logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2023
57m 36s

91) Behind the Scenes: Fast Fashion Desi...

Conscious Life & Style
About this episode

What is it like to work as a designer for a fast fashion brand? And what is it like to build your own sustainability minded small fashion brand, from circular design practices to figuring out your pricing?

That's what we're getting a glimpse into in this episode with Dani Des Roches, designer and founder of the upcycled brand Picnicwear, recognizable by its groovy 60s/70s aesthetic, bold and playful use of color, and most notably its use of vintage towels as its primary material. 

Before that, Dani attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and was behind the scenes as a sweater designer for household names like Urban Outfitters and Express.

Feeling dissatisfied with the industry, Dani started her own B2B design studio, Kismet Concept Studio and of course her Direct to Consumer brand, Picnicwear, which creates high-quality pieces using 95% pre-existing materials.

In this conversation, Dani is giving us a look under the hood of the operations at big fashion brands and sharing what she thinks we should all know about how these brands operate.

She's also getting transparent about her own journey building a small slow fashion business.

If you want to learn more from Dani, Dani is leading a Circular Fashion Design Workshop that we're hosting over at Conscious Fashion Collective.

It will be an educational and interactive event for designers, industry professionals, sewists, and sustainable fashion advocates wanting to learn more about sustainability in fashion.

You'll learn how brands and designers can use circularity as a foundation for design, what a holistic approach to circular apparel design looks like, and tangible strategies to integrate circularity into apparel production and post-consumer reverse supply chain.

Hope to see you there!

>> Get tickets for the circular design workshop led by Dani here!

Or join the Conscious Fashion Collective Membership to attend for free.

***

SHOW NOTES:

https://www.consciouslifeandstyle.com/dani-des-roches

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

***

CONNECT WITH DANI:

🌐 Website: www.picnicwear.com

📸 Instagram: @picnicwear

👍 Facebook: @Picnicwear

📱 Tiktok: @picnicwear

***

CONNECT WITH CONSCIOUS STYLE:

📧Newsletter: https://www.consciouslifeandstyle.com/edit

🌐Website: consciouslifeandstyle.com

📸 Instagram: @consciousstyle

📹 YouTube: @consciouslifeandstyle

📌 Pinterest: @consciouslifeandstyle

Up next
Mar 2025
110) "Sustainability is Not Just a Buzzword" | LIVE Panel Recording
I'm so excited to be bringing you this special edition episode featuring the recording of our LIVE panel discussion in Chicago with Chicago Fair Trade and 3 of their business members. This was such a fun event to uncover the powerful stories behind these purpose-driven founders i ... Show More
53m 42s
Dec 2024
109) How this Founder is Creating Solutions, Not Just More Stuff with Karen Poirier of Embrago
Fashion is rarely focused on fixing real problems for real people. But what if slow fashion did things differently? The thoughtfulness and attention to quality that is embedded into the slow fashion movement can be harnessed to make genuinely better products that make these optio ... Show More
46m 11s
Dec 2024
108) Inside the Decline of Sweater Quality — and What to Look for in a Durable Knit with Mari Medina
The declining quality of sweaters has been a big discussion in the past year, but is a reality we've been witnessing for the past couple of decades.But what exactly is so much worse about today's sweaters and what has been going on behind the scenes that's made them so bad? And i ... Show More
42m 7s
Recommended Episodes
May 2
Why Craft is the Soul of True Luxury
It’s been a complicated year for luxury. The sector was already grappling with slowing growth but now American tariffs have disrupted global supply chains, driven prices upwards and dented consumer confidence.  But there's another, deeper long-term challenge that the industry nee ... Show More
20m 41s
May 2023
Rana Plaza 10 Years - So, Did We Make Fashion Ethical Yet?
Ten years ago, the devastating Rana Plaza collapse in Dhaka proved just how deadly the business of making clothes could be for marginalised garment workers. In countries like Bangladesh where cheap clothing is produced at high volume, and wages are kept low, it’s these workers - ... Show More
1h 2m
Nov 2018
Easton Pearson - Slow Fashion in a Fast Fashion World
What was it like to pioneer ethical fashion before that was even a phrase? For 27 years, Pamela Easton and Lydia Pearson ran the iconic Australian fashion label Easton Pearson, known for its exquisite artisanal fabrics and embellishments, colourful exuberance and sense of fun.The ... Show More
39m 13s
Jul 2024
How To Start & Grow An Ethical Fashion Brand with APPARIS Founders
Start & Grow Your Fashion Brand For Free Here: https://www.skool.com/fashionanticourse/about Get Your Brand/Designs Reviewed For Free Here: https://www.skool.com/fashionanticourse/about This episode is a masterclass on the foundations that you need to understand in order to start ... Show More
53 m
Dec 2024
What Happens When It’s Too Hot to Make Fashion?
In recent years, extreme weather events have become commonplace catastrophes. And in an increasingly globalised fashion system, developing nations often bear the brunt of climate crises. For fashion and its complex global supply chains — which disproportionately depend on resourc ... Show More
20m 6s
Aug 2024
Ep 84: Sustainable Jewelry with Anna-Mieke Anderson (MiaDonna)
Fine jewelry is made from precious metals, think gold and silver, and stones, like diamonds or other gemstones. Traditionally these raw materials are mined from deep in the earth’s mantle and produced with extensive human labor to create the rings, necklaces, and other jewelry pi ... Show More
1h 8m
Jun 2023
42\\ The Future of Interior Design: Sustainable and Responsible Solutions With Leah Connolly
Did you know it doesn't take much to live an eco-friendly lifestyle? It all starts with consumer awareness. And who better to educate consumers than interior designers? After working for years in various design firms and realizing how much waste the interior design industry g ... Show More
26m 46s
Aug 2024
EP224. The latest in beauty industry greenwashing: when brands call their products "more" sustainable
If a cosmetic product isn't sustainable in the first place, how can it suddenly become 'more' sustainable when a brand makes an improvement? The language used by beauty brands in relation to sustainability can be problematic.  Last week, we interviewed Nishit Dedhia of KAIN Cosme ... Show More
6m 34s
Mar 2020
Gabriela Hearst on Why Making Things That Stand the Test of Time Matters
Since launching her eponymous label in 2015, the Uruguayan-born, New York–based designer Gabriela Hearst has become known for her sincere, forward-thinking approach to sustainability; her slow-growth business ethos; the long waiting lists for her limited-production handbags; her ... Show More
54m 43s
Jul 21
How to rethink your emotional attachment to clothes (w/ Diarra Bousso)
We often think donating clothes is a sustainable act, but when tons of garments are shipped to places like West Africa, it creates environmental waste and disrupts local artisans’ livelihoods. Diarra Bousso, a mathematician and sustainable fashion designer, joins Chris to unpack ... Show More
40m 56s