An Interview With Monica Sanders
Be transparent: Being open about the sources where your garments are from and what they’re made of is important. By making this type of information readily available for consumers it will allow them to be loyal and trust your brand more.
As ‘slow fashion’ grows in popularity, more fashion companies are jumping on the bandwagon. Renewable consumption has been gaining popularity for a while, as people recognize its importance, and many fashion companies want to be a part of this change. In this interview series, we are talking to business leaders in the fashion industry to discuss why they are embracing slow fashion and renewable consumption. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Kate Aydin.
Kate is an Executive Vice President, Consumer Products Industry Leader, at Capgemini. She is passionate about sustainable living practices and leaving a better world for the next generation. Kate currently resides in San Francisco with her husband, two children and two pets.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?
I was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey and come from a big family who played a big role in my life growing up. I spent most of my childhood in neighborhoods where the architecture and structures of the buildings are thousands of years old, however the city still has a strong modern flavor. I attended one of the oldest American colleges in Istanbul and pursued my industrial engineering degree where I felt I could learn more about the business and have the flexibility to move wherever I wanted. That decision is what ultimately led me to move to the U.S. at 22 years old to complete my master’s degree in information technology and operations at Carnegie Mellon University — Tepper School of Business.
As the only person in my family that moved away from Turkey, I try to go back every year and every time that I return, I come back with several fashionable, locally sourced items which is always a plus.
Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?
After I took an interest in sustainable companies, I had a great run with Impossible Foods that lasted almost five years. During that time, I had the opportunity to work with some amazing people in their fields and learned how you can run a successful business, make environmentally friendly products, and still fulfill your purpose in life — living a better world for future generations. In my current role I have the opportunity to help and support many companies in their journey not just one.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
There are a lot of interesting things that have happened to me since I began my career, but I’ll share one story about when I decided to make my career move because of my personal interest in sustainability. After having my second child, sustainability started becoming more and more important for me because I realized I wanted to leave a better world for my children, and I realized that I currently wasn’t doing enough to support that. It was during this time that I received the opportunity to meet with Pat Brown, CEO of Impossible Foods, a company that develops plant-based substitutes for meat products. Having spent my childhood in Turkey, meat was not just something we ate, it was part of our culture and heritage. And here I was, somebody who loves eating meat, talking about a plant-based meat opportunity. Our conversation went very well, and we both realized making a “sustainable decision” didn’t mean the same thing for everyone. For Pat it was a lifestyle and for me it was a balanced way of changing day to day choices. Of course, I was so inspired by our conversation that I decided to take a chance and accept a job with Impossible Foods. Starting my sustainability-focused career at this company and my conversation with Pat changed my perspective in my career and my personal life.
You are a successful business leader. Which three-character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Grit is my number one-character trait. I’m not great at giving up when I believe in something, I like to continue the path to achieve my goals and I think in a lot of ways that trait in many leaders has changed the world. My second trait is believing in the power of teamwork. We never achieve anything by ourselves, it’s the team that does. It’s making sure that you have the right people with you along the journey and having a strong relationship with those individuals who share the same goals as you. And finally, the third trait is empathy, because in order to be successful you need to have empathy for your customers, clients, and for your team. We spend a lot of time with each other and understanding each other’s situation and supporting each other when we need it is key to our success. I practice using these three traits every day — grit in making sustainable choices even when it is not the most convenient option, working with my team and clients every day in understanding our individual and unique circumstances to find more ways to make our businesses more sustainable.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
What makes Capgemini stand out is that they truly focus on their clients, their needs, and how we can deliver value for them beyond the business. Capgemini keeps a constant eye on their clients’ issues and is proactive on seeing what’s around the corner for their customers. Sometimes our clients are under pressure, and we feel it with them, and we think about how we can help them, and sometimes everything goes well, and we celebrate together. Several years ago, I used to be a client of Capgemini and when I ran into some challenges, the first people I called was them. They listened to me, understood me, and helped me solve my problems.
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that was relevant to you in your life?
I actually have a favorite line from a poem. The poem is titled Good Timber by Douglas Malloch and I discovered it from a Chinese fortune cookie one day and it just stuck to me since then.
Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
I always think that in order to develop yourself and to do better, you need to stretch and keep stretching. Sometimes it doesn’t feel comfortable, but that’s the only way to be stronger and even better. So, whenever I feel uncomfortable in a situation, I remember this part of the poem.
Who is your fashion hero or heroine? Why?
I didn’t think twice on the answer to this question. I would say my fashion heroine is Angelia Jolie. Many years ago, she showed up to a red-carpet event with a $25 dress that she purchased from a thrift shop, and I was very impressed. The high-profile celebrity that she was back then and still is, I couldn’t believe she had worn a dress from a consignment store. That is why it was no surprise to me when I recently learned that Angelina launched a fashion business allowing consumers to be the designers, inviting them to interact with tailors, patternmakers, as well as artisans to create one-of-a-kind clothing pieces. One of the main purposes of her brand is to use leftover, high quality vintage material, allowing her company the opportunity to work with ethical luxury brands. Her goal is to perfect things. To create the perfect outfit and revive your closet with the consumer in mind and with the world in mind. Angelina really cares about the world, about the people and about consumption and I think that what she’s doing is great.
What are three things we should all know about “slow fashion”?
- Sustainable: The items that consumers wear last longer. Back in the day, our parents didn’t change their clothes every other month, they reused the same pieces over and over again. The way the clothes are made make the items more sustainable and useful.
- Inexpensive: In the long run, buying ethically sourced fashion pieces is cheaper than constantly having to purchase new items. Customers like to think that if they buy clothes from fast fashion brands that they’re saving money, but in reality, they’re not, because those pieces don’t tend to last that long.
- Better quality: These clothes are made with better stitching, fabrics, and care which in return makes individuals look and feel good and ultimately is sustainable and positive for the planet.
Overall, slow fashion is not replacing everything that we’re doing today in terms of sustainability, but it’s showcasing that we as consumers can be more informed about the quality of the material, where the fabric and resources are from, so in the end, we can truly appreciate the clothes we wear.
Can you please explain how it can be fashionable to buy less, wait a little longer, or even repair clothing?
Well to begin with, I think it’s fashionable to be sustainable. For example, a well-known American retailer created a program where they reuse and recycle suits and ties that their retired customers don’t need any more to wear to work. The company then donates the clothes to different charities giving people with less means the opportunity to wear perfectly wearable clothes.
This also applies to timeless and classical fashion pieces. I have a night gown that used to be my mother’s and that I wear on certain special occasions. It’s unique because it was a gown my mother used to wear to parties the year I was born, so every time I wear this dress, I remember my mother and have a personal story to share. When an item is worn for a long time, it leaves a lasting impression.
What are your “5 Things You Need to Lead a Successful Slow Fashion Brand”.
- Have a form of art and craft: High fashion is a combination of art and craft, and you cannot rush art and you cannot rush craft. For the art portion, you need to take your time to have the right designers, the right teams, and concepts. For the craft part, you need to have the right engineering, manufacturing, and product expertise.
- Be transparent: Being open about the sources where your garments are from and what they’re made of is important. By making this type of information readily available for consumers it will allow them to be loyal and trust your brand more.
- Be able to customize and personalize: Companies should be flexible in making adjustments to their items. No one has the same size or body, so if a brand can offer alterations on-site as a service, that will be more appealing to customers and go a long way for retailers.
- Research raw materials: Understand what raw materials are recyclable because not all of them are. If you want to lead a successful slow fashion brand, then focusing on the expensive and recyclable fibers, wools, and cottons versus synthetic materials might be more beneficial for your business.
- Track your supply chain: The fashion industry produces about 10% of annual global carbon emissions and fashion’s emissions of harmful greenhouse gases is projected to grow more than 50% by 2030. Fashion companies need to engage very closely with their providers of products and services to support their decarbonization efforts.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
It all comes down to circular fashion. If you’re done wearing an article of clothing, don’t throw it away but rather pass it on to a family or friend for them to wear, donate it or sell it to a thrift store. I would also encourage customers to buy fashion made of natural fibers. Natural fibers are biodegradable if they end up in a landfill and they’re easier to recycle. That way, as a result, a culture would be built where customers wear clothes made of recycled materials in a fiber-to-fiber circular economy.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkateaydin/.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
About the Interviewer: Monica Sanders JD, LL.M, is the founder of “The Undivide Project”, an organization dedicated to creating climate resilience in underserved communities using good tech and the power of the Internet. She holds faculty roles at the Georgetown University Law Center and the Tulane University Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy. Professor Sanders also serves on several UN agency working groups. As an attorney, Monica has held senior roles in all three branches of government, private industry, and nonprofits. In her previous life, she was a journalist for seven years and the recipient of several awards, including an Emmy. Now the New Orleans native spends her time in solidarity with and championing change for those on the frontlines of climate change and digital divestment. Learn more about how to join her at: www.theundivideproject.org.
Kate Aydin Of Capgemini On Why They Are Embracing Slow Fashion and Renewable Consumption was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.