Australian Fashion Council CEO Leila Naja Hibri headlined Ragtrader Live in Melbourne in response to the growing pressure from consumers, industry and political leaders in reforming fashion into a circular model. This is her unabridged opening speech.
Earlier this year, on the seventh of June, the Australian Fashion Council - in consortium with Charitable Recycling Australia, WRAP UK, professor Alice Payne from QUT and now RMIT, and Peter Allan from SRU - launched Seamless, a national clothing product stewardship scheme report and roadmap to circularity, funded by the federal government.
The Minister for Environment, the Honorable Tanya Plibersek, presided over the launch, commending the scheme and the foundation members who are the pioneers who joined Seamless first. She also put the industry on notice: join Seamless voluntarily by the end of June 2024, or she will regulate.
But why did she have to do that?
Well, for the first time in the history of the Australian fashion industry, we're asking brands and retailers - also known as stewards - to voluntarily pay a levy for each item of clothing they bring into the market. This is the logic behind product stewardship schemes.
Since the businesses profiting from selling all this product, they ought to also be responsible for how that product ends its life and the waste it generates. Makes sense, right? But like any change in privilege and status, the fact that it's the right thing to do doesn't guarantee that it will be done voluntarily.
I get it, it's actually scary. We're asking businesses to change from a linear model of make and use and dispose to a circular model of production and consumption. And this means a massive transformation. Even though we have been at pains to call out that it will be adjust transformation - meaning that organisations are not expected to change overnight, and that seemless will work hard to support them and their workers to ensure that their journey towards circularity is - pardon the pun - seamless.
Regardless, transformation can mean risk and uncertainty, and there's nothing that traditional businesses abhor more than risk and uncertainty.
In the lead up to the launch of Seamless, I had many conversations with such businesses. They wanted more time. They weren't ready for transformation. They wanted to see how it would work. They have budgets to hit, bills to pay, special circumstances to consider.
I get it. It's not the first time in the history of business that conservative leaders have been resistant to transformation. Remember blockbuster? How about Kodak? Blackberry anyone? They dug their heels in and insisted that they weren't ready; that they needed more time.
Well, I'm here to tell you that we have run out of time.
It is now or never a once in a generation opportunity to get out there and act together and create something special. Together we can be remembered not for the waste we left behind, but for the legacy of transformation you have set in motion.
For our courage, I implore you to heed the call for change. You are not alone. We can do this together.