Manufactured

Jennifer Wascak is an American lawyer and the co-founder and managing director of Justice In Fashion. Eight years ago, she shifted her focus to business and human rights. During the pandemic, media exposés of the garment industry led her to Leicester to seek justice for the vulnerable. In this episode we explore the ideas, assumptions […]

Shaista Jakhura is a former garment worker who, in the recent years, has been engaging with apparel workers and the local community in her roles with Leicester City Council, Hope for Justice, and most recently as funding manager for the Garment and Textile Workers Trust.  After getting married and moving to the UK around 32 […]

Councillor Adam Clarke is a former Deputy Mayor of Leicester City Council. Dr. Martin Quinn is a Reader and a political economist working on regional development and the development of public policy at Lancaster University. We begin by discussing how Leicester, a city that's seen as a shining example of best practices when it comes […]

Sajjad Khan, the founder of the Apparel & Textile Manufacturers Federation (ATMF), began his journey in the textile industry when he returned to Leicester to care for his father and help his wife start a manufacturing company, Arisetc Ltd., in 1991. Today, in his role at ATMF, Sajjad helps bring together manufacturers from across the […]

Jennifer Wascak, co-founder of Justice In Fashion, joins co-hosts Kim van der Weerd and Dr. Divya Jyoti to wrap up our deep dive into the Leicester conundrum. Throughout our discussion, we focus on the recurring theme of inequity within the value chain. We explore the role of inequity, questioning whether it stems from the business […]

In the final episode of the Crossover Moments mini series, Kim reflects on the key themes that emerged throughout the series. What were the beliefs guests held prior to their “crossover moment”? Why did they decide to let go of these beliefs? What did they replace them with?   Her personal experience, and the one […]

In this episode, Kim and Jessie are in conversation with Ebru Debbag, the Executive Director of Global Sales and Marketing at Soorty Enterprises Pvt.Ltd. As the daughter of a cotton farmer, Ebru spent most of her childhood running around fields. From a small atelier making doll dresses to a successful career spanning 27 years at […]

In celebration of Manufactured's 100th episode, hosts Kim and Jessie sit down with Bergson Wang, a social and environmental compliance auditor (among many other roles) from China. As someone with a diverse career spanning over two decades, Bergson shares his journey and aspirations in sustainable fashion. He discusses how and why he began to question […]

In this episode, Kim reflects on the complexity of her relationship with production staff during her time as a garment factory manager. She addresses how integral the prevailing narrative of good workers versus bad factory managers was in shaping the way she engaged with her staff, and how it fails to capture the real, multi-dimensional […]

In this episode, Dr. Divya Jyoti and Kim sit down with Ken Pucker, former Timberland COO turned sustainable fashion critic, who now works as a Professor of Practice at the Fletcher School. Fun fact: Ken’s career began in manufacturing, and at the time he joined Timberland, they were still producing much of their footwear. Though […]

In this episode of the Crossover Moments mini-series, Kim and her co-host, Dr. Divya Jyoti, are in conversation with Saqib Sohail, a mill leader in Responsible Business Projects from Pakistan. Saqib, who has an academic background, discusses his journey from perceiving sustainability as a global positive to raising questions about its actual beneficiaries. An encounter […]

In this episode, Kim reads an article she wrote and published in July 2020 titled, ‘How Racism Shapes Fashion's Approach to Sustainability' where she talks about her personal relationship with the title ‘Garment Factory Manager.’ From feeling the need to qualify her role to a straightforward self-introduction, Kim’s transformation emerges from the shadows of racism […]

In this episode, Kim and her co-founder, Jessie Li, talk to researcher Dr. Divya Jyoti about her crossover moments. Divya is currently a lecturer at Lancaster University, but once envisioned a path in factory management. As a close collaborator of Manufactured for several years, Divya once saw supply chain challenges as mere technical puzzles—codes of […]

In this episode, Kim and her guest co-host, Dr.Divya Jyoti, talk to Manufactured co-founder Jessie Li about her crossover moment. She reflects on her time working for a buying office in China, and on realising that so much of the work she and her team were doing was invisible – their stresses and challenges overlooked and ignored. She shares how this realisation made her rethink everything - including how she understands the term “sustainable fashion.” This episode is part of the "Crossover Moments” miniseries, where we explore key moments of personal transformation that led people to question and ultimately reject conventional approaches to sustainable fashion.

After quietly challenging the status quo and peeling away the invisible assumptions that cloak mainstream sustainable fashion, we are now delving into personal stories. In this series, our host and former garment factory manager Kim van der Weerd shares her personal journey and, along with her co-hosts Divya Jyoti and Jessie Li, talks to industry experts about the key pivotal moments that led to them questioning and ultimately rejecting conventional approaches to sustainable fashion. This mini-series, called Crossover Moments, explores an awakening that goes behind the story, reveals more choices beyond the defaults, and explores how we can break habits to embrace alternatives. This is a journey into the heart of change. Join us in reimagining the very fabric of sustainable fashion.

This episode is an audio version of a keynote that host of this podcast, Kim van der Weerd delivered at Planet Textiles, which was hosted by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition as part of ITMA - a machinery expo for the apparel sector in Milan in June 2023. She reflects on her work in various decabonization projects – from a forthcoming research report from Transformers Foundation to discussions from the Asia Garment Hub, and beyond – and shares her own views and opinions on where the industry seems to agree, where it doesn't, and how we might understand each other better. She tells us how important it is to recognize that not all companies can decarbonize at the same speed and to the same extent. She also unpacks the challenges of financing decarbonization, the evolving leadership models in sustainability and emphasises the importance of empathy in the collective pursuit of a sustainable fashion industry. Read more: Inside the little-known group setting the corporate climate agenda by Ian Morse for the MIT Review. Stay tuned for the upcoming mini-series, "Crossover Moments," where we explore moments of personal transformation that led people to question and ultimately reject conventional approaches to sustainable fashion. CREDITS: Host: Kim van der Weerd This is a Maed in India production. Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Nikkethana Kamal Recording Engineer: Lakshman Parsuram Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Sarthak Ray

On this episode we're taking a look at cotton value chains in the Indian context with Rajeev Baruah, who has worked in cotton for decades. Though his background is originally in agriculture and tea, his cotton journey started with a spinning facility back in the 90s on a mission to work with organic cotton farmers - something that, at the time, was unheard of. In the years since, he's gone on to work in a number of different roles with different stakeholders across the value chain. Rajeev gives Kim an in-depth look at the steps that go into growing, harvesting, ginning, and spinning cotton, who the commercial actors are, and what their incentives might be within the Indian context.

On this episode we're exploring one of the final stages of production in apparel manufacturing with Rita Castro & Dionísia Portela from Confetil, a Portuguese garment manufacturer that has been supplying brands all over the world since 1960. Dionísia is Sustainability Manager and Rita is Sales and Commercial Manager for four of Confetil's customers. They tell us more about the processes that give our clothes the final look and feel that brands aim for, from solid T-shirts to those with graphic patterns or vintage looks, different types of dyes and dyeing processes, and the sustainability of these finishing processes.

To understand the process, benefits and barriers within regenerative sericulture, we go back to Kim's conversation from November 2021 with Hilmond Hui, Vice President of international clothing enterprise PFG and its subset Bombyx. Hilmond tells us more about Bombyx, which was formed in 2018 with a focus on regenerative silk production and transforming the way silk is produced, traded and consumed. Their Nanchong Ka Fung (NCKF) facility is located in the northeast of China's Sichuan province, and they're on a mission to do everything from dirt to fabric and beyond.

This week, Dr. Krishna Manda takes us through the basics of how man-made cellulosic fibre, also known as viscose and rayon, is made. Krishna is a sustainability professional with over 15 years of experience. He's currently Vice President and Global Head of Sustainability at specialty cellulose fibre producer Lenzing, headquartered in Austria. He takes us through the kinds of plants cellulosic fibre can be made from, why Lenzing has chosen to focus on wood, how those inputs are sourced, and how a hard fibrous plant proceeds to ultimately become a soft material ready to be spun into yarn.

We're going back to our conversation from May 2021 with Vijay Suvarna, who takes us through the production process of leather from inspection to grading and pricing. Vijay spent many years as the CSR and Sustainability Manager for Asiatan, a tannery that manufactures leathers including cowhide, sheep, goat, and suedes. He takes Kim and Jessie through the different kinds of leather and the relationships between farmers, tanneries, shoe manufacturers and brands.

On this episode, we're taking a deep dive into wool production with Marianne Mclean-Atkins, a textile designer and knitwear specialist with 20 years of experience working as an in-house designer for Asia-based apparel suppliers, doing everything from concept to execution. She is currently Sustainable Fashion Education Director at Redress in Hong Kong. We go through the various stages of the production of wool, starting from the rearing and shearing of the sheep, to the classing of the fleece, degreasing, scouring, spinning, dyeing, blending, and finally the knitting or weaving of the yarn. We also touch on why wool fell out of favour, and what the future looks like for it.

On this week's episode, we discuss the production process of a pretty infamous material – polyester, or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and recycled PET, to be precise. Kim is joined by Sharon Chen, the Director Of Business Development at Baichuan Resources Recycling, a leading manufacturer of recycled textiles in China, who speaks about how virgin and recycled PET are manufactured. Sharon tells us about the types of raw materials needed in the process, who they buy these inputs from, and how they're processed to ultimately become a yarn. She takes us through the spinning, weaving, and dyeing processes and shares a bit about who their customers are. They also talk about why traceability is so important to the company, and how they approach this.

We all know that there's a kind of essentialism that happens in conversations about sustainable fashion (and beyond). It's shorthand that artificially groups together very diverse groups of people and lumps them according to a single or several defining features. This episode is an open discussion of two such terms: “brand” and “supplier.”

Do apparel manufacturers have mapped pathways for achieving their decarbonization targets, or not? This episode features responses to this question from three different manufacturers: Mustafa Ahmad the General Manager of Sustainability for US Apparel & Textiles in Pakistan, Krishna Manda the Vice President of Corporate Sustainability for Lenzing, and Matthew Guenther, the Director of Environmental Sustainability for TAL Apparel.

This is an audio version of a piece I wrote for the Asia Garment Hub called “Practical Tips for Talking to Manufacturers About Decarbonization.”

This conversation brings together representatives from different levels of the denim supply chain: brand (Boysih Jeans), mill (Candiani), and farm (the Sourcery). We talk about which part(s) of making a pair of jeans has the biggest impact on carbon emissions? Do we know? We talk about the possibilities: what role can companies operating in different parts of the denim supply chain can take towards reducing carbon emissions. And we also talk about the limits: what challenges do companies face when it comes to reducing carbon emissions? The conversation is an edited version of a webinar Kim moderated for Transformers Foundation.

Why did MAS sign-up for science-based targets? What are their challenges? What kind of support is needed from brands and retailers?

This is a short message from Crispin Argento, Co-founder and MD of Sourcery, about a fundraiser they're doing to support Pakistani cotton growers adversely impacted by current flooding.

Will empowering consumers to shop differently really drive fashion's transformation?

I've been thinking a lot about the controversy surrounding the Higg Material Sustainability Index. It's taken me some time to put together my thoughts, and I'm not sure I'm totally there yet. But here it goes...

What do two manufacturers, one brand, and one ex-social compliance auditor think: do social compliance audits make factories better places to work? What's the intention behind social audits? Are audits about assurance? Or should they be a tool for collaboration and conversation? Or both?

Is visibility a sensible way of approaching wellbeing in fashion supply chains? Is the fact that subcontractors are invisible really what causes adverse human rights outcomes? Or are adverse human rights outcomes in fashion supply chains a symptom of how we distribute financial risk?

We can't talk about wellbeing on the production floor without also talking about factory management. What drives the behavior of factory management? What are their incentives? And how does this translate on the production floor?

Dr. Divya Jyoti and Dr. Achyuta Adhvaryu debate: how should worker wellbeing be defined and measured?

This is part two of a conversation with Marzia Lanfranchi and Elizabeth Cline, co-authors of the new report: Cotton: A Case Study in Misinformation. The chat is co-hosted by Sarah Mock.

This is part one of a conversation with Marzia Lanfranchi and Elizabeth Cline, co-authors of the new report: Cotton: A Case Study in Misinformation. The chat is co-hosted by Sarah Mock.

This is part two of an episode that brings together people from opposite ends of the fashion supply chain – two suppliers and an impact investment strategist.

This is part one of an episode that brings together people from opposite ends of the fashion supply chain – two suppliers and an impact investment strategist.

In part 2 of this chat Hilmond Hui, VP of Bombyx and VP of PFG, talks barriers: if regenerative silk is so great, why doesn't everyone do it?

In this episode, Hilmond shares a bit about the evolution of  PFG (a longtime Eileen Fisher producer), and how this ultimately led to Bombyx. We then dive into the details: what does regenerative silk production mean? How does Bombyx approach it?

This is part two of a conversation with Matthew Wallace, CEO of DXM & guest co-hosted by Gauri Sharma. DXM is a local, on-demand manufacturing company that's co-owned by one brand and four suppliers.

This is part one of a conversation with Matthew Wallace, CEO of DXM & guest co-hosted by Gauri Sharma. DXM is a local, on-demand manufacturing company that's co-owned by one brand and four suppliers.

This is part two of a conversation between three manufacturers and an activist. How would Suzanne, Amrin, and Jay like Kate to engage in conversations about overproduction? What do Jay, Amrin, and Suzanne think about activists and educators calling out brands?

This is part one of a conversation between three manufacturers and an activist. We cover a big question: what kind of information would Suzanne, Jay, and Amrin like to see Kate looking at when educating the public about the fashion industry?

This is part two of our conversation with Dr. Vidhura Ralapanawe, Executive Vice President for Innovation & Sustainability at Epic Group and a Member of the Board of Directors at the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. We shift to the firm level: given the importance of context to environmental target setting, how does he approach his work at EPIC?

This is part one of our conversation with Dr. Vidhura Ralapanawe, Executive Vice President for Innovation & Sustainability at Epic Group and a Member of the Board of Directors at the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. We chat about science-based targets: why do they make Vidhura uncomfortable?

This is part two of our conversation with Dr. Divya Jyoti. She shares the results of her research: how do codes of conduct create hidden work for workers on the factory floor?

This is part one of our conversation with Dr. Divya Jyoti. Divya shares why she began to question the industry's approach to social compliance, and her realization that she didn't actually know how workers experience supplier codes of conduct... a question that ultimately lead to her Phd.

Tune in for this season's updates, including a thoughtful message from Jessie explaining her decision to take a step back from her co-hosting responsibilities (though she will continue to be involved in the show!).

This is part two of our conversation with Matthijs Crietee, Secretary General of the International Apparel Federation (IAF).