It's way harder to unlearn than learn something the first time
Old habits die hard and all that.
I was planning on keeping this week’s newsletter shortish in length.
I’m sorry.
It hasn’t ended up as short as I wanted it to (ie three paragraphs). It hasn’t really ended up short at all.
I did start with a plan, which is unusual for me. However, pretty much as soon as I started typing, my usual process took over and, depressingly, multiple ideas came at me - and then out of me (via my fingers which slammed down enthusiastically, and slightly frenzied on the keyboard). Before I knew it, I’d gone and explored a random tangent (or several) and, as a consequence, ended up writing more (way more) then I had initially intended.
Sigh.
It seems it’s really hard for me to change my ways; despite teachers, tutors and bosses beseeching me to get to the point, I always meander.
I’m writing this a Sunday. It’s very early, especially for a Sunday. I’ve been forced to get up because of my dog - it’s not raining today and she’s desperate for a walk - and because I have to drive my youngest to an all day debating competition that, in my opinion, she is far too excited about. My youngest has two passions, running and debating, and it’s fascinating how these interests seem to be complementary of each other, for her anyway. As she told me the other day, her mind is able to move fast because she has fast legs.
Maybe.
I never debated at school. It wasn’t on offer but, even if it was, I doubt I would have participated. I attempted it at university but only because I had to (it was a mandatory part of my degree). Despite having a good grasp of the content, I was not very good. Firstly, because I hate in-person conflict of any kind. Secondly, I would also become sidetracked by what the opposition were arguing, and I wanted to really understand and explore their points, with them. Given this is so not the way a mock court case runs, I do wonder how I even passed that bit of my studies. And, finally, I do not think well on the spot. I need time to contemplate the scenario and to analyse the issue before I speak.
I wonder if, had I been exposed to debating in high school, I could have become better (much better) at constructing and refuting arguments?
I wonder if my brain, once upon a time, could have been trained to operate in a different way?
It’s really this question - on a broader scale (ie the scale of the world) - that has kept me up at night this week: how can we, most effectively, disrupt the system we all find ourselves in given that we’ve been doing things the wrong way (or at least not the optimal way) for a very long time now, so long that it has become habit.
The answer ( I think anyway) must lie, in part, by undergoing a traumatic conscious uncoupling with the way we’ve always done things.
Amongst other aspects, a conscious uncoupling will involve an unnaturally high degree of collaboration.
At last year’s annual Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen (which I am, desperate, to attend if anyone feels like sponsoring me) the (amazing) Ellen Macarthur Foundation (EMF) launched The Fashion ReModel, a multi-year initiative exploring how brands can, at scale, make money without making new clothes.
Amazing, right. This could be the game changer the fashion industry (and the world) needs: helping businesses decouple revenue from the production of new garments (through scaling circular business models, like resale, rental, repair, and remaking) is the thing we need to focus on.
A recent EMF study estimated that circular business models could claim 23 percent of the global fashion market by 2030, representing a US$700 billion opportunity to transform the future of fashion.
Some super big brands, like Arc'teryx, ARKET, COS, H&M Group, Primark, Reformation, WEEKDAY and Zalando, signed on for the launch. More recently eBay, Decathlon, Crystal S.A.S, John Lewis & Partners, and Tapestry (Coach, Kate Spade, Stuart Weitzman) also signed on.
Embracing resale, rental, repair and remaking will absolutely change how a fashion business operates: from making loads of new stuff - and doing so as quickly and as cheaply as possible - to more of a full service model is a MASSIVE shift.
Recognising that it’s scary to change by yourself and/or to be the outlier, EMF has deliberately chosen here to act as a business coach and a convenor, two roles that are super critical in systems change. They have designed an initiative rooted in collaboration and cooperation, deliberately bringing brands together in recognition of the fact that this change is hard - essentially, we’re asking brands to unlearn their way of doing business, the way it’s been done (and promoted as the only way to run a business) for half a century or more - and, therefore, it will be much better if the change happens with friends (and a lot of friends).
I would like the same approach to be taken with my 18 year old and/or to all the 18 year olds out in the world who have grown up believing that buying new and buying often is just what you do.
The prevalent shopping mindset of my almost adult child became obvious in the summer holidays when. during our extended family vacation, her “need” for shiny stuff came to the fore; the lure of the new (and the unobtainable) was insatiable.
This quote sums up my feelings about the submission to shiny.
“Too often, we give way too much attention to what is shiny and new or urgent and timely instead of focusing on what truly matters—the things that are perennial and enduring.”
Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes by Morgan Housel
Partly it is because she is in a tribe where new is the norm.
That norm needs to change. Here are ten messages that I would like them to embrace (life lessons that I wish I had heard when I was young and failed at debating).
That fashion is different to style.
That style requires confidence.
That confidence requires knowing yourself, really knowing yourself.
That knowing yourself takes time.
That time is a luxury.
That luxury should be available to all.
That luxury does not mean the most expensive thing.
That the most expensive is not necessarily the best.
That the best is relative to you.
That you are more than what you wear.
Yes, these are really challenging messages, especially to the status quo. Some might even say these are impossible ideas to sell (ironic, really, to use that descriptor); that disruption to the system cannot happen; we’ve gone too far down the road of ever-increasing production and consumption to ever be able to turn back.
Obvs., I am going to say no to that (and I do also say yes to believing in unicorns).
It’s never too late to change. But, it does become harder, especially the longer we leave things the way they are, partly because we forget that:
other ways exist and are possible (we become fixed, ie we believe we will never be able to debate) and
that it is OK (even preferred) to rock the boat.
This is why initiatives like EMF’s The Fashion ReModel, are critical. Through a safety mechanism of partnerships they are able to show both those things - that there are valid alternatives and that the boat can be rocked (and it can be fun to do so).
Back to my dreams of attending the Global Fashion Summit (I am ignoring debating ever being a reality for me). Imagine what could happen if this concept of safety in numbers was taken to other groups, ie angst-ridden teenagers who believe, constantly, they have nothing to wear?
Perhaps more needs to be done today to build more coaches who can drive more collaborative initiatives (at scale).
I, for one, am super keen to find some friends who are already onboard the boat (any boat (which is weird as I get terribly sea sick) but preferably the boat that is headed for the land of do more and be more with less (less production and consumption that is)) and, while we ride the waves, have convos about how we can, together, act in a very different way to what we have been used to.
jb
Soundtrack to changing minds
We’re starting with a classic banger from Basement Jaxx, “Where’s Your Head At”.
This is my FIRST choice for today because of the beats, because of the title but also, because of this, very disturbing, music clip. For some reason (which could have something to do with me having a glass of wine on a Sunday night) this choice seems just so perfect.
Basement Jaxx clip then, obviously, took me to Phil Collins and this advertorial.
I remember seeing this on TV back in the day. I was completely and utterly transfixed. How could you not be? I think there may be not better example of shifting the system (in this case, the advertising industry) than this. So brilliantly audacious.
After that gorilla, it seems logical to head straight to the band, Gorillaz, (I mean, how can you not?). This song, “Feel Good Inc.”, is so perfectly apt for this piece that it makes me feel a touch melancholy. “Feel Good Inc.” is Gorillaz’s breakout hit, which just happens to be (fittingly for this piece) a collaboration with De La Soul. I recommend that you watch the music clip in order to really appreciate and understand the genius of the song. The song is a tale for the ages, talking about the importance of creative and intellectual freedoms versus a dumbing down of our culture. Today, as we think about what it means to participate in fashion (and what fashion is), it is a reminder perhaps that, at its heart, it is the creativity of fashion that we want to focus on. That - not more and certainly not the wanton destruction of people and planet - is what makes fashion just so magical.