Yes so I am Danielle Elsner and
78 GRANADAS I am a recent graduate of the Royal
College Of Art in London and I am
currently living in Portland, Ore-
gon, and I am currently running my
own practice around zero-waste de-
sign systems from my home studio.
M: [...] I know that you won [the]
Evian x Virgil Abloh competition,
so could you tell me exactly what
the competition was about?
D: Yeah, absolutely. It was the Virgil
Abloh x Evian Activate Movement
Grant which is basically, the idea
was to give funding to spark change
in some way around sustainability.
It wasn’t necessarily about fashion
design or specifically about design
anyway,[...] they were really pas-
sionate about making [a] change to
the [most people]. And I think that
with my application, that’s kind of
what ended up coming out of that.
So what had happened [...] was I
was at RCA, I was working on creat-
ing this [...] design system that I’ve
been talking about. And my head of
department sent me an email with
this link to the competition and was
like, “This is perfect for you. Do it.”
So I looked into it and was like, “Oh
this is totally perfect,” [...] because
I had all the plans for [a zero waste
micro factory] and manufactur-

ing these tools that I have and [...] I [And it just totally grabbed my
was ready to go and [I was looking brain] and held onto it ever since.
for investors]. So I went ahead and So I started experimenting with that
applied with kind of a shortened around 2010, so I’ve been doing it
version [of my plan] for the future for 10 years now. And back then
around zero-waste design and how [...], my aesthetic was quite different
anyone can do it. And anyone can from what it is now. [I] was play-
use these design tools, and I think ing with the idea of the golden ra-
I really hit the nail on the head for tio as a basis for zero waste design
them. [and] getting voluminous [curves
So yeah, I have to touch base with and drapery], [...] all very dramat-
them in December to talk about ic menswear, it was all black and
where it’s going and COVID-19, grey and very empty. But even so,
of course, changed the direction of the actual output of what I’ve done
[...] my plan because it doesn’t make has changed slightly yeah, I’ve been
sense to [have] a physical space at doing it for around 10 years and I
the moment. [...] So yeah, it’s pivot- just love the puzzle-solving aspect
ing a little bit due to that, but we’re of it so much [that’s] what actual-
still [developing] our zero waste ly grabbed me and then learning
tools and workshops and all that about all of the problems in the
good stuff. industry [and how awful] it is [...]
M: My question to you is, [what led cemented [...] “that this is what I’m
you] to exploring zero-waste pat- going to do for the rest of my life.”
tern cutting? M: So I am aware that before going
D: So I went to SCAD [and grad- to graduate school, you were work-
uated in 2013] and while I was at ing in the industry. Did working in
school, I just really love doing re- the industry [push you] towards ze-
ally conceptual pattern-cutting ro-waste pattern-cutting?
and learning different ways of ac- D: Yeah, absolutely. So I worked
tually making things, like adding in the industry for around five, six
restraints to [making] design [...]. years after school in a few differ-
It started off with subtraction cut- ent companies around the country.
ting by Julian Roberts and Kinetic Each one that I went to, I would
Garment Construction by Rickard propose some sort of zero-waste
Lindqvist and that led me to the piece or pack [because] I like doing
work of Holly McQuillan and Timo it and was like “Why not propose it
Rissanen who wrote that book on as [a thing for the company?]”
Zero Waste Fashion Design.
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it and was like “Why not propose it as [a thing for the company?]” And
pretty much, every company [said] “That’s cool” or [...] “Not for our con-
sumer” [or] “Cool, but we’re not going to take it anyway.” [...] Most re-
cently I worked at Nike and I proposed a zero-waste little pack of clothing
and everyone on the creative side [loved it]. But when it came to actually
produce it, the unknowns of the costs, time, and all the stuff in the ether
[about] zero-waste design kind of halted that project. [And] it was out of
frustration that I decided to go back to school and actually get the footing
[and have a master’s degree] in this [so] I can make it happen. [Working
in the industry] opens up your eyes to a lot more problems you don’t nec-
essarily learn in school and you actually have to be in it and understand
[that] it doesn’t make any sense, why people are working the way that they
do [and] how the industry hasn’t changed in the [...] last hundred years. So
really, it is [...] asking those annoying questions and getting frustrated with
the answers that really kept sustainability going for me.

M: Honestly, I think it’s very brave of you to have gone and said, “Okay, I
don’t like the way that you guys are doing this thing. So I’m just gonna go
ahead and go back to school going to start my own company.” Yeah.

D: Thank you.

M: Okay, you mentioned that COVID-19 impacted your company. What
exactly has COVID done to stop your company?

D: Well, so it hasn’t really stopped it. It’s just pivoted which is the key term
during this time. Right, so I was at grad school when COVID-19 actually
hit and I graduated very anticlimactically during all of this on lockdown.
And I wasn’t able to finish my senior collection because I didn’t have ac-
cess to the resources machines and all that. But I know I had talked about
this before but I ended up using my service design system to create a set
of zero waste scrubs because I didn’t really know what to do with my time
and couldn’t be sewing my heavy denim collection on my little home sew-
ing machine. [...] So like, you know, lightweight cotton scrubs that are zero
is perfect, and I made that pattern open source like completely download-
able editable whatever people got invested in what I was doing with the
scrubs and like giving feedback on the pattern and like making their own
tutorial videos of how to stitch it together. So making this much more col-
laborative project, that definitely impacted where I’m going in the future
with [...] having it as a feedback loop, rather than me, designing some-
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thing and giving it to you, it’s more of [working in] that circular way.
And now that I have graduated I’ve moved back to Portland, [...] I set up
my studio in my home because it doesn’t really make sense to have a studio
space where people can go cuz you’re not supposed to go anywhere. And
so I think, yeah, the biggest impact is just [...] slightly changing the direc-
tion of my work to be this more inclusive kind of education. And yes, stick-
ing to actually making these tools doing workshops and making garments,
rather than [...] doing the more industrial setting of what I’m doing.
M: So have you thought of any plans of how you’re going to run your busi-
ness. during [COVID-19]?
D: Definitely that because I’m doing so many varied things. It helps that
I can focus on certain parts when we’re on lockdown. Like for example, I
did a limited release of these button-down t-shirts, where you could take
part in any part of the process that you wanted. Because [...] money isn’t
available to everyone right now, so like if you couldn’t buy this full shirt,
you could at least like buy the pattern [for] that [and it’s] 20 bucks, instead
of [...] buying a shirt for $100 and [...] get a process book and learn how to
make it yourself. So you’re buying knowledge rather than a garment, which
I think is cool so that [...] has changed a lot.
M: So I saw on your website that you were selling your patterns.
D: Yes.
M: Are you [or] do you plan on having them printed out on fabric so peo-
ple don’t have to print it out on paper?
D: Yes, totally when I did the scrubs. I did a set that was digitally print-
ed on fabric so you could just cut it out and just soak it up without having
any paper and I was looking for a company to [...] partner with where they
would basically be able to put the [scrub pattern] on the fabric and [...] you
could [cut it]. So I was looking for a fabric sponsor where you could ba-
sically just pay for the cost of materials and not any of the extra overhead
because it’s like for a good cause, you know, but I didn’t end up finding any
partner [for] that. So I’m still working on that aspect. If you have any ideas,
hit me up.

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M: Who have you asked so far?
D: It was mostly people in the UK like Contrato and Fashion Formula I be-
lieve was the other one. And so those are the main two. I know that there
are a ton of other companies, I’d reached out to like Spoon Flower and no
one responded to me.
M: Oh, speaking of fabric printing companies, so recently I had gotten
some fabric printed from Bags of Love.
D: Nice oh yes Bags of Love.
M: Did you ask them?
D: [...] I don’t believe I did, I should go back and check [to see if I did.]
M: I feel like maybe you should try asking them because they have, they do
a lot of customized items like they print out custom bags and I’ve even seen
them print out masks. So [...] maybe you could email them and see if they
would be willing to do that.
D: [...] It kind of felt the backburner after I like moved and everything,
you know, so, but I still wanted to that, and then for other garments that
I’m making outside of scrubs, I love the idea of just being able to print the
pattern in addition to a pattern on [the] fabric and just have it ready to go.
I think it’s super cool and a lot of my work has to do with [...] changing
the conversation around sustainability and making it more fun and acces-
sible. So being able to engineer, [...] the lines that you cut in with like an
awesome pattern gets cut up and rearranged. [...] I think it’s super visually
pleasing and helps people understand a little bit more.
M: If you don’t remember [the] last time I saw you, you were in one of the
critiques in my class of mine and I said that I was interested in also doing
zero-waste pattern cutting. [Did] you know that it was mostly because of
you?
D: What? No…

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M: Yeah, I was very inspired by how you said that you wanted to bring this
into the mainstream. Do you feel that other fashion students are also going
to be interested in [zero-waste pattern cutting]? And also, do you think the
industry is becoming more open to that as well?
D: Zero Waste fashion and the modern sense wasn’t even really a thing un-
til 2004 it wasn’t Google, like zero waste fashion design was not a term that
existed until Holly McQuillan and Timo Rissanen and wrote the book on
it. And so [...] it’s made great strides in the last 15 years [...] there have been
select [...] industry projects where people have tried are done like one gar-
ment, but then kind of dropped off.
But I think even with the COVID-19 pause being put on everything, every-
one’s taking a little bit more time to reassess where we are in the world re-
assess what their priorities are and I think things like, [...] even me winning
the competition, that puts it to the forefront of people’s minds that there
are other ways of designing. And I think things like, you know, even me
winning the competition that puts it to the forefront of people’s minds that
there are other ways of designing and [...] my application of it as fashion,
but it can be used in any other industry, like, one of the things I really want
to do one day is [...] furniture design, you know, because why not. It’s the
same application of any flat material. You can use it in a zero waste way. [...]
I have gotten a lot of students reaching out asking for help on [...] where to
get started, or like who to reach out to to learn more.
And there really isn’t one place where all [this] exists yet and that’s why
myself and three other designers ended up [creating] the Zero Waste De-
sign Online Collective to make it that resource that people can go to and
like you learn where all the free patterns are [and] who’s doing it [...] well
who’s doing it poorly, you know, kind of thing. And yeah, so I think it’s
awesome that people are way more interested and we are [...] doing work-
shops, because people want to learn, you know, everyone’s got a little bit
more time on their hands and access to Zoom. So [...] it’s cool, I like being
able to [...] spread the knowledge, a little bit more. If I keep it to myself,
what’s the good of it, you know.
M: [...] So who are the other two [or three] designers that you’ve men-
tioned [...]?
D: Yeah, it’s myself Halima Cohen, who wrote the book on Zero Waste De-
sign and MYLÈNE L’ORGUILLOUX, she’s from France. She [...] does zero
with design a bit more tailored to the home sewing community where you

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download patterns and she has tutorial videos and she does [in] French
and English, which is really important because according to her, a lot of the
French [...] DIY community doesn’t want to look at the English version of
things. So there’s just like this big gap where [...] they want to learn [and
can’t].
So she actually just got one of her friends who is going to translate for us
everything into French and German. So we’re going to have three languag-
es on our website, which is cool. And then the fourth one is Cassandra
Ballinger who’s in Glasgow and she is also very into the home sewing com-
munity. [She likes] teaching people, one of her passions is teaching people
how to sew in a new way [and people who’ve] never sewn before, if you
start them off with zero waste pattern making [it’s] such a different educa-
tion experience than starting off with a regular pattern [making] and then
learning how to use your waste later. So it’s really [an] awesome group that
we have. I just talked to them earlier today. We have a weekly call where we
like, you know, figure out our lives.
M: [...] I think it’s so great that you guys can get together and I feel like
even now over Zoom it’s even easier to all be together and do these work-
shops. Have you found that it’s easier to spread the information about zero
waste pattern cutting [...] because of how everyone’s on the internet now
versus if like there wasn’t this big push to online due to [COVID-19]?
D: Yeah, for sure. Cassandra and Holly have been friends for free for a few
years. They’ve talked about making some sort of online community for
zero waste, they’ve been talking about it for [...] more than two years and
then it was only during COVID-19 that they’re like, “Hey, let’s actually do
this and let’s actually bring in more people to make it a stronger initiative.”
So I don’t think it would have happened at this time because [...] Holly’s
finishing her PhD right now and [...] adding on this is basically a whole [...]
second part time job doing the collective so that definitely wouldn’t have
happened if it was [...] normal circumstances. But yeah, so [...] there are
good things coming out of COVID.
M: I remember over the summer you visited one of my classes or maybe I
dropped into one of the classes [you visited].
D: [I’m] popping in everywhere!
M: So [because the magazine is about sustainability, I thought: I’ve] got to

86 GRANADAS

talk to. Danielle, I got to ask her about this. Another question [that doesn’t
have to do with sustainability] I had is, [have these changes] put any sort of
mental strain on you?
D: Oh my god, yes. [...] I’m an anxious person. Getting stuck in the
UK and not being able to come back because of the lockdown and ev-
erything, while not being able to work was [...] very detrimental to
my mental health for a while. And that’s what ended up making the
whole scrubs project happen, which ended up leading to really good
work and good things coming out of it. But I mean, yeah, it’s very dif-
ficult to work in this time, [...] going out and being around people, and
[...] interacting and all of that kind of stuff and just staying and work-
ing at home, makes it a very different experience, which is also still
great because I am here with my fiance and my puppy and you know

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M: So [what] do you predict would happen to your business in the future?
D: I have these [...] five and ten year plans right and the ultimate goal is to,
well, there are many ultimate goals, but one of them Is to create a [...] ze-
ro-waste design factory from the ground up. So when actually trying to
manufacture garments in a zero-waste way, it’s quite difficult sometimes
because of limitations factories already have and they aren’t really willing
to change. Most of the time it’s not worth it to them.
So if you design a factory based around this new way of designing and go-
ing in with all of the requirements at the beginning [...] it would just make
a whole new crazy way of working, and so part of the proposal for me [...]
was to make a micro factory, like a small version of this that fits in a ship-
ping container. But, [...] it would be amazing to actually just buy a factory
that is empty and fill it from the ground up, with [that] way, [...] you know
all the zero waste way of working, and actually make it like a carbon neu-
tral space and like fully-zero waste, not just fashion zero-waste. [...] One of
the goals is to open that and then to not only manufacture my own cloth-
ing, which I designed like better basics, kind of thing. [...] It’s not basic, I
need to find a better word for that, staples, timeless pieces.
M: Wardrobe classics.
D: Wardrobe classics. Yes, that is it. [Also] the work I’m doing with corpo-
rations [...], they could start doing small run manufacturing at my factory
and [...] learn from this new way of working, so that they can bring that
information back to their factories and start working better. So that’s the
[ultimately the way] that I’m headed for now, we’ll see how it goes. I think
it’s cool, because there’s so many more [...] spaces, opening up and rent is
becoming a lot cheaper. So it could be a very good thing. I know that in the
next few years, I’m going to be moving back to New York, because that’s
where my family is.
M: Thank you so much for your time. Danielle, I wish you luck on your fu-
ture endeavors.
D: I do too, thank you.

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Photos courtesy of Danielle Elsner
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAMMY SELIN
PRODUCTION BY LAURA DUDEK

MODELED BY MAREK ORZELSKIG&RLAANUARADDAUSDEK89

IS H&M GREEN-WASHING?
By Mary Cordero

Recently, H&M came out with a new in-store recycling system called
Looop. It came out of nowhere and due to H&M’s past actions with re-
cycling, I was quite apprehensive about it. I thought, “This is just another
marketing strategy isn’t it?” On the H&M Group’s website, they like to tout
themselves as leaders in sustainability even though it is far from the truth.
To me, other brands come to mind when I think of sustainability such as
Patagonia, Reformation, and Stella McCartney just to name a few. H&M
makes me think of only empty promises, they had even removed garment
collecting from their retail website after being called out for using a small
percentage of recycled textiles in their new garments. Was announcing
Looop just to cover up their past actions?
H&M is, according to Good on You, “...is the second-largest [fast-fash-
ion] retailer in the world”. Fast-fashion is a large contributor of textile
waste, and Zara, H&M, Forever21, UNIQLO, and GAP are among the larg-
est retailers of fast fashion. Fast-fashion copies runway trends and produces
low-quality and low-cost garments by outsourcing to developing countries.
H&M has made claims that they are recycling old garments customers
bring to their stores and turning them into new ones for years. The compa-
ny has claimed they are recycling old textiles and taking steps to be more
sustainable. On the H&M Group’s site, they state, “We’re using our influ-
ence to support positive transformation in the fashion industry — driving
innovation, collaborating with others, pushing for greater transparency
and rewarding sustainable actions.”
H&M revealed a new system for recycling textiles called “Looop”. On
October 8, 2020, the H&M Group released an article on their website about
their new “Looop” system where customers can take old garments and re-
cycle them into new items such as blankets or sweaters and it costs between
100 and 150 Swedish kronor (approximately $11-17 USD). Looop would
clean, tear apart an old garment, shred it, spin its fibers, and then make
whatever the customer requests within a matter of hours. So far, the Looop
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systems are only available in Stockholm, Sweden and the company claims
to have plans on expanding the system. Not everyone is convinced though.
When one types in “recycling H&M” into Google, it’s not hard to find ar-
ticles that are questioning the fashion giant’s intent with the Looop system
and criticism of their recycling practices.
$11-17 USD, to me, doesn’t seem like it would make much profit. A
new item made from recycled garments takes between 4-5 hours for Looop
to make. What is the customer going to do in that 4-5 hours? Certainly
not spend all that time at H&M. Why would a customer have any reason
to wait that long for a recycled item if they could get a new item right away
for the same price? On the H&M Group’s website where they made the an-
nouncement, they don’t mention if they would also ship out the item to a
customer.

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Green-washing is when companies market a product as environmen-
tally friendly even if it is not. Within articles on the criticism of Looop,
H&M’s green line is brought up. H&M Conscious is their in-house “green”
line and the company claims that the materials used in their Conscious
line uses eco-friendly materials. On H&M’s website, under their Conscious
line, they state, “Shop our selection of sustainable fashion pieces that make
you both look and feel good. Our range of organic and sustainable clothing
[offers] you a variety of new wardrobe favorites - everything from soft knits
and stylish t-shirts to the latest denim looks and comfortable underwear.”
H&M does not explain how the materials in the Conscious line are
any better than in the rest of their clothing lines. For example, this sweat-
er from their Conscious line is 94% synthetic fibers. Polyesters; even re-
cycled polyesters, shed microplastics when washed and microplastics are
potentially harmful to marine wildlife. According to the National Ocean
and Atmospheric Administration, “[studying microplastics] is an emerg-
ing field of study, not a lot is known about microplastics and their impacts
yet”. Acrylic is also a by-product of the petroleum industry, is highly flam-
mable, and is difficult or even impossible to recycle. Both polyester and
acrylic are plastics and are not biodegradable, it is estimated that plastics
can take hundreds of years to decompose, making synthetic fibers not-so
eco-friendly. The wool in the sweater is a measly 6% natural fiber con-
tent. “Sheep, like cows, release enormous amounts of methane gas into

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the atmosphere and have been re- market themselves as sustain-
ferred to as the ‘Humvees’ of the able. The Good Trade defines fast
animal kingdom, ” The Ecolo- fashion as, “[utilizing] trend rep-
gist states. Unlike synthetic fibers lication, rapid production, and
though, wool can decompose. Wool [low-quality] materials in order
is not all bad though, Ecocult ar- to bring inexpensive styles to the
gues that wool can be sustainable public. Unfortunately, this results
if done right, “... if you move free- in harmful impacts [on] the envi-
range, grazing animals around from ronment, human well-being, and
paddock to paddock, mimicking ultimately our wallets.” Garments
their ancient cycle in something and accessories from fast-fashion
called ‘holistic management,’ ‘bio- retailers typically are known to
mimetic grazing,’ or ‘adaptive graz- not last long. It is not uncommon
ing,’ then you can claim that the to hear other people talking about
wool you shear off the sheep is cli- how a shirt they bought from For-
mate beneficial. And in a healthy ever21 only lasted a few washes
system, there is actually meth- before tearing. Defective garments
ane-digesting bacteria in the soil. are often tossed out and end up
So that scary fact about cows pro- in landfills. Because fast-fash-
ducing the potent greenhouse gas ion replicates trends, people may
methane? Handled.” quickly “fall out of love” with a
Wool can be a sustainable fiber garment they buy because of the
though, if done properly as to not short shelf-life many trends have.
exhaust the land they graze. For Donating discarded fast-fashion
cruelty, as long as the sheep aren’t clothing leads people to think it
shorn too soon in a season or mis- will give their clothes a new life, on
handled, I do not see a problem, the contrary, in Green America’s
though I can understand why some article “What Really Happens to
may choose to forgo wool prod- Unwanted Clothes?”, they include
ucts anyway. I have my doubts that this sobering chart from the Envi-
H&M would try to find sustainably ronmental Protection Agency tha
and ethically sourced wool. To me, reveals what really happens to dis-
that 94% synthetic fiber and 6% carded garments:
wool in the sweater is a joke. How (See next page)
is using mostly synthetic fibers
“conscious”? GRANADAS 93
H&M is a fast-fashion retailer
and in my opinion, fast fashion is
the opposite of sustainable and it’s
disingenuous that they are trying to

I hear from a lot of people that “textile “Since the previous re-
waste isn’t a problem and I donate my port October, 2015, we have
clothes so I know it’s going somewhere.” continued to take a very ac-
Only about 10% of clothing that arrives tive role within the Accord
in thrift stores is actually sold in the store. and are following the reme-
The rest is sold off to second hand mar- diation plan progress closely.
kets overseas or they end up in a landfill. We see good progress, which
To keep costs low, fast-fashion also is also reflected in Accord
outsources to developing countries that data. To further speed up the
may not have the same labor laws devel- remediation, we are current-
oped nations may have. Garment factory ly working closely together
fires, unfortunately, are common with the with IndustriALL to ensure
factories that make low-cost garments. the most efficient remedia-
One of the most notorious garment fires tion in H&M supply chain
happened in 2013 at Savar Upazila, Ban- and to use our combined
gladesh. The 2013 Dhaka Garment Facto- leverage where needed. We
ry Collapse, also known as the Rana Pla- will continue our long-term
za Building Collapse, killed 1134 workers investment by fully support-
and injured over 2500 more. ing our business partners in
In 2016, a factory that H&M sourc- improving and upgrading
es its garments from called the Matrix their production facilities
Sweater Factory caught on fire, injuring 4 to safer and higher interna-
workers. H&M released an official com- tional standards as well as
pany statement, their management capabil-
ities, allowing them to be-
94 GRANADAS come competitive in a sus-
tainable way...Fire exits are
one of the most fundamental
requirements for a suppli-
er in order to be allowed to
produce for H&M...after the
fire in Matrix Sweater Ltd.,
Accord and Alliance have
done investigations and both
recommends not to contin-
ue production until further
investigations, assessments,
and remediation have been
done.”

Fire exits, in my opinion, are the bare minimum, they can help pre-
vent tragedies like this from happening. It is unfortunate that in this day
and age, incidences that mimic the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911
still happen. The factories they make their garments in do not care for the
garment workers and neither does H&M, they just want these factories to
churn out large quantities of garments for as cheap as possible, disregard-
ing the safety and wellbeing of their workers.
The documentary The True Cost unearths H&M and other fashion
brands’ lack of transparency behind their environmental and fair labor
claims. A sustainability representative from H&M refused to give com-
ments when a reporter asked if the company is actually recycling. Eventu-
ally, they removed the information on garment collecting from their retail
website, however, there is still a section about sustainability on the H&M
Group website. Because of H&M’s past actions, many people are not too
optimistic about the Looop system. Is it another marketing ploy? The un-
spoken problem with textile recycling is that shredding textiles shortens
the fibers, even on the H&M Group’s website, they mention that virgin fi-
bers (new fibers) may have to be added to recycled items depending on the
item being made to strengthen it, so recycling with Looop is not always go-
ing to be 100% recycled fibers.
Is Looop helping H&M be one step closer to truly being green? It may
be too early to tell and due to H&M’s track record, I am not too hopeful.
The company may very well just drop Looop if it does not do too well in
the Stockholm stores they are testing it in, just like how they dropped their
garment collection statements on their retail site. I also question Looop’s
profit margin and wonder if it is a viable long term choice for the company,
only time will tell though.

GRANADAS 95

Looking Back to Move Forward

By Nadia Nelson

In the conversation of sustainability, we often do not look at the not-so-
recent past for inspiration. Back when milkmen left milk in glass bottles at
the front door only to be washed and reused for the next delivery. Back be-
fore fast fashion, where clothing wasn’t bought and swapped out every oth-
er week. It wasn’t until a post-war America, that we started heavily com-
mercializing everything in our lives. Although milkmen fell out of favor in
the early 20th century due to increased use of refrigerators, there were still
sustainable practices well into the mid-20th century that could be imple-
mented today.

This is not an article to demonize the present or view the past through
rose tinted glasses. Rather, it is an observation of how an increase in indi-
vidual wealth over time has caused us to forego practicality and sustain-
ability for convenience.

Consumerism stems far back into American roots but, it’s more stead-
fast influence came in the nineteen fifties. Post-war America saw a hesitant
crowd of people wondering if they should spend war bonds and their hard
earned cash they had been clutching so tightly to during the depression
and the war. Persuading a generation that had been told by the government
for the past couple of years that to be frugal was the best way to help the
troops abroad, would be a difficult task.

The country needed to increase spending to get back to a pre-war econ-
omy though, so the government made the most sound decision to influ-
ence a country full of war vets and their patriotic families: making it seem
like to spend was to be American. And what better way to influence the
everyday American than through television which was becoming more and
more commonplace in the 1950’s. Between I Love Lucy and Leave it to Bea-
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ver, 50’s America was subject to numerous ads ranging from Coca Cola to
Bel Air Cigarettes. This, along, with a number of new household products
that made living more convenient influenced the rise of consumerism.
Similar to how events of the 2010s like the Deep Water Horizons oil
spill and the fires in the Amazon spurred environmental activism world-
wide, the 1960’s saw an onslaught of negative environmental events due to
increased need for stuff in the previous decade. More cars on the road led
to dangerous smog in Los Angeles along with oil spills along the California
coast. The atomic bomb testing on Bikini Atoll led to a group of Japanese
fisherman being drastically affected, one man losing his life. This collection
of events inspired movements that inspired government regulation for en-
vironmental issues.
Recycling programs became popular in the 1960s and curbside recy-
cling grew in the 1970s. The Keep America Beautiful Campaign launched
it’s infamous ‘Crying Indian’ commerical in 1970 to raise awareness of
picking up litter - the same year Earth Day was first celebrated and the En-
vironmental Protection Agency was established.
So what happened?

A woman recycling plastics in separate recycling containers at the Santa Monica Recycling Center, California, 1992. GRANADAS 97
Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Well, the 1980’s. More specifical- there’s less of a sense of collective
ly, Reagan’s Interior Secretary, James urgency. Just like the fifties, we’re
Watt. Watt was pro Big Oil and was experiencing a technological boom
starchly anti-environmentalist. He and who doesn’t want the latest and
saw government regulation as an greatest?
entrenchment on people’s freedom. With Apple’s planned obsel-
He was pro-coal, pro-development ence of their products and cheap,
and pro the oil rigs that had nega- fast fashion catering to a genera-
tively impacted the coast of Califor- tion used to getting what they want,
nia just two decades prior. Though when they want it and at the price
Watt eventually left office and shyed they want, it is once again diffi-
his way out of public view, his ideas cult to change the mindset of the
carried into the 21st century. consumer. In an unique change of
While pro-big business poli- events, we’re in a place where look-
ticians got their legislation passed ing backward might help us move
through Congress, the environmen- forward in making environmental
tal movement went through some progress.
drastic changes. As mentioned in
the 2004 essay, The Death of En-
vironmentalism, the meaning of
being a an environmentalist had
changed throughout the years. To
quote, “ In the face of perhaps the
greatest calamity in modern history,
environmental leaders are sanguine
that selling technical solutions like
florescent light bulbs, more efficient
appliances, and hybrid cars will be
sufficient to muster the necessary
political strength to overcome the
alliance of neoconservative ideo-
logues and industry interests in
Washington, D.C.”

Today we still operate this way.
We believe in the individual effort
of thrifting and recycling as a rem-
nant to all of our enviromental is-
sues. Unlike in the 60’s and 70’s, A 1970s-era poster encouraging recycling. (The Library of Con-
98 gress)
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BRENHAM, TEXASByNadiaNelson

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