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Hot Buttons

Hot Buttons

Latitude Media

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2 Creators

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5.0

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2 Creators

Hot Buttons is a show about the future of fashion and culture on a changing planet. Each week, Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker unwind the breaking news, industry moves, cultural trends, and tech breakthroughs that are shaping sustainable fashion. The fashion industry is one of the world’s biggest polluters. Can we change it?
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Top 10 Hot Buttons Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Hot Buttons episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Hot Buttons for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Hot Buttons episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Hot Buttons - Repairing our way to sustainability
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08/11/22 • 40 min

One way to curb overproduction of clothing is to keep the clothes we have longer. It’s an old-fashioned solution but a simple one: instead of tossing worn and torn clothes in the trash, repair them. Major outdoor apparel brands have embraced repairs as a way to stay close to their customers, and luxury brands have long offered repairs as a service to their clients. But with fast fashion jumping in on the trend, is this just sustainable theater or can it move the culture toward caring for clothes?

Then, Rachel, Shilla and Christina dig into a new technology from Swedish company Renewcell. Circulose is made from 100% textile waste and is used as a raw material to make things like viscose and lyocell. Zara announced they’re using it in a capsule line of clothing, including dresses and sweaters in natural colors. H&M is an investor in the company, as well. Does this signal an important step forward in recycling technology? And is it scalable enough to have an impact?

Resources:

  • Harper’s Bazaar: The restoration revolution: the best luxury repair services to take note of
  • Sourcing Journal: Arc’Teryx and Eddie Bauer Target Repair and Resale
  • Sourcing Journal: Uniqlo launches repair services at NYC flagship
  • Retail Detail: H&M trials new store concept in Amsterdam
  • The Circular Laboratory: What Is ‘Circulose’ ... And Is it Sustainable?
  • Sourcing Journal: Zara x Circulose Fashion Capsule Shows Off Sustainable Circular Fiber
  • Bloomberg: Renewcell and ZARA Collaborate to Create a Capsule Collection Made from Material Produced with Circulose (R)

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Don’t miss our live episode of Climavores in New York City on October 20! Sign up here for a night of live audio and networking with top voices in climate journalism.

It’s Secondhand September, and we’re here to dive in. All this month we’re talking with experts and offering up some of our own insights into how the resale market is evolving. This week, we talk with Andy Ruben, founder of Trove, a re-commerce platform for brands to enter the resale market on their own terms. Trove is one of a number of companies that work with brands to create white-label resale solutions that let them take back their used clothing, clean it, prepare it for resale, and sell it again as a “pre-loved.” Trove’s latest partner is On sportswear in a bold move into athletic shoe resale.

We also cast a cold eye on Pretty Little Thing’s new resale marketplace, Kourtney Kardashian’s “sustainable fashion journey” with Boohoo, and applaud Rachel Comey’s breakup with Uline packaging. And it’s New York Fashion Week, so there are stories, and Christina has some good ones.

Have a question for Christina, Rachel and Shilla? Give us a call at (508) 622-5361.‬ We might feature your voicemail on an upcoming episode of the show.

Resources:

  • The Guardian is having none of Kourtney Kardashian’s partnership with Boohoo
  • New York Magazine on Rachel Comey breaking up with Uline
  • Bloomberg describes Trove’s resale partnership with On
  • Glamour on the ascendant resale market

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This week, Charles Conn, Chair of the Board of Directors at Patagonia joins us to share his story of how the company made the landmark decision to “make Earth its only shareholder.” This was news not just in the apparel industry, but everywhere. Patagonia had been private its entire existence, and as its founder Yvon Chouinard looked to step away, he opted for something entirely unique: give all the company to a 501(c)(4) and a perpetual purpose trust designed to put the profits to work exclusively for the planet.

The market is still digesting this move: will it signal a new path for purpose-driven companies? Will it alter the course of late-stage capitalism? Charles Conn had an insider’s view on the process of coming to the decision to embrace this unique model, and continues to be actively involved in bringing it to fruition.

Patagonia is an apparel company, too, so we talk about how they approach sustainability, from measuring their emissions throughout their supply chain, sourcing all their textiles and materials, and participating in resale and circularity.

And finally, Yvon Chouinard was recently given the outstanding achievement award at the British Fashion Awards, and Charles was there to accept it on his behalf. So, we had to ask what he wore.

Have a question for Christina, Rachel and Shilla? Give us a call at (508) 622-5361.‬ We might feature your voicemail in an upcoming episode.

Resources:

  • Charles Conn in Fortune Magazine on Patagonia’s evolution
  • WWD on Patagonia’s transformation
  • Inc. naming Patagonia company of the year
  • WWD on Yvon Chouinard receiving the outstanding achievement award at the Fashion Awards in London

Full transcript of this podcast here

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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For the first topic of our first episode, we are asking a simple question: what is fashion’s actual impact on the environment?

We know the environmental impact of fashion is vast. But has it been properly quantified? It turns out, no. And that’s a problem for figuring out how to fix it.

Then, we turn to the most visible problem in the fashion industry: textile waste.

Rachel and Shilla are both involved in an effort to bring more transparency and regulatory scrutiny to the textiles industry. We’ll dig into some possible solutions for textile waste.

We’ll finish with one of the hottest stories in fashion: Shein.

In April, the Wall Street Journal revealed the Chinese mega-retailer had raised over $1 billion at a $100 billion valuation. Shein is now one of the most valuable private companies in the world — built off an ultra-fast fashion model that pumps out thousands of new styles per week.

What does Shein’s rise tell us about the tension between consumer desires for sustainable products and actual buying habits? And can Shein clean up its operations in a meaningful way?

Additional reading:

  • New York Times: how fashion giants recast plastic as good for the planet
  • Vox: fashion has a misinformation problem
  • New York Times: the biggest fake news in fashion
  • WWD: New working group to tackle textile waste
  • Business of Fashion: the sustainability regulations that could reshape fashion.
  • Sourcing Journal: Critics say Shein’s textile waste solution isn’t good enough
  • WSJ: Shein valued at $100 billion funding round
  • Daily Beast: Has Shein killed the dream of sustainability in fashion?

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The metaverse became a household term after Mark Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook as Meta, and Fortnite gamers started attending virtual concerts wearing Balenciaga hoodies. And now the utopian web3 vision has come for fashion.

Brands are framing their digital clothes, shoes, and accessories as a sustainability play. This week, Christina, Rachel, and Shilla look past the marketing hype and think through the long-term impact.

Then, has fast fashion ruined thrifting? Second-hand retailers are being flooded with donated clothes from the likes of Shein, H&M, and Zara, and seasoned thrifters are despondent. It’s driving up prices and making those desirable vintage and unique items harder to find. What is the future of thrifting?

We’ll finish with a dose of optimism by sharing some of the trends and companies that are keeping us feeling positive about the fashion industry.

Resources:

  • Wired: The metaverse could radically reshape fashion
  • WWD: Metaverse as a magic sustainability bullet? Think again.
  • New York Times: 'The golden age of thrifting is over'

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Hot Buttons - H&M’s sustainability deception
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07/21/22 • 42 min

H&M has an uphill battle to be taken seriously as a sustainable fashion brand, and last week it got even worse. Quartz published an investigation into H&M’s use of an environmental impact scorecard to misrepresent the sustainability of its clothing lines, finding the company used faulty data to make claims that were patently false. Not a good look for a brand trying to remake its image.

We’re delighted to have the author of that article, Amanda Shendruk, as a guest this week. She’ll talk us through the details of H&M’s missteps.

Then we take another look at the industry’s challenges around transparency, and talk through the Fashion Transparency Index for 2021, which ranks fashion brands by “what information they disclose about their social and environmental policies, practices and impacts, in their operations and supply chain.” The results aren’t encouraging. Brands have a long way to go in wages and worker conditions, supply chain carbon emissions, purchasing practices, their COVID response, and supply chain traceability.

Resources:

  • Quartz: Quartz investigation: H&M showed bogus environmental scores for its clothing
  • Fashion Revolution: The Fashion Transparency Index 2021

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Hot Buttons - Is recycled plastic clothing a lie?
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06/30/22 • 41 min

This week, we’re talking about plastic fashion. Your Instagram and TikTok feed are probably littered with feel-good ads for clothes and shoes made from recycled bottles. But they aren’t the solution you think.

Then, it’s a new world for brands doing business with China. America’s crackdown on forced labor is twisting supply chains putting brands in an uncomfortable position. How will fashion reorient itself?

And we’ll finish with a reality-TV breakup with fast fashion. Can ‘Love Island’ push pre-loved clothing into the zeitgeist?

Resources:

  • Vogue Business: Recycled plastic swimsuits aren’t as green as you think
  • NPR/Frontline investigation: How big oil misled the public on recycled plastic
  • New York Times: Global brands seek clarity on Xinjiang
  • BBC: H&M seems China sales plummet after Xinjiang boycott
  • Vox: how your favorite jeans may be fueling a human rights crisis
  • Reuters: 'Love Island' dumps fast fashion for second-hand eBay partnership

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It was a busy news week in sustainable fashion, and Shein once again sucked all the oxygen out of the room. From being fined for a data breach to suffering a damaging investigation into its treatment of workers to announcing a peer-to-peer resale platform powered by Treet, the fast fashion powerhouse popped up everywhere.

We talk with Jake Disraeli, the co-founder and CEO of Treet, about its work powering the Shein resale marketplace called Shein Exchange, and how it works with brands. Then we look at Goodwill’s new luxury e-commerce efforts and its new site goodwillfinds.com, and we like it!

We also answer a listener question about all the packaging she sees from brands claiming to be sustainable.

Have a question for Christina, Rachel and Shilla? Give us a call at (508) 622-5361.‬ We might feature your voicemail in an upcoming episode.

Resources:

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This week, we’ve decided the best way to understand claims of sustainable textiles and leather is to step outside the fashion universe and go straight to someone who lives at the source: in food, agriculture and climate. Tamar Haspel is the host of our sister podcast here at Post Script Media, Climavores, and is one of the more delightful people you’ll ever hear on the subjects of how our food system and our personal choices within it just evolve in the face of climate change. She’ll help us think about vegan leather, organic textiles, fast fashion, GMO cotton, land and water use, and even sheep farming.

We also take a look at the news, which included a big win for the environment in a landmark law in New York banning PFAS, and Amazon’s “greenwashing on a grotesque scale.”

Have a question for Christina, Rachel and Shilla? Give us a call at (508) 622-5361.‬ We might feature your voicemail in an upcoming episode.

Click here for a complete transcript

Resources:

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Hot Buttons - The trillion-dollar climate gap in fashion
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06/23/22 • 51 min

Last fall, the Apparel Impact Institute and Fashion for Good mapped out what it would take to cut fashion’s carbon emissions by half by 2030, and hit net-zero by 2050. Those are goals identified by the UN fashion charter in 2018.

Their conclusion: we’ll need $1 trillion to get there. This week, we’ll ask: where will that money come from?

Then, as shoppers are heading back to stores, high-end brands are adding circular services to try to draw them in. Is this an indication of a bigger movement for in-person retail?

Finally, we end with European raids of top design brands’ headquarters. Did a movement to rewire fashion more sustainably somehow turn anticompetitive?

Stories discussed in this episode:

Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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FAQ

How many episodes does Hot Buttons have?

Hot Buttons currently has 30 episodes available.

What topics does Hot Buttons cover?

The podcast is about Podcasts, Business News, Fashion & Beauty, News and Arts.

What is the most popular episode on Hot Buttons?

The episode title 'Repairing our way to sustainability' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Hot Buttons?

The average episode length on Hot Buttons is 49 minutes.

How often are episodes of Hot Buttons released?

Episodes of Hot Buttons are typically released every 7 days, 1 hour.

When was the first episode of Hot Buttons?

The first episode of Hot Buttons was released on Jun 7, 2022.

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