Conference Sneak Peek: Regenerative Fashion

(L-R: Tunis sheep, Carlton Farms; flax harvest, Ekoboerderij de Lingeho; Sekem cotton; Whispering Winds bamboo)

In November 2023, the Biodynamic Community will gather outside Denver, CO, to learn, share and envision what the next 100 years of Biodynamics might bring to people and our planet. More nourishing food? Healthier soil? Changing paradigms about our relationship to each other, nature, and the land? Fashion is one area that often gets overlooked, yet it is pivotal in our modern world. So what is the connection between Fashion and Biodynamics? Ask Arizona Muse, and she will tell you – everything.

“Everything we need, have, and use is grown in the soil,” Arizona says. “This includes the fiber and leather for our clothes, food for our kitchen, wood for our homes, and herbs for medicine.” As someone who has spent a career in the fashion industry and has seen firsthand some of its destructive practices, Arizona has become passionately dedicated to creating change. The change that is needed, she says, is a widespread transition to Biodynamic agriculture.

Arizona founded DIRT.charity to bring greater awareness to the need to change how we care for our soil and to highlight the critical role Biodynamic agriculture can play in changing how our clothes are grown and produced. Arizona also uses her access to major media outlets to draw attention to innovative companies that create positive change by sourcing Biodynamic, regeneratively grown cotton, wool, flax, leather, feathers, and more. A board member of the Biodynamic Demeter Alliance, Arizona, is working with Demeter International to help develop certification standards for various materials used by the fashion industry. As featured in a recent article by National Geographic, called “Fast fashion goes to die in the world’s largest fog desert,” Fast Fashion is devouring our world, filling up wild spaces and drowning us in a sea of cheap and discarded clothing, most of which is made of petrochemicals. It is not a sustainable future.

The theme of the upcoming Biodynamic Conference  is Healing People and the Planet – Looking Towards the Next 100 Years of Biodynamics. Fiber, Fashion, and opening up more opportunities for Biodynamic farmers will be part of the many exciting conversations and presentations at the conference, including a section of the Biodynamic Showcase dedicated to Fiber and Fashion. We hope to see you there!