Wear Abouts

Manchester Fashion Institute

Wear Abouts is a podcast from Manchester Fashion Institute that explores why fashion matters and how it fits into everyone’s lives.  Hosted, produced, edited and scored by current students from across Manchester Metropolitan University, the show invites some of the fashion industry’s foremost voices to break down the issues, innovations and ideas that emerge from our relationship with clothing.  Follow Wear Abouts on Instagram at: instagram.com/wearabouts_pod Follow Manchester Fashion Institute at: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstuteor visit us at: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk 

  1. APR 20

    Jess O'Riley and James Robinson on setting up Making Room

    This week, we welcome two of our recent graduates back on campus so they can catch us up on their game-changing project that's bringing garment production back to Manchester.  Jess O'Riley (@j.o.studioo) and James Robinson (@coldonasunday) met for the first time on one of their last days on campus at MFI and realised how much they had in common, as well as how differently they were building their respective fashion brands. What unifies them is a passion for designing and making clothes, but that's hard to do as a small brand.  Rather than tap out, they joined forces to establish Making Room (@making_roommcr), a micro-factory and open studio in Manchester, dedicated to ethical, onshore fashion manufacturing. It's about time that small brands can have their collections made in Cottonopolis again. In this episode, we discover the back story, the mission and what the future holds for the city's most accessible micro-manufacturer.  Did you enjoy the episode? Send us a text. 💬 Subscribe now for new episodes every other Monday. Please take the time to rate and/or review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. We cherish every rating and review. They help to ensure this project continues. Join Wear Abouts over on Instagram for bonus video content: instagram.com/wearabouts_pod You can also follow Manchester Fashion Institute on Instagram: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstitute And check out our courses here: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk

    44 min
  2. 04/07/2025

    Product Innovation and Design with Jalaj Hora

    As the Global Vice President of Product Innovation and Customer Creation at Nike, Jalaj Hora sat at the cutting edge of digital technologies in fashion design and manufacturing. From that perspective, he worked on and witnessed many positive moves towards sustainable practices, but also identified areas where things weren't joining up.  In this episode, we find out how he's looking to fix some of those issues to help brands design in ways that move the needle when it comes to sustainability. We discuss fashion manufacturing challenges, how brands typically calculate their carbon footprint, AI as a design tool and much, much more.  This is our sixth and final episode of series one, so it's a goodbye from Miriam, Laura and the crew. Wear Abouts will be back next year with a new team.  We hope you've enjoyed the series. Thank you so much for your support, reviews, comments and feedback. We have loved making this show and seeing it start conversations around the world. 🫶🌍 Did you enjoy the episode? Send us a text. 💬 Subscribe now for new episodes every other Monday. Please take the time to rate and/or review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. We cherish every rating and review. They help to ensure this project continues. Join Wear Abouts over on Instagram for bonus video content: instagram.com/wearabouts_pod You can also follow Manchester Fashion Institute on Instagram: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstitute And check out our courses here: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk

    44 min
  3. 03/24/2025

    Designing for Disability with Ellie Louise Brown

    University is often a journey of ups and downs and plenty of us get in some scrapes along the way. When Ellie Louise Brown fell over the "tiniest step" and badly broke her ankle during her time at Manchester Fashion Institute, she found herself feeling pretty frustrated. The experience of losing her mobility sparked an interest in designing for those whose disability makes finding usable, stylish clothes a huge challenge. Fast forward three years and Recondition is an award-winning fashion start-up based in Manchester, that's just shown at London Fashion Week.  With the UK Government proposing sweeping cuts to a huge range of disability benefits last week, businesses like Ellie's go a long way to acknowledging the needs of the disability community. Everyone deserves to feel empowered through their clothes and we're delighted to welcome Ellie to the show this week to learn more about her journey as a fashion entrepreneur and disability ally.  Follow Ellie on Instagram here.  Follow Recondition here.  Did you enjoy the episode? Send us a text. 💬 Subscribe now for new episodes every other Monday. Please take the time to rate and/or review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. We cherish every rating and review. They help to ensure this project continues. Join Wear Abouts over on Instagram for bonus video content: instagram.com/wearabouts_pod You can also follow Manchester Fashion Institute on Instagram: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstitute And check out our courses here: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk

    41 min

Trailers

About

Wear Abouts is a podcast from Manchester Fashion Institute that explores why fashion matters and how it fits into everyone’s lives.  Hosted, produced, edited and scored by current students from across Manchester Metropolitan University, the show invites some of the fashion industry’s foremost voices to break down the issues, innovations and ideas that emerge from our relationship with clothing.  Follow Wear Abouts on Instagram at: instagram.com/wearabouts_pod Follow Manchester Fashion Institute at: instagram.com/mcrfashioninstuteor visit us at: fashioninstitute.mmu.ac.uk