Who Are the Voices Behind “The Fashion Situation Room”?

Who Are the Voices Behind “The Fashion Situation Room”? 

Three fashion professionals. Three very different careers. One shared mission: helping the trillion-dollar fashion industry navigate one of the most disruptive periods in its history.

Welcome to the very first episode of The Fashion Situation Room podcast!

Before we begin exploring the biggest issues facing fashion today, we thought we'd introduce ourselves – and explain why we believe this podcast is needed now more than ever.

Every week, fashion professionals are bombarded with headlines about Artificial Intelligence, sustainability, greenwashing, supply-chain disruption, shifting consumer expectations and rapidly changing business models. Yet too often, those conversations remain fragmented.

Our goal is different. The three of us bring together complementary perspectives – from fashion design, sustainability and fashion education to journalism, storytelling and strategic communications – to explore not just what's happening across the industry, but why it matters and what practical lessons professionals can take away.

In this opening episode, you'll meet the three hosts behind The Fashion Situation Room:

Michael J. Jordan — Global Communications Specialist, former Foreign Correspondent and Strategic Storytelling expert who helps organizations build trust, strengthen brands and communicate more persuasively.

Britta Cabanos — Founder of Inside Fashion Design and Conscious Fashion Design Academy, dedicated to helping fashion professionals build meaningful, sustainable careers and community – through education and industry insight.

Peter McLaughlin — Sustainability Strategist, former Design Director for global fashion brands – including Versace and Tommy Hilfiger – who’s a Harvard Sustainability graduate and passionate about helping fashion businesses innovate responsibly.

Together, we explain:

✔ How three very different career paths unexpectedly came together.

✔ Why we decided to launch this podcast.

✔ What unique perspective each host brings.

✔ Why today's fashion industry needs deeper conversations – not just headlines.

✔ What listeners can expect in future episodes.

Our mission is simple – to explore fashion through what we call the Four S's:

• Strategies
• Sustainability
• Storytelling

• Solutions

Every conversation is designed to deliver practical insights, thoughtful debate and actionable ideas for fashion professionals, students, entrepreneurs and anyone passionate about where the industry is headed.

If you're looking for another celebrity fashion podcast, this probably isn't it. But if you're looking for evidence-driven conversations with people working on the frontlines of fashion, sustainability, branding and innovation – we think you'll feel right at home.

👍 If you enjoy the conversation:

• Subscribe to The Fashion Situation Room
• Like this video
• Share it with fellow fashion professionals
• Leave us a comment:

What challenges do you think the fashion industry most needs to solve over the next five years?

We're just getting started – join the conversation!

#FashionPodcast #FashionIndustry #FashionLeadership #FashionBusiness #FashionInnovation #FashionSustainability #BrandBuilding #Storytelling #StrategicCommunications #FashionEducation #CreativeLeadership #TheFashionSituationRoom

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome everyone to our first ever episode of The Fashion Situation, a podcast from the front lines of the fashion industry where we offer real talk that explores the four essences strategies, solutions, sustainability, and storytelling. All of it aimed to provide you with actionable insights that ideally will benefit you somehow. I'm your host, Michael Jordan. No, not that Michael Jordan. My background is as a foreign correspondent, uh global communications specialist, and nowadays I also focus on fashion sustainability storytelling. These are my two co-hosts, Brita Cabanos and Peter McLachlan. Brita, go ahead, please introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

Yes, hello, Michael and Peter, and everyone listening. My name is Britta Cabanos, and I am the founder of Inside Fashion Design and the Conscious Fashion Design Academy. I founded those really started in 2017 when I had been in the industry for many, many years, and I found a lot of people coming to me just asking for career advice or behind-the-scenes stories. And I enjoy writing and photography. And so I launched as a website and since 2017 has evolved into online education, resources, industry insights, inspirations, workshops, events. So we keep evolving and adding to our program and offering readers and our audience a place to go to find help and support and guidance, career advice, even including mental wellness, because that's so important these days. So, so really expanding and building a global resource hub for the fashion design industry.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

As I describe Brita, I say that you're on the front lines of conscious fashion education. And Peter, go ahead, tell us a little something about yourself, please.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Hi everyone. My name is Peter McLaughlin. I'm originally from Belfast in Northern Ireland. I'm a sustainability strategist and former design director with a global career from working in Milan for Versace, Kritzia, in Amsterdam for Tommy Hilfiger, and here in New York, where I currently am for Ellie Tahari, Jennifer Lopez, and Ellen DeGeneres. I got a master's in sustainability from Harvard during the pandemic, where I like to mix the deep roots of the fashion industry, leading teams, building brands across Europe, Asia, and the US. So I bring a creative, cross-functional approach to design, innovation, and strategy. And so ultimately, I really just love to work with brands and help them make better decisions.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

And especially compared with my colleagues here, I'm the one with the the least amount of fashion experience. My background, as I mentioned, is primarily in journalism. I was a foreign correspondent for 20 years, reporting from 30 different countries. I've been fortunate enough to have lived in Europe, Africa, and Asia. And now having evolved into global brand communications, media strategy, media relations, and as I said, fashion sustainability storytelling. And so while we know that there are a wide range of fashion podcasts already out there, already contributing value, what we believe will distinguish our podcast is how is our perspective, our unique trio of historical perspectives over the past three decades or so. We don't need to get into how old exactly we are. But in addition to sharing our perspectives, keeping our finger on the pulse of the fashion industry, talking about some of the hot button issues of the day, we will also have unique guests, one guest per episode who's on the front lines of some unique aspect of the industry. And they will not only provide us with their own analysis and observations from what they see on the ground, but also some real life stories, storytelling, evidence-driven examples to really illuminate some of the challenge, challenges that we'll be exploring as a team, right? Let me ask you before I move on, anything else that I miss that our podcast will be covering?

SPEAKER_02 4:26

Yeah, I think you've I think you've covered it. And like you, like Michael mentioned, talking about strategy and solutions too, because there's so much talk out there on what needs to be done, but how do we really solve the issues or work towards you know making improvements? So I think we're gonna hopefully our aim is to really offer some calls, call to action with folks where or give ideas and suggestions on how we can take those steps to make a better impact and solve some of those problems that we we need solutions for.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Yes, and I think that one of the key things that we bring to the table that maybe is that we're taking it from a business perspective. So it isn't just focusing on sustainability, but it's really uh solutions and strategies for businesses, by businesses to help businesses make those better decisions.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

And I should say that I I can't guarantee that we'll produce uh definitive uh solutions to some of these challenges, that we will always strive to be evidence driven. That uh showing on screen, for example, some of our own research, uh pointing to some of the the most important studies of the day or leading articles. We even have a few to show you in a few minutes from from Forbes, from Vogue, from from others. And so we'll always try to show you where our facts and evidence are coming from so we can all make the most informed possible decisions.

SPEAKER_02 6:03

Yeah, I'll add in another thing is that this is also for consumers that are just interested about the fashion, the state of fashion. So if you're a fashion, you know, love fashion, want to learn about fashion, it's a great place, or just a customer who enjoys fashion. This is also a bit hopefully will provide a lot of information as a consumer and customers of of fashion on how you can also affect what happens by where you spend your money and brands you support. So looking at it from both behind the scenes within the industry and as a consumer perspective.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Yeah, that's a great point. It's really what's going on from a business perspective, but also that will inevitably affect consumers, how they purchase, why they purchase, and really what products are available to them. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

That's that's right. And and I I do want to also say we touched a little bit on on the audience. You know, we do see us see this podcast as trying to reach a fairly wide audience, anyone curious about these issues, but including fashion students and those who have recently entered the industry with their startup companies, for example, startup brands, those who are working for larger operations and want to understand some of these issues more clearly. So, so anyone curious and interested who wants to learn a little more within our 45 minute to 60 minute podcast, always aiming to deliver at least one, two, three things of of value to you that you can even apply to your your operation moving forward. Actionable insights, that sort of thing, right?

SPEAKER_02 7:49

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

And and plus the added benefit is that the three of us are are friends. In fact, let me just explain how how the three of us, despite our disparate and diverse backgrounds, how we we met. I first met Peter a little more than three years ago online during COVID. He was volunteering for a large nonprofit based in France and Geneva, Switzerland, right? An international organization focused on aid and assistance for NGOs, the nonprofit world. And so I offered a training in SDG sustainable development goals storytelling and sustainability storytelling, how nonprofits can prove their results, prove their impact, more than just words, how to support that with evidence, folded into real life stories, storytelling to bring to life challenges nonprofits face on the ground around the world. And then Peter, as a member of that organization, then organized a second such session. Maybe at some point we'll show links to that training, that webinar that we had on sustainability storytelling. So then we had met a few years ago, right? And Peter and I then agreed that we got along so well. And plus, I'm in Manhattan, he's in Brooklyn, or you were in Brooklyn at the time, now also in in Manhattan. And then it was a year and a half, so we agreed to to somehow cooperate in this fashion. We stayed friends and friends and colleagues. And then a year and a half ago, I met Britta during New York Fashion Week, September 2024, right? At an event. You are hosted, as you know, you you're you're headquartered in Portland, but you're often here in New York. In fact, you were just here for a few weeks for for now. We're recording, it was February 2026, New York Fashion Week, in case this is ever in the archives in the time.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

Which is still coming up next week.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

That's right. And so you are you're here for every New York Fashion Week, right? Twice a year, often hosting your own events, very actively involved. And so I met you at one of your events. And what do you recall about how we met, Brita?

SPEAKER_02 10:13

Yeah, this is I love this story because we met briefly. I was hosting the event and running around, you know, making sure everything was running smoothly. And I met you very briefly through through Siamanda, our mutual friend. But what happened after is that I posted something on LinkedIn about the event, and we had these amazing lineup of speakers. It was all around sustainability, had some key, you know, key industry players that are working in that space share their stories. And then afterwards, you had, after I'd posted on LinkedIn, you made a comment and you said, okay, this all sounds great and the event was great, the speakers were great, but show me the proof.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Show me the proof.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

Yep. And that really, at first I I was like, oh, okay, I wasn't sure if I should be offended or should I you know, is he being is he being a jerk or is he really, you know, so I gave it some thought and I'm like, absolutely, you were 100% right. We talk about sustainability all day long.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

In con conscious fashion.

SPEAKER_02 11:21

In conscious fashion, but where's the data? You were you were saying, show me the data of what these people, they say they're doing these things, but where's the results? You know, even if they hadn't reached that top uh final goal, what progress are they making? So I had reached out and replied to your comment, and I think I said something to that effect, like you're absolutely right. And how do we do that? And we started this dialogue of proving your impact, finding the data, sharing the data so that it's evidence driven, keywords I've learned from you, and now I look through everything that I do with that lens. So you've really inspired me and influenced my work in the last year and a half, and and I've evolved in the content that I produce because of you calling out that it needs to be proven, you need to show the data behind it. And so thank you for doing that. And I really appreciate it. And I I do feel it's it's progressed me forward more because I am being more thoughtful about what I, you know, what I print, what I share, what I promote. Because if you don't have, I mean, we all know about greenwashing, and without that proven data, I can't just, you know, I'm posting stories about ethical makers and promoting someone saying, hey, I love this brand. And then you could start digging deeper and realize, okay, they say they're sustainable, but yet they're using horrible materials in their collections or whatnot. So anyway, it's a long a long drown out answer to your question. But I I do have to say, like you really influenced my work and shaped the way I do things today.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

It was good to get the receipts. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

And and and you know what? Just just to to add one one point to it, because uh this is gonna come up in in in future episodes because it's even about the the role that I'm playing, that that you guys are the fashion industry insiders. But as I did that night at the first event where where I met you a year and a half ago, while I may have been a bit of a jerk, I was actually bringing my my journalistic sensibility to to the table, which is I hear lots of nice words, right? But to persuade a smart, smart enough but skeptical audience that you had speakers saying, Yes, we're doing this for sustainability and that for a conscious fashion. And I said, It'd be nice if you presented some evidence. What kind concrete, credible, verifiable evidence that you present transparently, right? And so I pushed back gently, I thought, respectfully. But that's that's what one thing that will come up uh throughout the these episodes, and and that's the role I'll happily play here is as we're talking about various issues, and companies are making claims, or governments are making claims, or individuals, that I'll I'll have those eagle eyes as far as, well, are they providing any sort of credible evidence to support their claims or accusations, defenses, that sort of thing. And for all of you to know why this matters, I mean, not only for for those of you who might want media publicity, earned media attention, and how to reach that that standard of attracting, let's say, women's wear daily. Okay, if you want a leading industry publication or mainstream publication, how to present your your your your your your content in an evidence-driven way. But all of us need to prove our words if you're approaching investors, donors, watchdog agencies, journalists, partners, consumers, clients, anyone, we should recognize that the standard will be very high to persuade a smart but skeptical audience.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

But not only that, it's also about adding the critical thinking. So for any reports that a company may bring out, it's also about really scratching the surface to see, you know, okay, like what is the evidence? How is it, you know, because a lot of companies will bring out glossy reports, but it's really getting into the nitty-gritty of that to really understand how they are reporting it, what are they missing, what are they leaving out in the reports that you know can be very subtle or blatant, and really under the understanding the gaps that are missing.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

Okay, so there you go. And and and by the way, this is a podcast that we will be publishing online. And and besides us obviously making a pitch, as all podcasters will do, if you like what you heard and like what you see, give us a like and that sort of thing, we really would encourage you to ask us questions or even to suggest topics that you might want to want to see us explore from our unique, three-headed perspective, which will become clear to you as as we move along, right? Whether it's sustainability, journalistic slash storytelling, that sort of thing, okay? Conscious fashion. So, any other comments from my colleagues here before we move forward?

SPEAKER_00 16:41

No, I think we should dive into it.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

Okay. That's it for today's episode of the Fashion Situation Room.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

Thanks for spending time with us on the front lines of fashion.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

If you find value in this conversation, please subscribe, share, and leave a review. It helps us bring more meaningful voices to the table.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

And what call to action did you take? Let us know in the comments. See you next time.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

Bye.