All Writers: List

With a solid background in Public Accounting and a burning passion for sustainable fashion, Verónica López Valenzuela has emerged as a visionary leader in the Mexican textile industry. Her journey of over seven years in the field has been an exciting adventure filled with challenges and transformative learning experiences.

Graduating with honours, Verónica delved into the world of sustainable fashion after completing courses at Polimoda, where she immersed herself in the principles of sustainability and social responsibility. This change of direction led her to found Materia Consumo Sostenible in 2020, the first platform in Mexico dedicated to education and research in sustainable fashion.

Under the wing of Materia Consumo Sostenible, Verónica launched La Materia, a pioneering conference that addresses the complexities of the textile industry in the global south. This event goes beyond the conventional, exploring ecological, social, psychological, and economic aspects of fashion, with a focus on tangible solutions.

To materialise her ideals, in 2022 Verónica led the first pilot project of organic cotton in Mexico, in the state of Chihuahua, as part of her vision to create products that return to the earth harmoniously, respecting the biodiversity that inhabits it.

Verónica López Valenzuela is more than a advocate for sustainable fashion; she is a driving force that is changing the game in Mexico and beyond. Her dedication, vision, and leadership are paving the way for a more conscious and equitable future in the fashion industry.

Materia Consumo Sostenible stands at the forefront of sustainable fashion education, pioneering transformative initiatives not only within the Mexican textile industry but also on a global scale. Established in 2020, Materia Consumo Sostenible has since been instrumental in driving sustainability efforts and fostering collaborative solutions to address the multifaceted challenges faced by the textile production chain.

With over two decades of experience in apparel sourcing from 18 countries, Roopak Malik runs Textiles Sourcing Limited (established 1994), a multi-country sourcing buying agency and trading/manufacturing company based in New Delhi, India. With an annual turnover of US$15 million, it has sourcing offices in Bangladesh and India.

Vanessa Mardirossian holds a Fashion Design Bachelor from Paris (1992-1996) and a Master of Arts in Textile Design from London (1996-1998). With over two decades of experience in the European and Canadian fashion industry, she brings a wealth of practical knowledge to her current role as a PhD Candidate in the School of Graduate Studies at Concordia University (INDI program, 2017-2024). Her  research, centered around Textile Ecoliteracy, bridges the realms of Design, Environmental Health, and Ecology, with a specific focus on sustainable dyes.

Dr Marian Makkar is a marketing academic whose research is anchored in consumer culture. She examines consumer effects on market development, consumption communities, consumer experiences, and market exclusion and dispossession. In particular to market exclusion, her recent work on cultural appropriation looks at how brands appropriate cultures that are less powerful, disadvantaged minority and indigenous groups.

Marian started her career in luxury retail as Marketing Manager of Alfred Dunhill Limited. She also worked in public relations handling FMCG brands, beauty products and luxury automotive brands that spanned the Middle East, Africa and New Zealand.

Jack Marley joined The Conversation in 2018 after internships at Mongabay and The Press Association. He has a research background in marine biology and began his media career at university, where he reported on a fossil fuel divestment campaign for his campus paper. Jack edits the Environment + Energy section and is interested in climate change, biodiversity and animal behaviour. He is based in Newcastle.

Kaitlyn Matulewicz is Researcher, Governing Forced Labour in Supply Chains Project.

Deirdre McKay holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of British Columbia (1999). She works on development and migration. She has worked with Canada's international development agencies - CIDA and the International Development Research Centre - as both field researcher and intern and collaborated with the Australian Agency for International Development. McKay works with arts-based and community-centred methods. With an AHRC project, Curating Development, She has been exploring community arts methodologies to map migrants' contributions to the Philippines. arts charity, B Arts, to develop hands-on activities to help the public address the problems of waste plastics.

Distinguished Professor Peter McNeil FAHA is an award-winning design historian who works at University of Technology Sydney. His inter-disciplinary research examines the past, present and future of critical fashion as well as many other aspects of design. For a decade he was also Professor of Fashion Studies at Stockholm University where he worked to establish the dignity of this topic in the European university system. More recently he was Academy of Finland (FiDIPro) Distinguished Professor, Aalto University (2014-18) for ‘Costume Methodologies’. His many publications include the award-winning ‘The Fashion History Reader: Global Perspectives’, 2010 (with G. Riello); and ‘Fashion: Critical and Primary Sources, Renaissance to the Present Day’ (4 Vols. 2009). His monograph ‘‘Pretty Gentlemen’: Macaroni Men and the Eighteenth-century Fashion World’ was published by Yale University Press in 2018: Marina Warner named it a ‘Book of the Year’. McNeil writes for major exhibitions including Sydney Jewish Museum (‘Dressing Sydney’), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (‘Reigning Men’) and Kunsthaus Zurich (‘Fashion Drive’). He won a UTS Human Rights Award in 2018 for his work on LGBTQI visual culture. He is Past President of the AAANZ representing Art History in the region.

Footwear manufacturer, brand custodian, social entrepreneur, brand consultant, Divej Mehta, at 30 years is the Founder and Managing Director of Tergus Works Pvt Ltd (TWPL), the company that launched Inmate. Inmate is now a brand partner with the United Nations, and Mehta has also been named a Forbes 30 Under 30 for social entrepreneurship along with recognition from the Government of India through Dr APJ Abdul Kalam award for being an innovative game changer.

Alessandra Mezzadri is Reader in Global Development and Political Economy, SOAS, University of London.