The (Un)Ethical Consumer

🍄 January 2026 (Industry Mini-Take): Galliano Returns to the Dior Runway & A Shroom-static Chanel Moment (Paris Fashion Week) 💅🕶

Fashion Week is starting — and before the coffee fully kicks in, here are a few early thoughts ☕ In this short industry mini-take, we unpack two moments from Paris Fashion Week that say a lot about how fashion handles memory, power, and evolution. 👁️ Galliano at Dior — Fashion’s Selective Memory John Galliano’s appearance [https://spikeartmagazine.com/articles/discourse-resurrection-is-the-best-revenge-john-galliano] at the Dior show reopened a conversation the industry never quite finished having. Fashion loves a redemption arc — especially when it’s beautifully tailored — but who actually gets forgiveness, and who is written out of the story entirely? We look at how talent, accountability, and institutional amnesia intersect on the runway. 🍄 Chanel in Paris — A Soft Reset Chanel’s couture show felt less like a reinvention and more like a recalibration. Mushrooms overhead [https://www.elledecor.com/celebrity-style/a70161209/chanel-haute-couture-mushrooms-spring-summer-2026/], sheer layers, feather-light textures — and a noticeable shift in mood. Less nostalgia cosplay, more quiet confidence. In a season obsessed with disruption, Chanel made a case for patience, craft, and stability as strategy. 👉 Takeaway: As fashion barrels into another season, these moments reveal how the industry negotiates past and future — what it remembers, what it reframes, and what it chooses to soften rather than confront. As always — stay curious, stay critical, and please hydrate. 💧 🎧 Available on Spotify & Apple Podcasts ⭐️ If you enjoyed this mini-take, please take a moment to rate + review the podcast Don't forget to follow us on Instagram: @theunethicalconsumer [https://www.instagram.com/theunethicalconsumer/] 🎤 Host: Zoë Goetzmann — @byzoesera  [https://www.instagram.com/byzoesera/]

Industry Roundup #3 (December 2025): The Met Gala, Greenwashing & CFDA’s Fur Ban 🎉❄️💚🕶️💅

Happy December! ❄️ In this month’s Industry Roundup, we’re unpacking two moments that reveal how fashion is currently negotiating power, ethics, and sustainability — one through spectacle, the other through policy. 💫The Met Gala — Spectacle, Sponsorship, and Greenwashing We begin with fashion’s most watched red carpet: the Met Gala. For 2026 [https://www.metmuseum.org/press-releases/costume-institute-spring-2026], the event will be co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams alongside Anna Wintour — figures who embody creativity, cultural authority, and aspiration. But behind the glamour sits a different form of influence. The lead sponsors of the 2026 Met Gala are Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos [https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/24/style/anna-wintour-lauren-sanchez-jeff-bezos-2026-met-gala-sponsorship], whose financial backing underwrites both the Gala and the Costume Institute exhibition it funds. This distinction matters. Co-chairs provide cultural legitimacy; sponsors provide structural control. When a hyper-consumerist platform like Amazon underwrites fashion’s most influential cultural night, an ethical contradiction emerges. We explore how philanthropy, climate commitments, and sustainability language can coexist with — and obscure — business models built on acceleration, excess, and extraction. The Met Gala doesn’t just celebrate fashion; it exposes its contradictions. 💫 CFDA Ends Fur at New York Fashion Week — Substance Over Symbolism Next, we turn to a quieter but arguably more consequential shift. The Council of Fashion Designers of America has announced that animal fur will be phased out of the official New York Fashion Week schedule starting September 2026. [https://cfda.com/news/cfda-announces-end-of-fur-at-new-york-fashion-week/]This isn’t a gesture — it’s policy. By embedding ethics into access, visibility, and legitimacy, the CFDA is turning sustainability from individual brand choice into institutional expectation. We unpack what this means for designers, consumers, and material innovation — including the ongoing tensions between animal welfare, fossil-based faux fur, and emerging bio-based alternatives. 👉 Takeaways: Across spectacle, culture, and institutional change, fashion continues to negotiate its sustainability story. Innovation may be rising — but scale, access, education, and mindset shifts remain the real battlegrounds. ★★★★★ Remember to take 5 minutes to rate + review the podcast on Spotify and other streaming platforms 💚 🎧 Available on Spotify & Apple Podcasts https://www.instagram.com/theunethicalconsumerpodcast/ Host: Zoë Goetzmann — @byzoesera  [https://www.instagram.com/byzoesera/]🎙️

Industry Roundup #2 (Nov 2025): H&M at London Fashion Week, Vogue World: Hollywood, Barbican's "Dirty Looks: Desire and Decay in Fashion" Exhibition 💥🎬🩶

🧡 In this episode, we’re back with a new Industry Roundup, where we break down the biggest cultural moments shaping fashion — and what they reveal about sustainability, ethics and the industry’s ongoing contradictions. 📰 This week’s roundup covers: ✨ H&M at London Fashion Week — a blockbuster show at 180 The Strand featuring runway performances, panel talks and a full-scale after-party. But behind ⁠the spectacle⁠ [https://hmgroup.com/news/hm-unveils-a-w25-collections-with-genre-defying-hybrid-show-at-london-fashion-week/] lies a tension: can a fast-fashion giant tout innovation — biomaterials, circularity pledges, educational initiatives — while operating at a scale fundamentally at odds with sustainability? 🎬 Vogue World: Hollywood — hosted at Paramount Studios, blending runway, cinema and costume history. Archival pieces took ⁠centre stage⁠ [https://www.vogue.co.uk/tags/vogue-world] (including a Givenchy-designed 1960 reproduction of Audrey Hepburn’s Breakfast at Tiffany’sdress), with standout looks from Julia Garner, Kaia Gerber and Ariana DeBose. A philanthropic angle supported costume-industry workers affected by wildfires — but can high-gloss glamour truly shift consumer behaviour? 🩶 Barbican’s “Dirty Looks: Desire and Decay in Fashion” — curated by Karen Van Godtsenhoven and Jon Astbury, this exhibition embraces imperfection, wear, erosion and material life through works by Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, IAMISIGO, Yuima Nakazato and others. It reframes decay not as damage, but as a sustainable aesthetic — one that challenges the fashion system’s obsession with “newness".  👀 Read Zoe's full review of exhibition via her Substack: ⁠https://shorturl.at/CBamX⁠ [https://shorturl.at/CBamX] 👉 Takeaways: Across spectacle, culture and conceptual critique, fashion continues to negotiate its sustainability story. Innovation may be rising, but scale, access, education and mindset shifts remain the real battlegrounds. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Remember to take 5 min to rate + review the podcast on Spotify and other streaming platforms 💚 🎧 Available on Spotify & Apple Podcasts Follow: ⁠@theunethicalconsumerpodcast⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/theunethicalconsumerpodcast/] Host: Zoë Goetzmann — ⁠@byzoesera⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/byzoesera/] 🎤

Industry Roundup: Stella McCartney’s FEVVERS, France’s New Sustainable Fashion Policy, and London’s Eco Rebellion 🗣💅💥

💥 In this episode, we’re launching our new segment, “Industry Roundup,” where we unpack the latest actions shaping the fashion world. This week’s roundup covers: ✨ Paris Fashion Week: Stella McCartney’s “FEVVERS [https://fevvers.com/]” — plant-based, vegan feather alternatives redefining what luxury means. Can exclusivity come from innovation rather than animal exploitation? 🌿 France’s Environmental Labelling Law: Effective this October, France rolled out its Environmental Labelling for Textiles (Loi AGEC [https://www.usetappr.com/regulation/loi-agec?utm_source=chatgpt.com]) — requiring brands to disclose the environmental impact of their garments. Think of it as a nutrition label for clothes — pushing transparency and challenging the greenwashing status quo. ⚡ London Fashion Week: With new sustainability mandates and the British Fashion Council’s rallying cry — “The world is watching this week. Let us show them what only London can do [https://www.instagram.com/p/DOyhV9aDbC3/]” — are we seeing the rise of an eco-rebellion? London’s signature punk spirit might just be fueling a planet-conscious creative renaissance. 👉 If you enjoyed this new solo episode, please rate us ★★★★★ and leave a kind review wherever you listen. 🎧 Available on Spotify & Apple Podcasts Follow: ⁠@theunethicalconsumerpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/theunethicalconsumerpodcast/] TUC ⁠Host: Zoë Goetzmann — ⁠@byzoesera [https://www.instagram.com/byzoesera/]⁠ 🎤

The RealReal on Rachel Glicksberg’s Fashion Journey 🛍️🍃

This week’s episode features Rachel Glicksberg (@rachelglicksberg [https://www.instagram.com/rachelglicksberg/?hl=en]), Women’s Fashion and New Initiatives Lead at The RealReal [https://www.therealreal.com].  We explore Rachel’s fashion journey, the impact of resale on sustainable fashion, and how circular models are redefining the industry 🌍♻️ We talk all about:  * Her path into fashion and sustainable initiatives at The RealReal  * The evolving resale economy and its role in making fashion more accessible & eco-friendly (primary vs. secondary markets)  * The power of storytelling and personal values in shaping the industry ✍️🗣 * Her future forecasts for the fashion industry  BONUS Question: I also ask her what her favourite Met Gala looks have been 🌟 💚 This conversation has been one of my favourites, as Rachel and I share an alma mater, Sarah Lawrence College [https://www.sarahlawrence.edu]. It feels full circle to celebrate her journey while continuing to showcase women leaders making an impact across creative industries. 🌸  If you enjoy this episode, please rate us 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, leave us a kind review and subscribe for more interviews with designers and change-makers in sustainable fashion. 👉 Follow Rachel’s work at The RealReal and keep up with us on Instagram: * Rachel Glicksberg: @rachelglicksberg [https://www.instagram.com/rachelglicksberg/?hl=en]  * TUC Podcast: @theunethicalconsumerpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/theunethicalconsumerpodcast/] * TUC Podcast Host, Zoë Goetzmann: @byzoesera [https://www.instagram.com/byzoesera/] 💡Some designers mentioned in this episode:  💫 Past TRR-Upcycling Collaborators: Collina Strada (⁠@collinastrada⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/collinastrada/]), Jonathan Cohen (⁠@jonathancohenstudio) [https://www.instagram.com/jonathancohenstudio/], Gypsy Sport (now rebranded to The Rio World, ⁠@rioworld⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/rioworld/]), Dauphinette (⁠@dauphinette.nyc⁠ [http://dauphinette.nyc/]), Carolina Zimbalist (⁠@carolinezimbalist⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/carolinezimbalist/]), Ian Allen Greer (⁠@ianallengreer)⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/ianallengreer/], Presley Oldham (⁠@presleyoldham⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/presley.oldham/]), Don’t Let Disco (⁠@dontletdisco⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/dontletdisco/])  💫 Emerging designers Rachel is currently loving: Diotima (⁠@diotima.world⁠ [http://diotima.world/]), ZANKOV (⁠@zankov⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/zankov/]), Colleen Allen (@colleenallenstudio⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/colleenallenstudio/]