EP. 27 How to Start an Ethical Fashion Brand with Lora Gene

Common Threads

It’s the final episode of series two, and today we’re exploring the role of ethical brands in changing the fashion system. We’re asking: can an organic cotton t-shirt really save the world?

We’re also joined in conversation with the brilliant Lora Nikolaeva. As the owner of the ethical brand Lora Gene for over 10 years, she has a lot to say on the state of the industry, and plenty of advice on how new brands can build a sustainable business of their own. Lora also chats to us about the need for size diversity in ethical fashion, and why growing up in Bulgaria means sustainability has always been in her life.

Follow Lora Gene on Instagram, and visit the brand’s website to shop its stunning designs.

Here’s the link to some articles we mention in the podcast:

• High Snobiety - We Need to Stop Making Meme Merch
  
• Fashionista - It’s Time to Stop Looking to Brands to Save Us
  
• Atmos - The Twighlight of the Ethical Consumer
  

If you’d like to continue your ethical fashion activism during our break, you can find out more about the impact of Covid 19 on garment workers, donate to the Kantamanto Fire Relief, and ask brands to #PayUp for cancelled orders.

Common Threads is an ethical fashion podcast from stylist Alice Cruickshank and writer Ruth MacGilp. If you liked this episode and you want to support our work, you can buy us a Ko-Fi here.

For more updates on the ethical fashion conversation, follow Common Threads on Instagram, like us on Facebook, and join the conversation on Twitter.

You’ll find Ruth on Instagram: @ruthmacgilp_ and Twitter @ruthmacgilp

You’ll find Alice on Instagram: @styledbyalicex and Twitter: @styledbyalice

Common Threads artwork was created by Hannah Mitson of Mitson Design.