Podcast Summary
Podcast: Dressed: The History of Fashion
Episode: How to Start a Fashion Revolution – An Interview with Carry Somers
Date: November 5, 2025
Host(s): Cassie Zachary & April Callahan
Guest: Carry Somers, founder of Fashion Revolution and Patricuti, author of "The Nature of Fashion: A Botanical Story of Our Material Lives"
Episode Overview
In this episode, the hosts interview Carry Somers, an influential activist, entrepreneur, and author in sustainable and ethical fashion, about her career, personal journey, and visionary work at the intersection of fashion, environmentalism, and human rights. The episode covers Somers’s roots, the origins of the Fashion Revolution movement, the necessity of transparency in the fashion industry, and the themes of her new book, which explores humanity’s ancient and evolving relationship with textiles, nature, and the act of getting dressed.
Main Discussion Points & Insights
Carry Somers’s Roots and Early Influences
-
Early Encounters with Making and Secondhand ([05:49])
- Carry’s mother made all her clothes. Many were “embarrassing” compared to trendy peers, but instilled an appreciation for quality and resourcefulness.
- She frequented vintage shops and jumble sales, building an early thrifting ethic:
“Almost all of my clothes were secondhand... Even then, even as an early young teenager, I loved the quality—the brogues, the really nice men’s wool coats and things that I could never afford to buy new in a shop.” ([06:44])
-
Circuitous Path to Fashion ([08:04])
- Studied languages, completed a Master's in Native American Studies (the only person in the UK to do so at the time).
- Research in Ecuador exposed her to economic injustices in the wool trade, including predatory middlemen and threats against cooperatives:
“The middlemen controlled the supply of the wool... They didn’t want to sell it to individuals, especially not to cooperatives... [I] had a couple of death threats in the early '90s.” ([12:03])
- Inspired by Anita Roddick of The Body Shop, she founded Patricuti (“world upside down or time of transformation”) with fair trade/Ecuadorian knitwear, shifting from academia to activism:
“If one woman could make such a change in the beauty industry, what was to stop me from trying to do the same in my summer holidays with fashion?” ([10:01])
Early Challenges in Ethical Fashion
- Sustainability in the 1990s ([14:12])
- Fair trade and sustainability were virtually unknown concepts in fashion:
“I believe I was the first person to put the words fair trade and fashion together.”
- Initial resistance from buyers/brands—journalists and retailers showed little interest in labeling or promoting the fair trade provenance of products.
- Pioneered traceability and impact measurement, piloting with the World Fair Trade Organization:
“Our Panama hats were the only finished product [traced]... one Panama hat used the equivalent of 13 days drinking water to produce. A cotton hat? 825 days.” ([16:31])
- Efforts at transparency faced both technical and storytelling challenges.
- Fair trade and sustainability were virtually unknown concepts in fashion:
The Birth of Fashion Revolution
-
Catalyst: Rana Plaza Collapse in Bangladesh (2013) ([19:01])
- Lack of supply-chain transparency led to deadly consequences:
“It was that lack of transparency and traceability that was costing lives.”
- Fashion Revolution began as "a crazy idea in the bathtub" ([20:39])—the name, concept, and intention to act landed almost fully formed.
- Co-founded with Ursula de Castro, it became the world’s largest fashion activism movement, spanning over 100 countries.
- Lack of supply-chain transparency led to deadly consequences:
-
Activism Focus ([21:21])
- Initially prioritized labor rights with the #WhoMadeMyClothes hashtag.
- Later expanded to environmental focus: #WhatsInMyClothes, emphasizing the intertwined nature of human, environmental, and social rights.
- Pioneered research on microfibers and pollution, discovering that both synthetic and historic “natural” fibers persist in the environment for generations.
“As we started to analyze that silt, it just dissolved all my certainties... some of those fibers have been sitting in the lake for 140 years... At least 70% were natural, mostly cotton.” ([25:27])
-
Impactful Tools
- Fashion Transparency Index: Pressured brands to disclose more about supply chains.
- From 12.5% to 50% of brands now disclose cut-make-trim factory lists; raw material source disclosure also growing.
"The Nature of Fashion": Somers’s New Book
-
Book Structure & Aims ([34:00])
- Inspired by Eduardo Galeano’s vignette storytelling model—small, vivid, evocative stories spanning time and place.
- Covers 40,000 years—from prehistoric dyeing to modern eco-issues—blending history, science, anthropology, and imagination.
- The aim is to rekindle joy, wonder, and cultural meaning in our relationship with textiles.
-
Memorable Book Stories ([37:01])
- Indigo-blue dye from 30,000 BCE; early evidence of artistic and symbolic dress.
- 12th-century Japan: “Snowbound women and the bleaching of woven rami fibers in the winter landscape” demonstrating harmony with environment and the lived reality of color.
- The creation of lotus fiber cloth, “one of the rarest textiles in the world,” woven fresh daily for monks.
-
Quote:
“Color is a lived reality... an emotional experience.” ([40:48])
-
Critical Lesson: History reveals both environmental failures and hope.
“The rift between us and nature started so much earlier... history is a register of failure, but also a ledger of practices that bind people to place.” ([44:29])
Contemporary State of Fashion & Action Steps
-
Industry Perspective ([48:50])
- There’s been progress in recognizing social and, increasingly, environmental problems.
- The ecological impact of fashion is vast—raw materials responsible for “90% of biodiversity loss and water stress.”
- Hope lies in new materials, greater dialogue on reciprocity, and engaging with indigenous wisdom:
“These indigenous peoples... never forgot so many of those lessons that we’re having to learn today—that nothing survives on its own.” ([51:33])
-
For Consumers ([53:03])
- Responsibility also lies with brands and policymakers, but attention and curiosity from consumers is powerful.
- Reflecting on the origins and impact of each fiber, dye, or garment shifts buying behavior.
- Direct consumer action matters:
“It only takes between 50 to 250 emails, letters, messages to a brand... for that to get discussed at a board level. They really do listen.” ([55:14])
Current and Upcoming Projects
- International Work ([56:15])
- United Nations trip to Guatemala to advise indigenous entrepreneurs.
- Upcoming U.S. book tour: NYC (Rizzoli Bookstore), Miami, further events.
- Invitation to visit Cogi in Colombia (rare outsider access), Hay Festival in Cartagena.
- Collaborative art project with Kew Gardens using natural dyes and mapping as storytelling.
Timestamps for Key Segments
- First memory of clothes & secondhand roots: 05:49–07:29
- Academic background and shift to fashion: 08:04–11:50
- Barriers & threats in Ecuador’s wool and hat trade: 12:03–13:22
- Birth of ethical fashion, lack of early interest: 14:12–18:18
- Genesis of Fashion Revolution & Rana Plaza’s impact: 19:01–21:21
- Environmental discoveries—microfibers, “natural” fiber pollution: 23:09–25:27
- Fashion Revolution’s art and education projects: 25:27–26:55
- How to join Fashion Revolution: 30:29
- Book structure, inspirations, story samples: 34:00–41:02
- Big lessons from textile history—human/nature rift: 42:26–44:29
- Actionable steps for industry/home, power of consumer voice: 48:25–55:51
- Upcoming travels/projects: 56:15–57:53
Notable Quotes
-
On activism’s beginning:
“It seemed like a good enough idea to get out of my bath and do something about it.” (On founding Fashion Revolution) ([20:39])
-
On transparency’s life-or-death meaning:
“When I saw people searching through the rubble after the Rana Plaza factory collapse... I knew immediately it was that lack of transparency and traceability that was costing lives.” ([19:01])
-
On the power of consumer action:
“It only takes between 50 to 250 emails, letters, messages to a brand... for that to get discussed at a board level. They really do listen.” ([55:14])
-
On storytelling’s necessity in activism:
“Maybe I wasn’t that good at storytelling at that time... That pushed me to tell the stories better.” ([17:59])
-
On shifting toward hope:
“We have really big challenges ahead, but... we also have that capacity to imagine differently... what the world could look like if we built new relationships between people, plants and place.” ([52:41])
How to Get Involved
- Fashion Revolution:
Find and contact your country’s Fashion Revolution team. US, UK, and many others are active (see fashionrevolution.org) ([30:29]). - Consumer Action:
Write directly to brands to demand sustainability and transparency. 50-250 messages can push issues to board level ([55:14]).
Book & Upcoming Events
- "The Nature of Fashion: A Botanical Story of Our Material Lives"—available now.
- Book tour events:
- Rizzoli Bookstore, NYC: Nov 18, 6pm
- Soho Pool House, Miami: Nov 20
- For details and more, see carysommers.com ([60:01])
Episode Takeaway
Carrie Somers’s story is a testament to the power of personal conviction, deep research, and creative activism in reshaping global industries. Through grassroots work, pioneering fair trade, bold demand for transparency, and now storytelling, she calls for a revolution—one that reconnects us with the makers, history, and very earth from which textiles come. As both industry and consumers, our choices and voices have immense power to change the fashion system for the better.