INTERVIEW #34 MONIKA KICHAU
Occupation: Stylist and sustainable fashion influencer
What’s your relationship with clothes?
Well it’s a complex one. My relationship is that I love clothes and how they can form identities, communicate and so on and also I work in fashion to be more specific as a stylist. I have an editorial background, I work as a commercial stylist and personal style advisor for both public figures and people who seek advice on their personal style. I also work for the Swedish popular TV-Show, Go’Kväll, where we do makeovers for people who want to have a new style and image. I love to see how clothes can basically change the way we feel about ourselves. Clothes can have a magic power of bringing confidence to people.
“I love to see how clothes can basically change the way we feel about ourselves.”
I have always been interested in fashion. I grew up in Soviet Russia, and as a child I was surrounded by creative women who nourished my fashion interest and sense of style - my mom and grandmother. My grandmother sewed clothes and had an eye for fashion in a country where there was not an existing fashion system as we know it in a western sense and access to fashion images and fashionable clothes was quite limited. Grandmother was a terrific hobby designer, she made wonderful clothes and was creative with upcycling methods. My mom had and still has a great sense of style. This particular environment formed my interest. When I decided to go to university in my early twenties, I studied masters programs in both culture studies and later on fashion studies and after that advanced to styling. Clothes are for me a tool of expression in different ways, what clothes communicate and how we combine clothes and express ourselves through clothes is my creative output. So in that sense my relationship to clothes is both private and professional.
How would you describe your style?
I would describe my style as quite eclectic and adventurous. I love to experiment. It’s my profession to style and experiment but also to understand different styles and to communicate and in some sense mediate a message through style. I’m not one of those who stays true to the same style or color palette, I love to explore different styles, that brings me closer to the people I style and characters I create when working commercially and so on. With that said I also know what I love, what I look good in and love to collect. For instance I love power shoulders and strong shapes, I love blazers (especially bought second hand) and I love beautiful shoes that are extraordinary and that give a sense of edginess and attitude to my looks. I love statement pieces and accessories because those parts are absolutely crucial part of my way of playing and adding those finishing touches. I also love to draw parallels to fashion history and take it in my modern wardrobe.
How would you describe your closet?
My closet is eclectic and colourful, it is also color coordinated because that is how it works for me and what inspires me. Once a month I do a re-hang to keep it organised which gives me a moment to spend time with my clothes and have a creative moment to come up with new outfit ideas. Also that once a month routine helps me to keep it tidy in my closet because it can become messy if I don’t stick to this particular routine. I love to color coordinate my closet and find new color combos (as opposed to hanging clothes in categories tees and tops, jeans and trousers and so on), which makes it easier for me to be creative with my wardrobe. I have a lot of clothes but I try to keep it tidy and pack away stuff I don't use for the moment, take a break from garments, store them in boxes and then after while those kept and stored away clothes find their way back into my daily rotation. This is also the reason I have a lot of clothes that have been in and out of my wardrobe through decades, many of them are second hand and vintage finds that I treasure. It’s important to identify what is making sense for you when you walk into or open your closet, how you organise and how you upkeep a good relationship with your clothes and how you make the best use of your closet treasures. Clothes that I buy - used or new - when they enter my closet I have to be sure that they will be used a lot and not just hang there. Except for some vintage pieces that are collectibles.I love things that last and I take pride in using things for a long time and having them on repeat. There are a lot of blazers in my closet and most of them I have found in second hand stores. The kind of wool and mix of material, buttons, even shapes and quality that you find in second hand blazers is quite hard to find in your new and regular fast fashion store. Usually I thrift men’s blazers, since they suit me and have better quality. I always recommend exploring the men's section in a second hand store. You can find good quality garments there which can sometimes be rare in the women's section since today's second hand stores are overflowing with fast fashion garments of poor quality which often does not rhyme with durability.
“Clothes that I buy - used or new - when they enter my closet I have to be sure that they will be used a lot and not just hang there.”
“A sustainable closet is also a tidy closet. A well organised wardrobe is also a place were the clothes are making sense in terms of both combinations and what you need.”
What is a sustainable closet for you?
A sustainable closet for me is where you have clothes that last for you, that you can use for a very long time. A sustainable closet is where you have a relationship to your clothes. Where you have a plan of how to use your clothes. It’s important for me to have good materials. It could be a closet of second hand, borrowed or rented items. And the new clothes that you bring in should be used, loved and cared for - not just something you had a feeling over one time and then never used again after that one time. A sustainable closet is also a tidy closet. A well organised wardrobe is also a place were the clothes are making sense in terms of both combinations and what you need. The feeling of not having something to wear is almost symptomatic to a closet that is poorly organised and untidy and where you are not connected emotionally to your garments. You need to have your own strategy of how to make your closet sustainable. Evaluate your needs, what you can do better, and be frank with yourself on your pitfalls that make you make bad decisions. Are you a person that needs to reevaluate your needs, are you a fashion consumer that gets a kick out of bringing in something new into your closet but the closet does not give you a creative kick or sparks joy as it is popular to say nowadays. There are so many different strategies, one of them is for instance Marie Kondo, but it’s not a strategy for me. My worst nightmare is to put everything I own in one pile and go through and then fold it in a way that is perfect. I will be like see you in one year, I have to quit my job and fold my clothes in perfect piles. Because that is my worst pitfall I love going in to details like that and what I need is actually something that is easy from the very start to have clothes in my closet that makes sense from the very beginning on the hangers and shelves that I use. But If. Kondo-method works for you stick to it. That is what I mean with having your own strategy that you love and stick to what works for you. See your wardrobe as a process and be creative within that. With a slow fashion approach things need to take time, like building a good relationship with your closet does not come to you over a night or even after one clean up of your closet, it comes from the ritual of repeating your routines when spending creative time with your wardrobe.
“That is what I mean with having your own strategy that you love and stick to what works for you.”
What do you think about the fashion industry?
I think that the fashion industry has a huge responsibility in how we are part of business and marketing models that are existing today. We as consumers can take responsibility for our individual choices. However, the use of textiles and materials that last, factory workers and people involved in other positions in the supply chain getting paid and treated well is a brand responsibility. The whole fashion system as such makes sure that we are all in this together. Even slow fashion is connected to fast fashion. Because fast fashion clothes end up in second hand stores and so on. Even if you buy something second hand there is always a third world factory workers blood, sweat and tears on the garment which in some way does not make us totally free from that part of the fashion industry. We are responsible as consumers to ask for transparency on the new garments that are produced and put pressure on the industry to make sustainable choices. I think the industry has a huge responsibility that a lot of companies do not take. And somehow it ends up being the responsibility of the individual, people especially women are victims of climate shaming even though we all know which sex is overrepresented in the boardrooms, political positions and so on. We have companies making tons of millions and they actually can afford to restructure their business models, and some of them actually have started to take actions. That garment mountains are growing with clothes that have to fast and too soon lose their value and at it’s best it goes to charity shops but it is quite depressing to see clothes coming there are not even used with labels.
“Even if you buy something second hand there is always a third world factory workers blood, sweat and tears on the garment which in some way does not make us totally free from that part of the fashion industry.”
This last summer there was this debate about a pink dress from a fast fashion company, itwas made out of sustainable material, it was priced 200 SEK. People were angry about that amount of resources put into the dress but it didn’t match the price. But at the same time, what we as consumers need to stop reacting rather to ask for change. These fast fashion brands do have a lot of goals and work with sustainability. We have come a long way in reacting that something is wrong with pricing and so on but we don’t have insight in companies business models. That particular fast fashion company has margins that a small or middle range business don’t have, they can produce dresses at minus margins if they want to use it as a PR-strategy for a particular mood for the season and so on. We as consumers react to the cost, with our own rights, but what we actually should be asking for is transparency. Another dress could be more expensive and less sustainable, but what do you know about the workers and still how much they are getting paid? We have to ask for transparency instead of making assumptions and from that I believe real change can come. I always recommend to read the labeling and actually analyse what is said in the subtext. What does this company actually mean with sustainability. A lot of fast fashion brands use sustainability as a front instead of focusing on real substantial changes. They use small different labels and they make you believe that your way of consuming is better for the environment. From educating ourselves comes the real power! Another of my favourite examples is the love for materials like viscose. A lot of viscose is thought of as something environmental friendly i.e. good material. But I have quite a lot of experience and examples of this particular textile being quite fragile. It doesn’t really matter if its fast fashion or a slow fashion or a luxury fashion brand, if your sustainable or environmental friendly material is fragile it is not made to last. it is still in some sense a bad material, the environmental footprint may be just as bad as if the clothes are no good for use after a couple of times being worn. You buy something that you think will last and it doesn’t even last a summer. That is horrifying. And something that needs to stop.
“If your sustainable or environmental friendly material is fragile it is not made to last. it is still in some sense a bad material, the environmental footprint may be just as bad as if the clothes are no good for use after a couple of times being worn.”
What do you believe needs to change?
What has to change is that companies need to take full responsibility for their products and the environmental footprints combined with paying living wedges to factories. People, workers, need to get paid and we as consumers have to be ready to pay. We, especially in the rich part of the planet will have in the long run start to say no to our own fast fashion desires in the magnitude that is existing today. We have for a long time been very desire driven and we will have to change our habits. That is a huge sacrifice I know. I believe that you can still be interested in fashion and clothes by choosing well and buying less. You don’t need a new wardrobe every season. Look into your own archives and love every new piece you bring into your closet. By just doing this small change of buying less you make a huge impact on the industry over all. We as consumers bring in the money so the companies will have to come up with new strategies. We are all in this together and we are all stuck in old ways of thinking.
“By just doing this small change of buying less you make a huge impact on the industry over all.”
What can one do that seeks to create a more sustainable closet?
● Connect to your clothes by evaluating what you have. Keep it tidy in a closet and organising a strategy that suits you. Find your way out from the idea of having nothing to wear. If we have the ability to consume, we all have something to wear. It is our time and creativity that we should all invest in. I believe that we all can be extremely creative, with lesser means and playing with what you got you are always more creative. If you don't know how to ask a creative friend or hire a professional stylist for advice.
● Always look for second hand clothes on first hand. If you have size S, M, you have so much opportunities in second hand stores and webstores. If you have a larger size, it can be harder but some brands have become better to produce larger sizes so this wave will come up in the second hand stores as well pretty soon I believe. Don't stare yourself blind at the size label, maybe you will come up with another creative way of wearing that garment from its original intent of use. And remember, different labels, fashion era’s have had their own ideals of size and for instance 80’s clothes are more oversized than for a lot of clothes produced in our modern times.
● Time is what we have. You don’t have to own anything at once. A good sustainable closet takes time to build. Find your core, what you think you look good in and your style values and build upon that.