On the 17th February 2024 , I was able to attend a talk at Read On Sea about the sustainability of the fashion industry. The event was presented by Nicola Mansfield, fashion business lecturer in London with an extension career in global supply chains and fashion product development , and moderated by Charlie grace Wahl ,writer and Editor of Wonderwahl and working as a senior business analyst at Burberry . Nicola Mansfield has written a book all about the sustainability of fashion “fashion supply chain management” which educates about mastering fashion management and to my luck she signed a copy of the book for me and others .

The event started at 6pm in a bookstore in Leigh-on-sea, Read On Sea, which had recently opened . Throughout the event ,Charlie interviewed Nicola on the fashion world ( specifically the sustainability) while also answering questions from the audience .

The event was extremely eye-opening and educating on the supply chain of fashion including the down sides and good sides . I learnt about how damaging overproduction-mainly from fast fashion- and products including polyester are to the environment and ourselves . Nicola talks about how consumers are overbuying due to brands overproducing and influencing people , we should by better quality products and invest so that we don’t overconsume and overbuy products we don’t need .

“There was a report in 2019, were the government looked at 27 factories ,3 of them in the UK were working under modern slavery conditions .” - Nicola Mansfield .

This news was shocking and extremely disappointing to hear - these conditions must be stopped .

However , I also learnt the positive side especially with second hand shopping . Second hand shopping is so good because it allows a product to have a long life which is great for sustainability.

Overall, this event was great for all audiences those interested in fashion or just those who want to be more educated . The staff was welcoming and friendly and the moderator and presenter answered every question and made the event great .