I have loved fashion for a very long time. As a child, I was mesmerised by my mother’s extraordinary style and rigorous commitment to elegance and glamour. My father had another sense of commitment to quality and tradition through Harris Tweed jackets and Churches brogues. My sisters had incredible style; living in London, they wore Vidal Sassoon haircuts and fabulous clothes. My Aunt was a lady's fine tailoress; she could cut a pattern from something she saw in a movie (and frequently did so).
Let’s just say I had a lot of influence and inspiration around me, which led me to pursue a career in fashion that I loved.
For the past 5-10 years, my relationship with fashion has been challenged and constrained. I have been questioning so much. Questioning everything is a healthy relationship with life to counteract our human propensity to assume or unquestioningly accept. However, I developed a sense of resigned superiority around fashion and endless consumption. I found myself judging my friends when they made aspirational purchases, judging myself for wanting something new and fabulous. Even deeper, I judged brands, shops and fast fashion especially. Let’s say my love for fashion was becoming lost; the relationship was closer to resentment and ultimately strained.
Philosophically, I endeavour to be free and adventurous throughout life. I am always getting better at things in life, including my habits, behaviours, skills and practices. In the area of fashion, this had clearly not been working. I had no freedom and limited adventure. The love was approaching something closer to hate.
Don’t get me wrong, I love luxury - you read these blogs and know how much I love to explore the magic and miracles created in this world. Nevertheless, the luxury goods business has become a juggernaut, maximising profit, margins and growth. Only yesterday, I looked at Gucci’s latest bag launch - the Tom Ford-era horse-bit clutch. The leather was much poorer quality than my two-year-old Gucci bag. So disappointing.
GUCCI HORSEBIT CHAIN SMALL SHOULDER BAG
As I was in Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport around so much luxury, I started to question why I had so much judgment and vilified the brands I had formerly loved so much. I have been passionate about sustainable fashion and solutions for the past decade, committed to creating a less wasteful fashion system, which made me look deeply into the industry and the systems in place for endless growth on a planet with finite resources. This in itself can seem insurmountable and impossible. I am committed to making an impact on the future of fashion, yet I am not free with any of it. I have always loved fashion because it is an art form, and now I have been creating it to be a lower-level commodity business. Yesterday, in Terminal 5, I had a breakthrough in my relationship with fashion. At that moment, I granted myself my love for fashion all over again.
As serendipity always plays a part in the magic of life, yesterday, the YouTube algorithm served me this very considered fashion influencer video:
What Most “Fashion Influencers” Don’t Tell You - Drew Joiner.
He beautifully captures and explains my challenges with the fashion system—loving fashion as an art form rather than judging its business model.
My summary for this blog is that when I stop judging the business of fashion, myself and my recent fear of buying anything, I can actually impact the industry’s future in a profound way. This excites and inspires me.
Kind regards
Kate
Kate Padget-Koh