You are what you wear: Christina Dean at TEDxHKBU

Dr. Christina Dean is the Founder and CEO of Redress, an NGO with a mission to promote environmental sustainability in the fashion industry. Christina is a regular speaker at seminars and has received numerous recognitions for her work, including being listed by U.S. online magazine Coco Eco as one of '2010's Most Influential Women in Green' and by U.K. Vogue as one of the U.K.'s 'Top 30 Inspirational Women'. Prior to founding Redress, Christina was a journalist and a practicing dental surgeon.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

[THEdelkaimek]

Eye opening talk. This should be talked about more within the media. Consumerism is polluting our world.

[dantebrown]

she is the REAL Fashion Police. MVP! she is awesome.

[Thesureleague]

This was absolutely eye opening. I don't think I can look at my clothes now and not remember the things Christina pointed out. This was all in plain sight, all around us!!!

[dianawright]

I was taught by my grandmother to take care of what you have and make a quilt out of it when it’s worn out and give it to someone in need

[Kindredclosets]

YES! This 14:58!!!! As someone who works in the fashion industry, I struggle with knowing how much damage we cause to society and the environment and I would LOVE to see this concept grow in the industry. I really hope that over time the rest of the world will agree and that this message will grow and become a standard for the next generation! <3

[dookyy]

This has been published 7 YEARS ago, but it is still so relevant!!!! 💜💜💜

[tosha]

I ADORE I'M a daughter of a master tailor, I thought about this all my life! I have a deep love and hate relationship with the fashion industry! I wore secondhand clothing before it became popular in LA. I reworked used clothing that never failed to sell. I became a jeweler that specializes in casting and manufacturing. I have really interesting ideas that are progressive but need a little bit of help! I have been creating other things now but seeing your video was re-inspiring. It is a battle and we cant quit. I'd love to chat with your team and give you some ideas. i don't care to make money off of it. I too, deeply care and absolutely love expressing myself through clothing! Thank you for what you do! RESPECT!

[mya]

I love consignment/thrift shops. I'm not a big fashionista, so what is in my closet are items that I can wear for years to come. I don't follow trends. I wear what is comfortable.

[rosawong]

One of the best talks I have come across this year! Thanks for reminding us 'we are what we wear'! Any chance of taking me to the recycling centre for some treasure finds?

[madhulicaseth]

I live in India and in my family we have been taught to take care of clothes. They are only handwashed and my grandmother has certain saris which are 38 years old. Since Saris are not size specific they are passed down through generations and now my mother wears my grandmother's saris. We get western clothes altered if they don't fit anymore and make bags out of old clothes. Since at least my family is not too materialistic we rarely shop and live a mostly zero waste life. My cousins living in the United States disgust me because of their excessive materialism and obsessive concern with appearance and clothes. They place more importance on looking fuckable than being comfortable.

[Itzeldirem]

Havent bought clothes in a couple of years, and yes, I buy good-quality-long lasting clothes, only what I need. Same with shoes. I am considering making my own summer clothes.

[carolinalautaret]

The most important idea is that we must stop complaining about pollution and start doing things, that really matter.. even a small thing like reusing an old jacket.. everything counts.. we all have power to change reality

[mv]

I get about 80% of my clothes from : salavation Army, yard sales and rummage sales. You can t tell by looking at them .almost all of my clothes are a minimum of 3 years old, the oldest item is over 20..and it still looks great.

[chriscaine]

I am a great advocate for reuse, recycle and renew. I run a small market stall where I sell good, fashionable, up to date secondhand clothes. I hate the way people throw away perfectly good usable items so every week I buy used clothes from people and resell them. I make money, people are happy that they have saved money by purchasing used items at a fraction of the cost of new garments.So we are all winners. More importantly we are saving many things from going to landfill. ☺☺☺

[DonicaDuju]

This is spot on, I came to this conclusion myself

[jany]

never thought about this before. really informative and inspiring. thank you.

[Indielollita]

crazy stuff. can't wait to go thrift-shopping

[beautynova]

I love this! i only buy second hand...I've been doing it for 20 years now. I will never spend my hard earned money on new items when people are discarding perfectly good clothes. the damage being done to our planet is insurmountable...if we could all just be more aware of what we're purchasing...we might be able to undo some of the horrificness

[fatimalobamor]

Thank you so much for all that information that nobody talks about and keep buying what they don't need really.

[yeghinenazarian]

I can only bow down to people like you. Thank you for caring, Indeed eye opener.