Can fashion retail supply chain be reimagined and rebuilt?

Or are we destined to live in a world where, according to National Geographic,

almost half a trillion dollars worth of clothing becomes landfill each year?

Can the economics and environics of retail ever happily coexist?

I'm Doug Stevens, and in episode two of Retail Reborn,

the Business of Fashion's new podcast series on redesigning the retail industry presented by

Brookfield Properties, I investigate whether fashion supply chain can overcome global disruption

while innovating its practices to reflect

increasingly scarce resources and respecting the people and planetary boundaries it impacts.

The question is, have we traveled too far down this road to turn back?

Or can we redeem ourselves if we act now?

The Oxford Dictionary defines the term Black Swan as meaning an unpredictable or unforeseen

event, typically one with extreme consequences.

Using that definition, it could easily be argued that COVID-19, although extreme in its

consequences, is not a Black Swan at all. In fact, over the last several decades, a veritable

parade of experts has predicted just such a pandemic, and even its likely health and economic

impacts, many of which are now

playing out. The reality is that many nations simply chose to disregard those warnings.

From the belching power stations of China to the burning forests of Brazil, more greenhouse gases

than ever are being added to the air we breathe. New research by

the United Nations Environment Program shows emissions are climbing and the world is lacking the

collective political will to do anything about it. Hardly a black swan. Climate change has been

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