This week on Terra Informa, we revisit a timely episode from this past summer's coverage of the 2019 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Listen as Terra Informer Dylan Hall interviews fashionista and not-for-profit educator Jess Montgomery of Think The World Differently. Montgomery holds an MA in the History and Theory of Contemporary Art from the San Francisco Art Institute, where she wrote her thesis on the role that fashion can play in perpetuating or challenging over-consumption. She is also a contributor to Not Just A Label, a designer platform for upcoming artists.

We wanted to revisit this story over the holiday season because a central theme of the interview is the environmental and social impact of the fashion industry.  This time of year we are bombarded with messages to "buy this" and "consume more", and while there is a growing trend in waste- and gift-free practices, we still have a long and complicated system to unravel if we want to mitigate the negative impacts of over-consumption. Another reason to re-air the interview is the pressure to dress fashionably at holiday parties and social events. As Montgomery will explain, this doesn’t mean you have to mean buy something new. There are many ways to be an ethical and sustainable consumer while still getting your fashion fix.