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ECO/CONSCIOUS with Tanya Parmanand

Q&A WITH “REFASHIONED”

DIRECTOR JOANNA BOWERS

Released last September, reFashioned is a Hong Kong documentary highlighting three people working to reduce waste in the local fashion industry. We spoke with director Joanna Bowers about the project.

Documentary filmmaker Joanna Bowers first came to prominence in 2017 with her award-winning film, The Helper, a film exploring the diverse stories of Hong Kong’s migrant domestic workers, their personal sacrifices, and their status and role within the city’s social makeup. For her next project, the director chose to dive into the world of fashion. Her latest film, reFashioned,

Bowers documents the inner workings of individuals in

Hong Kong working to promote circularity in the city’s famously wasteful fashion industry. “I feel like our generation is so culpable in the environmental impact of fast fashion, and it’s only logical that we play an active role in finding the solutions,” explains Bowers. “The three individuals featured in the film were great examples of very different people acting to solve the problem, and hopefully capable of inspiring others to take action too.” One of the people portrayed in the film is Edwin Ken, who approached Bowers in January 2018. Keh, a scientist at the Hong Kong Research Institute for Textile and Apparel (HKRITA), wanted to collaborate with her on her mission to raise awareness of the global fashion chain and its excesses.

“I was looking for characters for my new documentary,” says Bowers. “Edwin was the prime example of an individual who had no experience in the fashion industry beforehand; he was coming in as a lay person who just wanted to effect change.”

Keh and his team at HKRITA had developed two new technologies to encourage recycling of blended fabrics, which has historically made it difficult to recycle secondhand clothes. Most garments are made with a complex makeup of different materials, which cannot be easily broken down and separated for re-use. Even a 100% cotton t-shirt contains things like labels and sewing threads, which are usually made from another material like polyester.

Keh’s new recycling processes have since been adopted by major fast fashion brands like H&M, making it a major leap forward in fashion circularity.

“His concept is providing local solutions to recycling challenges in fashion,” explains Bowers. “The entire process occurs here in Hong Kong so the new garment can be used locally.”

The film also follows Sarah Garner, founder of the preloved children’s clothing brand, Retykle (retykle.com), and Eric Swinton, whose social enterprise V Cycle (vcycle. com.hk) helps brands like K11 and Lane Crawford to upcycle their plastic waste.

“I partnered with Sarah, Edwin and Eric because I feel like they’re the untold stories of the sustainable fashion community,” says Bowers.

Elevating the voices of individuals like Keh, Garner and Swinton is an essential step to changing attitudes towards fast fashion, believes Bowers. By showcasing their work, she hopes to inspire people to do their own research into how shoppers can consume more sustainably, something that is thankfully becoming easier in Hong Kong. “Lots of people don’t realise how many options there are in Hong Kong to purchase second-hand, or recycle their clothes,” says Bowers, citing retailers like Vestiaire Collective, HULA, and Retykle who specialise in high-quality, pre-owned fashion items.

After the film’s premiere in September of this year, Bowers says that she hopes reFashioned is able to find a home on a streaming platform, like Netflix or Amazon Prime.

Joanna Bowers Edwin Keh

“The movie may be set in Hong Kong, but it’s undoubtedly a global issue and one that has expanded well beyond the limits of our city,” she adds.

Bowers’ ultimate ambition for the film, however, is to simply get viewers to question their daily habits of consumption.

“Ask yourself whether this is an impulsive purchase, or something that you really need,” she says. “Are you aware of the production process behind what you’re buying? If it’s just for one occasion, could you rent something instead or borrow it?”

refashionedfilm.com

Tanya is a full-time law student and freelance writer, whose work has appeared in Lifestyle Asia, Honeycombers, and more! She covers eco-friendly initiatives, charities and NGO news for Liv. Send tips and pitches to hello@liv.media.

IF YOU GOT IT, FLOG IT

As a gym operator, imagine a class booking app that delivers quality customers and offers a transparent pricing structure, where you control which classes you release. That’s exactly what Hong Kong-headquartered app Flog offers! We speak to founder Hiroka Lee about why she’s determined to disrupt the fitness scene.

Q How did the idea for Flog come about? I originally set out to create a LinkedIn-type directory for PTs and fitness instructors in Hong Kong, but quickly pivoted to a new model after speaking with hundreds of people in the fitness industry. They were struggling to sell unused spots despite there being various booking apps in the market, and so we decided to hold off on creating a database and instead build an app that could help them sell those spots.

Q Aren’t there already class booking apps on the

market?

I’ve used booking apps in the past and had a few challenging experiences, where gym staff were not welcoming. At first I was upset but after speaking with hundreds of studio owners I kind of understood why they were acting the way they were - the apps were delivering customers who didn’t respect the gyms or the classes, and some customers were even coasting on unlimited “free trials” by using different email addresses. So we decided to look for a solution that would provide a better experience for gym owners - and that was to create an app geared towards corporates.

Q How does that work? So far we have signed more than 18 corporate accounts to Flog. HR managers can choose a package of either $500 per month per user for five classes, or $1,000 per month for 10. Users have to register with their work email address, which means that they need to respect the studios as they’re representing their company. Any company with more than 20 employees can join, and our average is around 50.

Q How do the companies benefit from joining Flog? One problem that HR departments face is how to show concrete results. We offer a dashboard that HR managers can access to show which of their employees are joining which classes. This can help them incentivize or encourage fitness among their staff. We can also work with HR departments to create wellness events and programmed in their office.

Q What kind of benefits do you offer your gym

partners?

We are very glad to have 68 studios on our books, and we aim to sign up 100 by March. Our pricing is very transparent - operator keep 80 percent of the revenue and we take 20 percent commission - and they have full control over which classes they release.

What’s next for Flog?

We are excited to be making inroads in Japan, and plan to launch the app in Tokyo next year. Watch this space!