Susannah Jaffer, 31
Building a community of sustainabilityminded consumers and audience is the current focus for this founder of media platform and marketplace Zerrin.
“We’ve been around for four years, and it’s been a big journey. Starting with 14 brands, our platform now serves more than 50, and we’re working on bringing in new brands, including menswear. We’ve also just launched our podcast, Made Better, where we interview individuals from brands, academics and influencers about current issues within the industry, and how we can create and consume more consciously.
Zerrin has always been a multiconcept company. Besides giving people access to great independent sustainable designers, our mission is to help everyday citizens reframe why they consume. That’s why we put out content and do events like panel talks and workshops – to go deeper with our community. Within the sustainable fashion ecosystem, there are many alternatives to buying new items. We want a wider conversation about it, because that’s how our community shops too, and it would be tone-deaf for us to ignore the options out there.
Running a sustainable fashion business, versus a traditional one, is hard because you have to think about the way you’re curating the brands you bring in and their claims. While we’re a design-led company and we want to celebrate the beautiful, well-made things that make the fashion industry exciting, we need to ensure that brands stand up to our sustainability criteria.
The appetite for sustainability and interest in green initiatives has grown a lot [locally], particularly over the last two years. I think that was one silver lining to the pandemic: People started to look more inward, and with everyone being at home, they realised that they don’t need as many things.
More people have realised the bad practices that have been happening behind the scenes, and that what we’ve been shown is the glamorous, pretty side of the industry. The sustainable fashion movement aims to lift the veil on that for consumers, while showing them that alternatives are out there. It’s a culture shift and will take time, but it’s the responsibility of brands, retailers and anyone involved in communicating fashion to do so with a sense of heightened responsibility. Culture change can lead to systemic change.”
It’s the responsibility of brands, retailers and anyone involved in communicating fashion to do so with a sense of heightened responsibility.