The Metro: Detroit Fashion Revolution Week aims to reshape industry toward sustainability
Tia Graham, Cary Junior II, The Metro April 23, 2025Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Fashion Revolution Week is being celebrated worldwide this week to raise awareness about the importance of responsibly-made fashion.
The world of fashion is under pressure. Sales have slowed in recent years. People are spending less on clothes due to inflation and economic uncertainty.
People are also rethinking how they support an industry with many issues. The ugly reality is that the fashion industry has devastated our environment. That, coupled with exploitative working conditions in manufacturing, have buyers reconsidering both what they buy and where they are buying clothes from.
In Detroit this week, many designers and manufacturers will gather for Detroit Fashion United. The local initiative is part of a global movement that promotes sustainable fashion as the solution to environmental and workplace harms. It promotes more organic materials, fair wages and quality clothing items that last.
Today on The Metro, we explored how sustainable fashion is helping to address these problems and Detroit’s potential to be the next fashion hub.
Paulina Petkoski, a College for Creative Studies professor, designer and advocate for sustainable fashion practices; and Jen Guarino, president and CEO of The Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center, joined the conversation.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
More stories from The Metro on Wednesday, April 23:
- How children’s education impacts parental dementia risk
- What’s behind Dearborn’s drastic drop in fatal overdoses?
- Demystifying and fighting misinformation about autism and those who have it
- How Community Violence Intervention programs stop harm before it happens
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
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Authors
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Tia Graham is a reporter and Weekend Edition Host for 101.9 WDET. She graduated from Michigan State University where she had the unique privilege of covering former President Barack Obama and his trip to Lansing in 2014.
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Cary Junior II is an audio journalist and producer for The Metro on 101.9 WDET. Cary has worked as a producer or host on a number of projects. His work includes short and longform audio, documentary series and daily radio. In his five year career in journalism he has worked for Crooked Media, the Detroit Free Press, and now WDET - Detroit's NPR station.
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