3 LIM College students share how their love for sustainability is informing their future…
In my senior year of high school, I was asked to share a mantra to include in my yearbook.
It read: To save the world, and get a cat.
Sometime that same year, my family and I drove to Bar Harbor, Maine to visit the College Of The Atlantic, a wonderful little school steeped deep in the world of environmental science, in hopes of manifesting my mantra (not the cat part -- that was to come later). Alas, the realization of what Maine winters could bring -- meaning, me not able to travel back home -- saw me quickly changing gears. I changed my mind altogether, and decided to stay local and pursue a degree in journalism.
Though my resume doesn’t show it, I’ve always adopted and practiced eco-consciousness through much of my personal life -- growing food in the spaces afforded me (NOT very much in the middle of a metropolitan city), recycling EVERYthing I possibly can, buying secondhand goods and donating just as many… (Still trying to be better about my paper towel addiction, but...awareness is half the battle, as they say.)
So the opportunity to reconnect with my 17 year-old self -- and mentor a group of young women who value the urgency of our environmental needs -- was sort of a no-brainer.
Under the guidance of Andrea Kennedy, Professor of Sustainability, Rachel, Kaylee, and Samantha have been pioneering change in the fashion industry, most recently from home. For the past three semesters Free People has worked in tandem with LIM College, particularly with students from their “Applied Sustainable Practices in Fashion and Storytelling For Sustainability” courses, in a co-educational partnership where students learn from our sustainable initiatives through our work in Care FP. Though we most certainly learn from them as they work through some of our most complex sustainability challenges.
As part of their Storytelling For Sustainability course, these three students -- visionaries in their own right -- were required to write a final paper on how sustainability first impacted them, and how they would apply their learnings within a career dedicated to making fashion a more responsible industry.
Their stories are honest, engaging, intuitive, and beautiful. Please read on to learn more about the wonderfully inspiring journeys of these students.
It read: To save the world, and get a cat.
Sometime that same year, my family and I drove to Bar Harbor, Maine to visit the College Of The Atlantic, a wonderful little school steeped deep in the world of environmental science, in hopes of manifesting my mantra (not the cat part -- that was to come later). Alas, the realization of what Maine winters could bring -- meaning, me not able to travel back home -- saw me quickly changing gears. I changed my mind altogether, and decided to stay local and pursue a degree in journalism.
Though my resume doesn’t show it, I’ve always adopted and practiced eco-consciousness through much of my personal life -- growing food in the spaces afforded me (NOT very much in the middle of a metropolitan city), recycling EVERYthing I possibly can, buying secondhand goods and donating just as many… (Still trying to be better about my paper towel addiction, but...awareness is half the battle, as they say.)
So the opportunity to reconnect with my 17 year-old self -- and mentor a group of young women who value the urgency of our environmental needs -- was sort of a no-brainer.
Under the guidance of Andrea Kennedy, Professor of Sustainability, Rachel, Kaylee, and Samantha have been pioneering change in the fashion industry, most recently from home. For the past three semesters Free People has worked in tandem with LIM College, particularly with students from their “Applied Sustainable Practices in Fashion and Storytelling For Sustainability” courses, in a co-educational partnership where students learn from our sustainable initiatives through our work in Care FP. Though we most certainly learn from them as they work through some of our most complex sustainability challenges.
As part of their Storytelling For Sustainability course, these three students -- visionaries in their own right -- were required to write a final paper on how sustainability first impacted them, and how they would apply their learnings within a career dedicated to making fashion a more responsible industry.
Their stories are honest, engaging, intuitive, and beautiful. Please read on to learn more about the wonderfully inspiring journeys of these students.
SAMANTHA COLGAN
I’m from Cape Cod, MA, which is an island popular for its beaches. When I was a child, I remember exploring its unending beaches and enormous dunes. Today, when I revisit my favorite childhood pond, the water laps the edge of the parking lot. Erosion is now a critical issue on the Cape, as the dunes are receding about fifteen feet every year. In fact, Cape Cod loses more land than it gains which is unsettling since it is happening so quickly, as our oceans rise and storms become more devastating.
Ever since my junior year of high school, it has been my dream to become a stylist. New York’s LIM College gave me the opportunity to make that dream come true. That is, until my sophomore year, when I hit an unexpected roadblock.
I took a class called “Sustainability And The Future Of Fashion,” and what I learned shocked me. I had absolutely no idea that fashion was one of the most environmentally disruptive industries in existence. My dream was now compromised, but I knew one thing -- I did not want to contribute to the damage I was witnessing in my own backyard.
I thought a lot about the sustainability industry, and was eager to learn more. During my junior year, I had the opportunity to work with Free People, who encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and explore new ideas. As a result, I was motivated to work toward a more circular lifestyle. I’m not very conscious of how my daily activities impact the world.
Free People’s customers make up a community who embrace responsibility and accountability. The result? Care FP. With this initiative, Free People is gradually modifying the way they ship, produce, and distribute their products in order to build a more sustainable future, while working with and inspiring students like me.
Currently, I’m studying the supply chain of their beloved Harper Tank. In doing so, my peers and I are actively discovering ways to minimize the negative impacts of its production through that chain. We’ve found some great ways to reduce impacts in manufacturing, transportation, and dyeing. As a result of my research, I have begun to hold myself highly accountable when making personal purchases.
This project gave me career guidance and inspiration. I was truly motivated to think outside the box, a crucial tool for my future in sustainability. Just recently, Free People released a collection of recycled and organic knitwear, which demonstrates that they are committed through their actions, rather than just words. This reminds me that we all must begin taking action to help our planet, and it’s never too late. My goal is to inspire others while following my path, and help contribute to the preservation of beautiful places, like Cape Cod.
RACHEL CORSON
I grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey, a small little town with only three stop lights. Maybe just two. Anyway, everyone in town knew everybody, and every kid in my class at school looked nearly identical to the one seated just a few feet away. Breaking the mold, being different wasn’t done in this place. Cliquey, yes. Originality...well, no. Tough place both to live in, and break from, but I had my ways, my strengths, and my plans for myself. You see, I had my tomorrows set on something bigger, and I guess, in looking back, that I had come to that realization early on in my life.
I, for one, was not a child with a mother who owned a minivan or a father who worked in finance. I was an only child that had an imagination much larger than the little corner of the world outside my bedroom window. I doodled in my school notebooks. I would lose myself in ideas, thoughts, and questions. How deep is the ocean? Was a dinosaur taller than the Eiffel Tower? What would it be like to fly? My dad drove a green station wagon and we would listen to Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones, and so many others as we drove from one place to the next. If there was a bird with a broken wing or a turtle in the road, my mother would take the bird to the animal hospital, or stop to help the turtle find its way so it wouldn’t get hurt. In a lot of ways I was separated from the gossip and the harsh nature of things that went along with living in the borough I called home.
As I got older the grating words and the biting criticism would find their way to me, creeping in and seeping in from what, at times, could seem like all directions. It drained me of my confidence, tearing pieces of me away bit by bit. It changed me. I became that shy child. That uncertain child. That pained child. I began to hide my true self away, sitting in the back of the room, suppressing my thoughts, my imagination, my creativity. Leaving behind so much of myself that I had once held so tightly and so proudly.
I think it came as a bit of a shock to those who knew me that NYC was the place I was headed for the next four years. Fashion school was out of the ordinary. There would be no Computer Science or Nursing major so coveted by the 125 people I would graduate with in 2018. I was breaking the tradition that had been set for me.
But I wanted more. I wanted culture, I wanted to restore myself and that wasn’t going to be done by staying put. I knew I could do it, and I knew that I would do it. How, I wasn’t quite sure. Things happen unexpectedly. A college credit that I was told was just another course required turned out to be a landmine of opportunity.
Sustainability? You mean, reduce, reuse, recycle? The images projected on the screen looked like they were spliced from a poorly made movie about toxic waste. However, they were real.
Waters in Libya that are fire engine red due to high acidity levels. Plastics that fill the stomachs of the largest mammals in the world. Indian farmers committing suicide because their crops, and only source of income is wasting away in harsh temperatures. I was lost by it all somehow. Why did I not know about this? How could I not know about this? What was happening all around me? It left a sense of discomfort inside me, but it also spurred in me a sense of duty.
Understanding the inner workings of how the Fashion Industry is such a harsh pollutant made my heart weep. Your favorite scarlet red sweater was made with toxic dyes that are running through someone’s drinking water. Your $12.99 shirt was made in a mass produced factory that pushes carbon dioxide and methane out into the atmosphere. The clothes we choose to wear can be hurting our earth? How could art be so damaging?
But it's far from doomsday. There is a fix. I am the fix. You are the fix, as are we all. We, us, humans designed a system that is failing us and our planet. My sails took a different direction when I was seventeen, and that inspirational wind led me here. Possibility is inspiring. I’m on a mission, a mission to change how we operate, how we do, how we see, and how we create, innovate, and improve. We can slow down the time clock. We can change what we need to, and we can do better. I’ve been fighting that kind of fight my whole life, opening myself to what can be and leaving behind that which serves no positive purpose. Sustainability is my hope. It's the subject that has my imagination, and my passion. It dances around me filling the dreams of this twenty-one year old resident of Manhattan. I grew up in a place that was tough for me. A place that challenged me. A place that prepared me. I’m ready, and I am a part of a world that is full of possibilities and opportunities.
What’s next? My fashion innovation and transformation will be moving in the direction of not only social change but how this government recognizes the fashion industries part in the climate crisis. You will see how fashion is breaking out of the mold of tradition just as I did when I moved out of that little hometown.
KAYLEE NAEDLER
I have always been somewhat of a non-traditionalist. I grew up in a small town, where everyone wanted to fit in. Everyone wanted to go to traditional universities (which seemed like glorified high school to me). Instead of joining sports teams, I chose Drama Club, where I could be creative and express myself through performance. I have always had a big passion for fashion and refused to come to school dressed like everyone else.
I felt like an outsider.
I wanted to get out and start my career immediately, become independent and claim responsibilities as an adult. I could not wait to experience a place where I had the freedom to make all of my decisions and be whoever I wanted. New York City had always been a kind-of fever dream in my mind. And then, that dream became reality. Two weeks after my high school graduation, I packed up my belongings and moved to my new Upper East Side apartment. I would be attending my dream school, LIM College, to study fashion merchandising and achieve my dream job as a buyer or planner. I had been hooked on the idea ever since I attended a summer buying class during high school. Little did I know then that I would find a new hidden passion along the way.
I could not wait to start learning everything I could about the wonderful and glamorous fashion industry and engage with those peers who held the same passions as I did. It was here where I was introduced to the concept of sustainability, and I quickly learned that this amazing industry, the one I had dreamed of, was in actuality damaging our planet and compromising our future well-being.
I remember one class day in particular. We were tasked to track the supply chain of a garment from our closet, which intimidated me at first. But, after countless hours of research, I was able to see exactly from where my garment originated, all the way down to its thread and labels. The most alarming part? Seeing how many times the garment traveled back and forth to different factories, emitting a huge amount of greenhouse gases from this transportation alone. When I thought about how many clothes I have in my closet, it made me sick. To think that I was responsible for that degree of environmental impact. Or at least that was how I felt. From then on, I knew it was necessary to incorporate sustainability into my career no matter the fashion path I took because it was a problem that was not going away.
A very impactful moment in my sustainability journey came when I had the opportunity to work with Free People’s sustainability team on a project: to make their stores more carbon neutral. That entailed touring a store and learning about the amazing initiatives the brand already had in place. I found it unique that Free People chose not to boldly incorporate sustainability in their marketing strategy, as they employed many conscious practices: such as reusing and reselling store displays, partnering with charitable organizations such as Girls Inc., and focusing on waste reduction at the corporate office. My team specifically decided to focus on improving circularity by giving returns and damages another life, offsetting carbon emissions from transportation, and educating the community about their own environmental impacts. It was this project that confirmed my passion for sustainability because, for the first time I realized that I had ideas that could significantly reduce impacts and create actual change. I had struggled previously, wondering how I could make a difference individually. Seeing my initiatives excite Free People’s sustainability team, made me confident that sustainability would stay in my career. I could be an agent for change -- myself -- and a student as small as myself could instigate changes for the better at the corporate level. I realized that this was the reason I was passionate about sustainability in the first place: to share with and educate others about, regardless of their influence, the urgency of our current environmental crisis and how we can work collectively towards a better future.
This journey has taught me to never stop working towards my goals, especially when it concerns the future of our planet. When I go on to work full-time after graduation, I will continue to act as an agent for change. I hope that the small innovations I can make in my future career will affect the whole industry, so we can finally have fashion that does not have to come with a detrimental cost.
Cape Cod image by Kelly Sikkema.
I’m from Cape Cod, MA, which is an island popular for its beaches. When I was a child, I remember exploring its unending beaches and enormous dunes. Today, when I revisit my favorite childhood pond, the water laps the edge of the parking lot. Erosion is now a critical issue on the Cape, as the dunes are receding about fifteen feet every year. In fact, Cape Cod loses more land than it gains which is unsettling since it is happening so quickly, as our oceans rise and storms become more devastating.
Ever since my junior year of high school, it has been my dream to become a stylist. New York’s LIM College gave me the opportunity to make that dream come true. That is, until my sophomore year, when I hit an unexpected roadblock.
I took a class called “Sustainability And The Future Of Fashion,” and what I learned shocked me. I had absolutely no idea that fashion was one of the most environmentally disruptive industries in existence. My dream was now compromised, but I knew one thing -- I did not want to contribute to the damage I was witnessing in my own backyard.
I thought a lot about the sustainability industry, and was eager to learn more. During my junior year, I had the opportunity to work with Free People, who encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and explore new ideas. As a result, I was motivated to work toward a more circular lifestyle. I’m not very conscious of how my daily activities impact the world.
Free People’s customers make up a community who embrace responsibility and accountability. The result? Care FP. With this initiative, Free People is gradually modifying the way they ship, produce, and distribute their products in order to build a more sustainable future, while working with and inspiring students like me.
Currently, I’m studying the supply chain of their beloved Harper Tank. In doing so, my peers and I are actively discovering ways to minimize the negative impacts of its production through that chain. We’ve found some great ways to reduce impacts in manufacturing, transportation, and dyeing. As a result of my research, I have begun to hold myself highly accountable when making personal purchases.
This project gave me career guidance and inspiration. I was truly motivated to think outside the box, a crucial tool for my future in sustainability. Just recently, Free People released a collection of recycled and organic knitwear, which demonstrates that they are committed through their actions, rather than just words. This reminds me that we all must begin taking action to help our planet, and it’s never too late. My goal is to inspire others while following my path, and help contribute to the preservation of beautiful places, like Cape Cod.
RACHEL CORSON
I grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey, a small little town with only three stop lights. Maybe just two. Anyway, everyone in town knew everybody, and every kid in my class at school looked nearly identical to the one seated just a few feet away. Breaking the mold, being different wasn’t done in this place. Cliquey, yes. Originality...well, no. Tough place both to live in, and break from, but I had my ways, my strengths, and my plans for myself. You see, I had my tomorrows set on something bigger, and I guess, in looking back, that I had come to that realization early on in my life.
I, for one, was not a child with a mother who owned a minivan or a father who worked in finance. I was an only child that had an imagination much larger than the little corner of the world outside my bedroom window. I doodled in my school notebooks. I would lose myself in ideas, thoughts, and questions. How deep is the ocean? Was a dinosaur taller than the Eiffel Tower? What would it be like to fly? My dad drove a green station wagon and we would listen to Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones, and so many others as we drove from one place to the next. If there was a bird with a broken wing or a turtle in the road, my mother would take the bird to the animal hospital, or stop to help the turtle find its way so it wouldn’t get hurt. In a lot of ways I was separated from the gossip and the harsh nature of things that went along with living in the borough I called home.
As I got older the grating words and the biting criticism would find their way to me, creeping in and seeping in from what, at times, could seem like all directions. It drained me of my confidence, tearing pieces of me away bit by bit. It changed me. I became that shy child. That uncertain child. That pained child. I began to hide my true self away, sitting in the back of the room, suppressing my thoughts, my imagination, my creativity. Leaving behind so much of myself that I had once held so tightly and so proudly.
I think it came as a bit of a shock to those who knew me that NYC was the place I was headed for the next four years. Fashion school was out of the ordinary. There would be no Computer Science or Nursing major so coveted by the 125 people I would graduate with in 2018. I was breaking the tradition that had been set for me.
But I wanted more. I wanted culture, I wanted to restore myself and that wasn’t going to be done by staying put. I knew I could do it, and I knew that I would do it. How, I wasn’t quite sure. Things happen unexpectedly. A college credit that I was told was just another course required turned out to be a landmine of opportunity.
Sustainability? You mean, reduce, reuse, recycle? The images projected on the screen looked like they were spliced from a poorly made movie about toxic waste. However, they were real.
Waters in Libya that are fire engine red due to high acidity levels. Plastics that fill the stomachs of the largest mammals in the world. Indian farmers committing suicide because their crops, and only source of income is wasting away in harsh temperatures. I was lost by it all somehow. Why did I not know about this? How could I not know about this? What was happening all around me? It left a sense of discomfort inside me, but it also spurred in me a sense of duty.
Understanding the inner workings of how the Fashion Industry is such a harsh pollutant made my heart weep. Your favorite scarlet red sweater was made with toxic dyes that are running through someone’s drinking water. Your $12.99 shirt was made in a mass produced factory that pushes carbon dioxide and methane out into the atmosphere. The clothes we choose to wear can be hurting our earth? How could art be so damaging?
But it's far from doomsday. There is a fix. I am the fix. You are the fix, as are we all. We, us, humans designed a system that is failing us and our planet. My sails took a different direction when I was seventeen, and that inspirational wind led me here. Possibility is inspiring. I’m on a mission, a mission to change how we operate, how we do, how we see, and how we create, innovate, and improve. We can slow down the time clock. We can change what we need to, and we can do better. I’ve been fighting that kind of fight my whole life, opening myself to what can be and leaving behind that which serves no positive purpose. Sustainability is my hope. It's the subject that has my imagination, and my passion. It dances around me filling the dreams of this twenty-one year old resident of Manhattan. I grew up in a place that was tough for me. A place that challenged me. A place that prepared me. I’m ready, and I am a part of a world that is full of possibilities and opportunities.
What’s next? My fashion innovation and transformation will be moving in the direction of not only social change but how this government recognizes the fashion industries part in the climate crisis. You will see how fashion is breaking out of the mold of tradition just as I did when I moved out of that little hometown.
KAYLEE NAEDLER
I have always been somewhat of a non-traditionalist. I grew up in a small town, where everyone wanted to fit in. Everyone wanted to go to traditional universities (which seemed like glorified high school to me). Instead of joining sports teams, I chose Drama Club, where I could be creative and express myself through performance. I have always had a big passion for fashion and refused to come to school dressed like everyone else.
I felt like an outsider.
I wanted to get out and start my career immediately, become independent and claim responsibilities as an adult. I could not wait to experience a place where I had the freedom to make all of my decisions and be whoever I wanted. New York City had always been a kind-of fever dream in my mind. And then, that dream became reality. Two weeks after my high school graduation, I packed up my belongings and moved to my new Upper East Side apartment. I would be attending my dream school, LIM College, to study fashion merchandising and achieve my dream job as a buyer or planner. I had been hooked on the idea ever since I attended a summer buying class during high school. Little did I know then that I would find a new hidden passion along the way.
I could not wait to start learning everything I could about the wonderful and glamorous fashion industry and engage with those peers who held the same passions as I did. It was here where I was introduced to the concept of sustainability, and I quickly learned that this amazing industry, the one I had dreamed of, was in actuality damaging our planet and compromising our future well-being.
I remember one class day in particular. We were tasked to track the supply chain of a garment from our closet, which intimidated me at first. But, after countless hours of research, I was able to see exactly from where my garment originated, all the way down to its thread and labels. The most alarming part? Seeing how many times the garment traveled back and forth to different factories, emitting a huge amount of greenhouse gases from this transportation alone. When I thought about how many clothes I have in my closet, it made me sick. To think that I was responsible for that degree of environmental impact. Or at least that was how I felt. From then on, I knew it was necessary to incorporate sustainability into my career no matter the fashion path I took because it was a problem that was not going away.
A very impactful moment in my sustainability journey came when I had the opportunity to work with Free People’s sustainability team on a project: to make their stores more carbon neutral. That entailed touring a store and learning about the amazing initiatives the brand already had in place. I found it unique that Free People chose not to boldly incorporate sustainability in their marketing strategy, as they employed many conscious practices: such as reusing and reselling store displays, partnering with charitable organizations such as Girls Inc., and focusing on waste reduction at the corporate office. My team specifically decided to focus on improving circularity by giving returns and damages another life, offsetting carbon emissions from transportation, and educating the community about their own environmental impacts. It was this project that confirmed my passion for sustainability because, for the first time I realized that I had ideas that could significantly reduce impacts and create actual change. I had struggled previously, wondering how I could make a difference individually. Seeing my initiatives excite Free People’s sustainability team, made me confident that sustainability would stay in my career. I could be an agent for change -- myself -- and a student as small as myself could instigate changes for the better at the corporate level. I realized that this was the reason I was passionate about sustainability in the first place: to share with and educate others about, regardless of their influence, the urgency of our current environmental crisis and how we can work collectively towards a better future.
This journey has taught me to never stop working towards my goals, especially when it concerns the future of our planet. When I go on to work full-time after graduation, I will continue to act as an agent for change. I hope that the small innovations I can make in my future career will affect the whole industry, so we can finally have fashion that does not have to come with a detrimental cost.
Cape Cod image by Kelly Sikkema.
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