Diandra Esparza and the Due Diligence of Doing

This girl though. The thinker behind recently launched site The Thread Edit (check it out!) sits down with us to tell us her journey.

We'll let her take it from here...

AIW: Tell us about yourself ;) DE: Hi! My name is Diandra. I was born and raised in Texas. Yes, I know how to ride horses and am excellent at mechanical bull riding. I was so eager to see the world after college, and New York was my first stop. I have lived here for 4 years now. Studying the fashion industry through my work has given me so much perspective on the challenges companies face internally when trying to make changes that are better for the world. Externally, I’ve been passionately studying how people perceive and understand the changes that need to be made. I hope as my career progresses I can continue to understand both of these important dynamics and contribute to a more responsible trade system that we currently call "shopping."

When I’m not studying consumerism, I am hanging out with my dog, Buster, getting coffee with someone new, or reading a really good book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AIW: We first met a UNICEF event. Tell us more about how you got involved with this event and how you initially connected with Tania of Sustainably Stylish (who was hosting the event)?

DE: Like most of my friends that are interested in sustainability, I met Tania through IG! Connecting with people via the 'gram has been such a great way for me to expand my network of like minded people.

AIW: We’ve known each other for a short while, but have become close in that time. We’d love to know more about how an athletic girl from Texas made her way from essentially being “one of the guys” to working for one of the most feminine brands of all time, Kate Spade New York. DE: I didn’t realize it at the time, but growing up being “one of the guys” shed a lot of light on the things men and women don’t understand about each other. While I had a decent grasp on this miscommunication myself, it was clear that boys had the better end of the bargain. Boys were encouraged to play sports, build stuff, and had all the cool/adventurous role models that I loved. AKA: Tarzan. I saw girls cry and have their concerns discredited. I saw girls wear bows and watched boys tell them they were weak. I saw parents teach their sons to think and their daughters to play house. Seeing the advantage placed on what we traditionally bucket as “masculine” manifested itself into my tomboyish disposition and, unfortunately, gave me a very cynical view of femininity. As I aged, fashion intrigued me because where I come from—we don’t place a tremendous amount of value on individuality. I had essentially been using masculinity as a guide to achieve things that should have never been reserved for boys in the first place. I never knew how to create my own version of myself and fashion seemed like this world of endless opportunities when it came to self-expression. I also have come to realize that going against the grain at such a young age was in fact, a fashion choice. Seems to me like I was meant to be in fashion all along. I was working in New York when Kate Spade found me. I was already looking to sink my teeth into the apparel world so this was my big chance to give it a try. What I didn’t know, was that this time in my life was also going to be a feminine awakening of sorts. I’ve learned to associate femininity with this relentless stance on giving ourselves permission to be what we want, no matter how those things are perceived. We shouldn't have to play by anyone else’s rules to succeed. Kate Spade has been the perfect place for me to learn how to indulge my feminine side and celebrate women who are doing the same.

AIW: Can you provide any particular knowledges you obtained during this fashionable awakening that made you want to look further into the issue of sustainable fashion? How did you find out about it? Why did it resonate with you more than anything else?

DE: During college, I had explored various interests in environmentalism that were quickly put to rest by my transition to business school. (I had only made it through basic courses as a freshman, as most tend to do, but I [still] wanted to find my place in an environmental study of some kind. I loved the ocean and being close to the beach. I hoped my work would somehow give me the chance to study how we optimize our relationship with the shores forever.)

When I started working, it didn’t take long before I suspected further research was needed on some of the internal practices of retailers. When I discovered how poor the quality was in some of the garments that were being put out on the floor, it felt incredibly wasteful. It doesn't take a genius to know that people generally feel good when they buy something new, but some retailers have really taken advantage of this by lowering quality and prices to create higher conversions. It's a waste of resources for the planet and a waste of money for consumers. It's an awful facade that benefits very few. I certainly discovered how detrimental to the environment our consumption system is but I also discovered how that impact has rippled into the social wellbeing of people across our supply chains. More often than not, women of impacted communities are inheriting the far worse end of the bargain here as artisans and factory workers. Sound familiar? It has completely shifted the way I view corporate social responsibility and I feel incredibly lucky to be working within the industry so that I can raise questions along the way that will hopefully lead us in a better direction. I wish I could say the industry will flip upside down when we all find out about what’s going on, but unfortunately everyone already knows.

I don’t believe a business should be considered successful if it can only thrive at the expense of people and the planet. We have a lot shifts to make and I plan on sticking around to see some of them through.

AIW: Amen. Backtracking...can you tell us where your initial interests in environmentalism came from?

DE: I spent my first year of college in a beach town that was incredibly vulnerable to storms, which helped me eventually connect the dots with climate change and how beach towns that don't have immense wealth behind them will inevitably suffer the most. I also volunteered at a dolphin rehabilitation center which made me very observant of how we as humans impact the lives of everything we touch. I most certainly did not realize how these experiences would shape my thinking now. I was a punk kid at the time! I wish I would have valued them then like I do now.

AIW: Amazing. So back to what you're doing now, what kind of waste do you see on your end as an assistant buyer for Kate Spade? What do you think could be a new role/responsibility for buyers at traditional fashion brands to select styles more consciously? Is it selecting less? Is it creating less? What do you think? DE: Retailers are frequently put in positions where buying more lowers costs, which ultimately does create waste, but with the help of technology, it has never been easier to identify what customers need at a larger scale and what customers are willing to splurge on in a smaller way.

We need to keep encouraging the relationship between retail and tech so we can continue working towards more efficient relationships with factories and better data on consumer demand.

AIW: Would you care to talk further on your favorite tech innovations/futures that you believe can help?

DE: I am constantly learning of the new ways people with incredibly different backgrounds are tackling sustainability. People are using blockchain technology to create more transparency in our supply chains. Designers are using advanced tech to create fabric from more eco-friendly materials like kelp! Farmers are learning how to measure biodiversity in soil to offset the carbon emissions from ag-intensive resources like cotton. Tech has a part to play in how we optimize every single aspect of the process.

AIW: Speaking of farming, when you speak about sustainability to your Texan family, do they get it? Are your thoughts impacting their choices? What about friends of yours that aren’t interested in sustainability? Do you always feel comfortable sharing your true beliefs? DE: I don’t think anyone likes having their personal choices brought to the moral jury and it’s V challenging to bring issues around sustainable consumption to the table without seeming like you are doing just that - SO - I started just sharing the success/failures I am personally having with more sustainable choices and the people who are ready to have the conversations always hop in.

Diandra modeling for ethical brand Nîneh

AIW: You are an extremely decisive, independent, and self-sufficient woman. However, when we look around at the sustainable fashion industry we often see a lot of privilege—not everyone—but a lot of people that can afford to care about sustainability because someone else is more or less supporting them. What do you think about this? Have you ever noticed this? DE: There is a tremendous amount of privilege that typically comes along with one’s ability to uproot personal choices to live by newfound standards. This is because it requires that you had choices in the first place. What is great about people with more resources thinking more sustainably is that it’s usually these people who pave the way for others to adopt later once businesses have figured out how to extend accessibility for the demand. When speaking to privilege in this space, it’s important we all understand that we are working towards the same goals at varying starting points so our journeys will all look different. Those of us with greater power have greater responsibility. #spiderman

AIW: Do you think sustainable fashion has a “personality” that it attracts? If so, how would you describe it? DE: If you asked me that three years ago, I would have said sustainability is very much associated with drab fashion and a hippie lifestyle which will never have the potential to reach the masses. Now, NYFW is buzzing with designers findings ways to speak to sustainability from their own point of view.

Having designers across multiple aesthetics address this issue is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Everyone should care about creating more mindfully no matter who their customer is.