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...
Synthetic biology, clean chemistry, and beauty, oh my!
This week we look at the role of biotech in the beauty industry. It promises the ability to program and design molecules that can be less toxic, more sustainable, and customizable in everything from moisturizer to perfume. Our guest this episode is Dr. Sunil Chandran, chief science officer and head of R&D at Amyris, a company using the tools of synthetic biology to build molecules for beauty products.
We ask Sunil about that pivot, dig in on business models for biotech in the beauty industry, and wonder what the future holds for fashion and beauty when ingredients and materials can be “designed” in a lab.
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:
WWD interview with Amyris CEO Jon Melo
Oprah Daily on Clean Beauty
Info on Bonsucro
CNN covers Doja Cat on Schiaparelli's latest runway show
New York Times on the Schiaparelli’s controversial show
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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53:05
Gisele Fetterman to the rescue! Mom, founder, firefighter and thrifter
We wanted a minute of Gisele Fetterman’s time to hear about her advocacy work, how she champions thrifting and vintage, and what she learned from last year’s bruising campaign on behalf of her husband, Senator John Fetterman. But we got so much more!
Gisele gave us the inside scoop on the culture of Capitol Hill, her work on behalf of those in need in Pennsylvania, and the racism she’s experienced as a Brazilian-born activist who married into U.S. politics (let’s just say she’s been mistaken for the hired help more than once…). Plus, the wild card we never saw coming – she’s currently training to become a volunteer firefighter!
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.
Full transcript here.
Resources:
Vogue on the Fettermans’ political power dressing
Gisele Fetterman on her childhood and her advocacy, in Teen Vogue
Washington Post profile of Gisele Fetterman
A list of Gisele’s favorite thrift shops in the Washington, DC area
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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44:09
The truth about vegan leather, organic cotton, and cow farts
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:
WWD on New York PFAs ban
Sourcing Journal on Amazon’s greenwashing
Climavores podcast
Tamar Haspel
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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1:02:39
Finding hope for sustainable fashion in 2023
Happy New Year! We’re back with our review of 2022, and predictions for 2023. But first, we have to say goodbye to Dame Vivienne Westwood, and take a few more shots at Balenciaga for what can only be described as a rather cowardly approach to repairing their brand.
There was a lot to like about climate and sustainability progress in 2022, and we’re coming into this year hopeful we’ll see more of it in action, not just words. We talk about climate bills, progress at COPs, taking on greenwashing, new policies addressing fair labor, and new technologies that take us closer to a circular economy. But skepticism abounds, so we’ll talk about that, too.
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.
A lightly edited transcript of the episode can be found here.
Resources:
Vogue Business on the life of Vivienne Westwood
Hypebeast on the potential for a year of “Nothingcore”
New York Times on the industry’s struggle with the concept of degrowth
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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54:34
It’s beginning to look a lot like over-consumption season; the predatory side of women’s fashion; and… compostable underwear?
It’s the end of the year, and our listeners have been asking questions: What does it mean that menswear is often made with better materials than womenswear? How do we kick the overconsumption habit when it’s so baked into our culture? And is underwear compostable? Lizzo blows up Twitter wanting to know.
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:
New York Times on the 30 x 30 biodiversity pledge coming out of COP15
Vogue Business on Dolce & Gabbana’s sustainability plan
The Fashion Law talks through the FTC’s plan to update their Green Guides
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
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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