In episode 312, Kestrel welcomes Denali Jöel, a non-binary Multidisciplinary Artist, Designer, Educator and Fashion Griot, to the show. Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Denali has been an asylee living in the US since 2014, recently obtaining their U.S. citizenship this year. Their art praxis intersects design, performance, media and community engagement with particular focus on queer identities and Afro-diasporan histories, futures, collective healing, and radical imagination.  “It comes back to us as an individual but also as a collective to recognize that we need to shift our own ..read more

In episode 311, Kestrel welcomes Julius Tillery, founder of BlackCotton, to the show.  A 5th-generation cotton farmer from North Carolina, Julius founded BlackCotton to help center and uplift the Black community closest to the cotton fields in Northampton County, North Carolina. “There’s so many demons and like bad spirits and bad tropes around cotton and the industry in general, and you know, just coming from the South, and people having these perspectives of cotton production relating to slavery — I felt like people was making these notions about cotton and not really knowing anything a ..read more

In episode 310, Kestrel and Natalie welcome Cassandra Pintro, an Associate Production Manager at Vogue and the founder of The Consumption Project, to the show. With a focus on making impact cool, The Consumption Project serves as a catalyst for educating folks about the impact of their buying habits and nurturing a collective mindset that values quality, longevity, and the environment. “So, it was — how do I find myself in this space and how do I make space that opens up a door for other people to feel comfortable, and you’re starting from a place that is kind of like a blank slate. And I real ..read more

In episode 309, Kestrel welcomes Jeanell English, the founder and CEO of ELIZABETH, to the show. An experienced facilitator and people operations leader, Jeanell has worked in an array of roles, most recently as the Executive Vice President of Impact and Inclusion at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, before she dove fully into her own company, ELIZABETH. “Because the reality is — you’re never gonna win everything you aim to win. It’s not really a competition, it’s about progress. And it’s so easy to be distracted because you’re gonna have people saying: you’re not doing enough ..read more

In episode 308, Kestrel welcomes Muchaneta Ten Napel, the founder of Shape Innovate and FashNerd.com, to the show. As a fashion economist, a lecturer, a writer, a consultant and the founder of Shape Innovate and FashNerd.com, Muchaneta is powering change through a multifaceted approach.  “To many people, today, to be sustainable is a way of draining money out of your company — it’s not a money-making initiative. And that’s the kind of thoughts that I would like to really change. Because for me, that merger of fashion and technology is growing and changing. It’s going beyond the wearable t ..read more

In episode 307, Kestrel welcomes Rachel Arthur, a strategist, journalist, and the Advocacy Lead for Sustainable Fashion at the United Nations Environment Programme, to the show. Rachel is the lead author of The Sustainable Fashion Communication Playbook, which was published earlier this year by the United Nations Environment Programme and the UN Climate Change Fashion Charter. “Communicators themselves, on a couple of levels, have had the ability to participate and to contribute I think is what I’m looking for here, and that is the first of all. But they themselves, by being communicators, hav ..read more

In episode 306, Kestrel welcomes Tameka Peoples, the founder and CEO of Seed2Shirt, to the show. A Black-woman-owned vertically integrated ethical apparel production & boutique cotton merchant firm, Seed2Shirt is focused on rebuilding equitable systems and institutions. “You’re seeing laws put into place like the 1862 Homestead Act where there were millions of acres of land just given to white families. And Black people were at the same time, being burned out of their communities. What I mean by that is — there’s elements to this thing that we call fashion — that’s connected to raw commodi ..read more

In episode 305, Kestrel welcomes Lisa Diegel, the Global Sustainability Director at Faherty, to the show. A family business, Faherty is focused on making high quality clothing. “They knew they wanted to do things differently and not follow that conventional way of take > make > waste in the fashion industry. They wanted to build a feel-good brand. And I think to do that, you need to be accountable and you need to take responsibility for the products you put out into the world.” -Lisa As we’ve explored on past episodes, the fashion industry has a deep history of appropriating and ste ..read more

In episode 304, Kestrel welcomes Eric Liedke, the co-founder and CEO of UNLESS, to the show. A collective of innovators, engineers, artists, and activists, UNLESS make plant-based streetwear designed to leave zero plastic waste. “I think sustainability is one of those hygiene words at this point — like everybody can talk themselves into they’re doing sustainable things. I think we need to get more specific. I think as marketers and storytellers, we need to really be very clear with our consumers what we’re doing. And you know, this crewneck that nobody can see today that I’m wearing, it’s gonn ..read more

In episode 303, Kestrel welcomes Natalie Shehata, Conscious Chatter’s new Social Media Strategist + Storyteller, to the show. A sustainable stylist, community organizer, speaker and writer, Nat brings exceptional experience and knowledge to how we approach storytelling. “I feel as though storytelling for me has been a very powerful medium in being able to instigate change. I feel like stories really shift culture and they can shift culture on a really large scale as well. But personally for me, I’ve kind of learned so much over the years through storytelling. And I think it’s important that we ..read more