Shaping Fashion's Future: What You Should Know Before Applying to a Sustainable Fashion Job
And the role of academia in shaping the future of fashion sustainability
With Naika Colas
Interview by Stella Hertantyo
Naika Colas is a New York-based sustainable fashion multihyphenate. She works as a design strategist, Professor of Fashion Design for Parsons’ Fashion Design (BFA), Associate Director for Parsons’ Fashion Management (MPS), and Director of Sustainability at retail merchandising brand, Ovation In-Store.
Naika has also founded her own conscious fashion brand, called Jacques Louis. She has over 13 years of experience focusing on environmental sustainability, social impact, design strategy, project management, strategic marketing, product development, and ESG.
I interviewed Naika in the Conscious Fashion Collective Membership about:
How academia actively contributes to growing the sustainable fashion movement,
What kinds of jobs are available to people who want to work in academia with a focus on sustainable fashion,
And the kinds of skills and knowledge that hiring managers look for when hiring for fashion sustainability roles.
Below are some of the highlights from the conversation. Inside our membership, you'll find the full recording with more insights from Naika (and get instant access to other expert Q&A recordings, workshops, and live events).
What led you to the position you hold today?
It hasn’t been a traditional path. I’ve always been interested in science — specifically environmental science. So going into high school, I knew I wanted to major in biology. I was taking courses such as physics and chemistry. Then I majored in biochemistry in college.
In college, I thought I wanted to become a vet, because I love animals. But after interning for a few weeks, I had to put down two dogs and realized that I didn’t want to do that. So I studied abroad in the Dominican Republic with a minor in marine biochemistry.
I have also always loved fashion. I grew up surrounded by fashion magazines such as Vogue, Ebony, and Essence. Both my parents are from Haiti. When I looked at photos of them when they were growing up, I always noticed the European cuts and colorful garments that my mother wore. Much like my mother, I was known for dressing up.
While I was preparing to graduate from college, I became a stylist at bebe as my first full-time job. I became one of their top stylists and started my blog. At the same time, I was working as a cell bio assistant.
Then I went to work for Genzyme (now called Sanofi) in their labs. Simultaneously, my fashion blogging was going well and I was writing articles and going to fashion shows. That’s when I decided that fashion was the industry for me.
Eventually I got my first real job working for the Department of Public Health. I worked there for five and a half years while I was still blogging.
In my free time, I taught myself to sew after my brother bought me a sewing machine for my birthday. Then I started taking classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology. I’d sew my friends and me outfits all the time. That’s when I knew I wanted to start my brand named after my father — Jacques Louis.
Starting my brand felt like a way to get out of the traditional fashion industry that I didn’t feel like I connected to. In my twenties, I didn’t know that what I was doing would be considered “sustainable fashion”.
Now it's been 14 years since I started sewing and I’m realizing how so many of my unconscious decisions were a way of bringing back indigenous traditions from my mom. For example, choosing not to throw out my scraps. Growing up, my mother was always collecting things, making sure that I wasn’t wasting, and going into fabric shops and asking them if they had deadstock fabric that they wanted to sell.
Then I worked for the Bureau of Recycling and Sustainability for five and a half years, and eventually, I was working as a corporate social responsibility strategist. Then I got a job offer at Parsons. I had an interview and I got the position as a part-time faculty member. At the same time, I started working at Ovation In-Store and became the Director of Sustainability there.
Last year, I became a full-time faculty member at Parsons and in December, I became the Associate Director for Parsons’ Fashion Management MPS program because I've been teaching in the MPS program for about four years.
So I’m currently working two full-time jobs, holding three titles, and I still have my fashion brand!
How does working in academia actively contribute to growing the sustainable fashion movement?
I’m able to share all of my work experiences and insights from the industry with my students. As an educator, that’s the most important part of my work. The students I teach are going to be the next generation of leaders in the fashion industry. So being able to help shape the way they understand the industry and how they find their place in it is a huge contribution to the movement.
I get these glimpses into what the future of this industry could look like and that gives me so much excitement. When I'm teaching about environmental sustainability or community development, we're thinking of systems, the connections between different issues, and the indigenous traditions that can help us today. Being able to teach, share, and impart knowledge with my students has been such a blessing.
What kinds of jobs are available to people who want to work in academia with a focus on sustainable fashion?
If you want to work in academia, you can be a full-time faculty member or you can join as an adjunct professor and then eventually become a part-time faculty member.
While you’re a full-time faculty member, you’re required to have your own to do your creative practice. You have a course load and then you have to sit on committees too. For example, I sit on a research committee and a community development committee.
Through these committees, you’re able to create events for students and faculty, while showing off your work. For example, because I’m passionate about artisanship, community development, and social justice, I’m able to share knowledge about this with other faculty members. This allows them to tap into spaces that they may not have been aware of before. In turn, they can share this information with their students too. This is how research focuses at a university can be shaped and shifted.
As Director of Sustainability at Ovation, your role is multifaceted. How do you stay continuously up to date with the knowledge and skills needed to fulfill these roles?
I do a lot of research — I'm always online; I'm always on my phone. If you see my phone in my hand, I’m probably researching as opposed to responding to a text.
My experience working for the city gave me a lot of insight, because I still receive emails from people I connected with during that time. This makes it easier to be aware of the different legislation, rules, and bylaws that are being enacted in the city. So I’d recommend going on the nyc.gov sites and then seeing what's out there.
I’m also a United Nations Global Compact member. So I’m conscious of the new targets on the 1.5 degree Celsius Paris Climate Agreement.
LinkedIn is also a great platform to stay on top of all the changes in the industry. I’m always on LinkedIn reading about the latest sustainability news.
You have also been involved in recruitment at Ovation. What kinds of skills — hard and soft — do you look for in candidates who are applying for sustainability roles?
There are specific things I look for on an applicant’s resume.
I’d like to see that you’re familiar with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — What are they? Which ones should we be targeting? How does this relate to the business’ supply chain and organizational structure?
People may wonder how the SDGs are related to the work we do at Ovation. They’re so connected. For example, SDG 5 focuses on real and sustained gender equality. We have a lot of women in our workforce, so I want you to consider how best we can support them.
If you’re new to the sustainability space, I’d recommend checking out the United Nations Global Compact. They have a lot of insightful webinars on the SDGs.
I want to see that you’re familiar with SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board).
Image Credit: John Barlett’s LinkedIn
I think you should also have an understanding of the Science Based Targets initiative and the Global Reporting Initiative.
You should know what the Paris Agreement is and what the 1.5-degree Celsius target means.
I also want to see that you can work with data. This means if I give you a data set, I want you to be able to draw insights from it and tell a story — as well as how you will share that story.
You should learn about what EcoVadis is.
Then, I need you to know about scope one, two, and three carbon emissions are — as well as how this links to abatement plans. You don’t need a degree in biology or chemistry, but I do expect a foundation of climate literacy.
With all of the knowledge I have mentioned above, you should make sure that you’re not just sharing facts and statistics, but also sharing specific examples of how this links to the business you’re applying to during your interview. Show how you would put this theory into practice.
This is so important, because you’re applying for a sustainability role, they’re expecting you to come in and create tangible positive impacts. Make sure you explain exactly how you plan to do that.
Are postgraduate degrees necessary for working in sustainability roles? What topics are still under-researched when it comes to sustainable fashion? When applying for a job, what is the best way for applicants to communicate their specific sustainability skills? Is ESG here to stay or a passing buzzword?
To hear from Naika on these topics and much more, watch the full recording in the Conscious Fashion Collective Membership!