By: Jolie Featherstone

Becky Hutner’s urgent Fashion Reimagined is an important report, rendered through masterful storytelling.  Formally hired to edit docs (Revolution, Being Canadian), it’s near impossible to believe that Fashion Reimagined is Hutner’s feature-length documentary directorial debut.

Fashion Reimagined follows Amy Powney, Creative Director of UK-based, female-founded, cult luxury clothing label ‘Mother of Pearl’ (a.k.a. MOP).  Powney is regarded as one-to-watch in the fashion world.  After winning the highly coveted Vogue Award for the Best Young Designer of the Year, Amy decides to use the prize money to create a sustainable collection from field to finished garment – effectively transforming her entire business and resisting the dominant industry process.  Powney’s deep conviction and quiet tenacity take her and ‘Mother of Pearl’ Product Developer, Chloe Marks, on a journey to trace and source all aspects of the material for the collection.  Their journey transcends procurement and becomes a revolution of thought and industry.

Powney is the daughter of environmentally-conscious parents.  She grew up largely in a caravan in the countryside.  Her family’s lifestyle was intentionally built around light consumption.  As Powney begins to make a name for herself in the fashion world, she learns about the drastically damaging impact the fashion industry has on the planet and the beings who live on it.  As she emphatically puts it: “It’s complete nonsense.”

The documentary starts off with some exposition and some truly saddening stats. Just to name a few:

• If the fashion industry were a country, it would rank third for carbon emissions, after China and the United States.
• We buy 3 times as many clothes as we did in the 1980s and wear them HALF as long.
• The fashion industry creates 100 billion items of clothing every year.  3 out of 5 garments go to landfill within one year of purchase.
• Traditional denim washing uses 1,500 L of water for 1 pair of jeans.  That’s 1 person’s drinking water for 2 YEARS.
• Most clothing today is made of synthetic materials (e.g., polyester, nylon, etc).  Powney remarks that this is essentially no different than wearing plastic packaging.
• 35% of ocean microplastics come from synthetic clothes shedding when you wash them in the washing machine.
• 2% of the people who make our clothes earn a living wage

And these are just the stats that stunned me off the top.  It doesn’t include the practices of animal treatment involved even in making “organic” materials or the hazardous, carcinogenic fibres workers ingest while making below minimum wage.

The facts are staggering.  For those who are uncertain about dipping their toes (and attention spans) in the documentary water after seeing these stats: be assured, Fashion Reimagined is not at all dry.  In fact, it is gorgeously cinematic with narrative storytelling that relays the journey with even, well-paced tension. 

Indeed, during one sequence, the film demonstrates the process involved in the production of a simple, cotton shirt.  The sequence is clear, illustrative, highly-visual, and engaging.  It will provoke you, not numb you.  Fashion Reimagined also boasts beautiful cinematography.  The story traverses gorgeous landscapes in multiple countries – it is worth seeing on the big screen.

The film is presented narratively;  very much akin to a hero’s journey.  This is fitting because Powney is indeed a hero.  We follow along as she embarks on finding sources and materials, vendors and partners.  We see leads run cold and road blocks emerge.  Vendors bowing out, and ostracization from the industry.  Despite this, Powney and Marks doggedly pursue their goals.  They meet with people doing incredible work informed by cyclical relationships with nature.  We see success stories of widespread consumer awareness and genuine industry shifts.  However, the documentary doesn’t let us off the hook.  It reminds us that our rate of consumption continues to rise.  The work is far from over.

Powney remarks, with clarity and awareness, that possibly the biggest sustainable shift they can make is reducing the quantity of their output.  So she begins by reducing the typical 4-season collection to 2 collections per year.  This encapsulates the core of Powney’s ideology.  Mass consumption is the dangerous force behind the destruction of our planet and the beings who live on it.  Take this quote from Powney as a guide: “If you produce anything, you’ve created waste for the planet”, and on the other side of that coin: “If you ever just look at a product, you have to realize it came at a cost.”

Truly, everyone should watch Fashion Reimagined.  It is an excellent example of the documentary form.  The engaging and clear reporting helps us to better understand how our choices and behaviours impact the planet and, ultimately, our futures. 

After receiving nominations and awards on the festival circuit, the documentary has been making its rounds across Canada (more details: https://www.fashionreimaginedfilm.com/international-screenings). For those in the GTA, it is currently playing at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema at Bloor & Bathurst.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie