Building my career in Fashion and Sustainability in the Global South

by Deborah de Mello MA Fashion Futures, LCF (alumni 2019)

One of the best memories I have of my time at London College of Fashion (LCF) is the day I finally finished writing my 17,000 words thesis. Of course, I was sad that my MA was coming to an end, I really loved what I was studying and my overall experience at University of the Arts London (UAL), but at the same time I was so proud of myself for being able to conduct academic research and write that many English words.

I am Brazilian, and although I have studied English almost all my life, it is not my first language, and because of that, it felt like an even bigger accomplishment to be submitting my thesis, so I was proud of myself. I was also feeling very excited, because I was finally graduating and entering the “real world”, and I had so many ideas and expectations about how my career in Fashion and Sustainability would take off.

I officially graduated from the MA Fashion Futures on 6 February 2020, and with that piece of information, you can probably guess what my next words are going to be…and then, the pandemic happened!

After a few months of being upset and frustrated (I mean, we all had those months, right?), I began to explore how I was going to build my dream career in Brazil. I soon realized that it was not going to be as easy as I imagined, for many reasons, but the most important one being that the fashion industry in Brazil had an entirely different dynamic than in the UK, especially when it comes to sustainability. Therefore, I began to research, and that is when I learned about Rio Ethical Fashion, an international sustainable fashion forum.

Since I started studying sustainability, I have attended many workshops, talks, and roundtables about sustainable fashion, which I really enjoyed, but it got to a point that I began to feel that it was always the same people discussing the same topics. But Rio Ethical Fashion was different, it was a new point of view. They brought to the table some of the people who were being affected by fashion’s biggest issues, such as farmers, people from the favelas in Rio, the indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest, and many others. It was like a breath of fresh air, and it helped me to understand about more the industry I wanted to be a part of.

A few months later, I was extremely excited to find out that Rio Ethical Fashion would also be a part of my career, as I was offered a position in their Communications team. I have been working with them for a while now, and let me tell you, it has been a challenge, but the good kind. We are organizing the third edition of the event, and for the first time it is going to be open and free to everybody, and all of our panels will also be live and translated (both to English and Portuguese). I am responsible for their social media channels, and my role is to communicate sustainability in a straightforward and engaging way, which sounds very simple, but in reality, it is not.

It has been a big learning experience for me, especially about the impacts the fashion industry has on the Global South. Even though I am from Brazil, most of my education in sustainable fashion has been in the UK, so it has been very eye opening for me to hear about those different perspectives. It also feels very exciting to be a part of something, which is working towards a better future.

Rio Ethical Fashion 2021 will be during the Environmental Week, 3-5 June 2021. We are going to be debating about possible futures, ethical fashion, climate, indigenous leadership, and good living. In addition, I would love it if you could join us! I am sure it will bring you many interesting questions and reflections! So I will see you there (virtually, I mean)!

You can sign up for it at www.rioethicalfashion.com

Related Links:

• Rio Ethical Fashion 2021 website
• Rio Ethical Fashion Instagram
• Deborah de Mello - UAL Grad Showcase link

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