Fashion journalism has been criticised a lot, often rightly. It is worth saying, then, that some of the most rigorous reporting on the industry is being done by UK journalists who do not get the attention they deserve. The three below are careful, slow, and extremely hard to fool. I read them to stay honest about my own work.
Sophie Benson
Sophie Benson wrote Sustainable Wardrobe, writes a Dazed column, and reports for Vogue Business, the Guardian, Atmos and the Independent. What sets her apart is that she does not moralise. She gives readers language for greenwashing, labour violations and the cheap certifications that disguise them, and she trusts her readers to use that language themselves. The book has stayed in circulation because it is useful, not preachy — a rare balance to strike.
Olivia Pinnock
Olivia Pinnock has been covering sustainability for over fifteen years, writing for Vogue Business, Forbes and Drapers, and she founded The Fashion Debates, a series of public events that insist on disagreement as a feature, not a bug. She is comfortable with people being wrong in public and working it out, which is how most genuine thinking actually happens. Her career is a long, patient argument for the discipline of reporting as opposed to the theatre of it.
Megan Doyle
Megan Doyle covers sustainable fashion for Vogue Business, BoF and Refinery29, and writes her own Titan Thread newsletter. She pays specific attention to indie makers and to the greenwashing that tries to paint larger brands in indie colours. Reading her work, I trust that I am being told the difference between genuine small-scale practice and its marketing imitation, and that trust is valuable in a noisy industry.
We try to make our linen pieces in a way that would survive the kind of reporting these journalists do. Small atelier in Bulgaria. Named hands. Cloth you can ask about.