Jade McSorley, In The Frame

For those who might not know you, please can you tell us a bit about yourself, where are you based, and what is your focus in the world of sustainable fashion?

I am currently head of knowledge exchange and sustainability at the Center for Sustainable Fashion, which is based at The London College of Fashion. My journey into the fashion industry started 17 years ago when I was scouted by Models One. I was a full-time model for around 10 years. Mainly working for fast fashion brands, very different from what I'm doing now, but I saw the light. I then went back to study as a mature student, doing a course called Ma Fashion Futures at the London College of Fashion, which then led to my PhD, looking at sustainability, fashion and responsible innovation.

In a nutshell, I am a sustainable fashion advocate. I wouldn't say I'm an expert by any means, because nobody is, but somebody who's very deeply passionate about making the fashion industry much more sustainable and regenerative - thinking about how we embed justice within the system that we have.

How did getting scouted affect your journey into fashion?

I grew up in Middlesborough and there's not much opportunity there, but I really wanted to work in fashion. I wanted to be a journalist. When I got scouted as a model, I thought it would probably last about six months. So I used that opportunity to get internships at Vogue and other publications. I was learning more and more about the environmental impact of fashion and decided I didn't really want to go into journalism and sell more products.

A model's job is to sell products, and then a fashion journalist's job is to talk about fashion, and ultimately, sell products. It just felt like that wasn't the right route for me.

You had your aha moment in 2018 (realising you couldn’t feed into the fashion industry’s wasteful and exploitative nature), and of course, there weren’t a lot of sustainable fashion-related jobs out there at that point. Founding Loanhood (fashion events/clothes swap space) was deeply innovative at the time, what inspired you to take this route?

Do you know what, I didn't have one ‘aha’ moment. I think it was a combination of years and years. When you're modelling, you're travelling, you turn up and shoot and they expect you to shoot 75 items in one day, and you’re one model, it's a bit overwhelming. When I went back to study MA fashion futures, it was quite speculative, so I was constantly thinking about what future I wanted to create for the fashion industry. At this point, I decided I only wanted to shoot for sustainable brands, which pretty much stopped all my income, because they didn't really exist at the time. I don't want to call it a sacrifice, but it was a bit of a wake-up call for me to think, about how I would stay within the fashion industry while working in a way that is aligned with my morals and my values and and also be able to sustain myself financially in London?

I decided, that if there's nothing there, then I'm going to create it. So my agent and I, who is now one of my best friends, started Loanhood together.

We started as a rental company, with Loanhood’s mission being to create an accessible platform for people to shop sustainably. When starting out, we organised swap shops, because they were very community-led and we could conduct a lot of research while doing them. We started to gather feedback and a bit of understanding of what Loanhood was as a platform and community, and what it was going to become. All of this led to developing the app and a couple of other types of technology that we had for Loanhood, specifically for rental. But we decided in 2024 to end rental, and go back to swap shops. The price point of rental was so high, that we couldn't make it work in terms of bringing profit in for us as a business, but also we couldn’t offer young consumers a chance to rent instead of buy that felt financially possible. When you're competing with fast fashion, the only thing that comes close is something free, and swap shops are free. Everyone loves them. It's a double dopamine hit; you're already getting rid of stuff that's in your wardrobe that you don't use or you don't value as much, and then you're giving it a new home for somebody else. And likewise, you're refreshing your wardrobe. So it feels like a first exchange, between people, and that's what we went back to in the end.

You recently started a new position as Head of Knowledge Exchange (Sustainability) at Centre for Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion - congratulations! Can you tell us a bit about the role?

We're based in the University of the Arts London, questioning how academia and industry work together to create change and challenge the status quo of the fashion industry. We've got an amazing team who all work with different industry partners on different projects, which I oversee to ensure that everyone is delivering and that the partners are happy. I was really excited about the role, because of my academic and lecturing experience doing my PhD, but also the industry experience of modelling and co founding Loanhood. So it's a real blend of academia and industry, and I sit right in the centre of that.

Is there anything specific you’re working on at LCF that you’re excited about?

I think that the biggest one, and the one that's actually quite public, is the Governance for Tomorrow programme that we're currently doing, it's a very experimental programme. It's taking place over three years, working with a diverse number of intellects, professionals, industry and people in academia, bringing them all together to think about new governance models and what a stewardship board would look like if we placed human, and more than human justice, at the centre of those decision-making processes.

Your TEDXtalk about using technology in fashion was really inspiring - where do you see the metaverse and AI’s place in fashion now - 4 years on?

I don't want to get too academic, but there's currently an eco centric way of thinking, and then there's a techno-centric way of thinking, and they don't often blend. We talk about nature, then we talk about technology, and they feel like they're very binary. What I wanted to do for my PhD, which led to the TEDx talk, was think about how they coincide, and how we can use technology responsibly to facilitate a more sustainable fashion industry.

If we could get our fashion fix from experimenting online, through this immaterial form of fashion, I think it has its place, if the technology improves. I know that the glasses industry used virtual try-on for a while, and it's worked quite well, but it’s different with clothes, bodies are moving all the time and fabric is moving all the time, so for them to connect in a way that looks seamless and real is really difficult. I think, if they get that nailed, and we can be virtually trying on clothes, instead of buying 20 items to try on at home, then it is really a useful tool. But the Metaverse for fashion has still got a long way to go. There's not really anything created for the fashion-centric consumer, It's very game-like, and I don't think the traditional fashion consumer who doesn't play games is going to lean towards that right now, because there's no practical function for their life. It doesn't replace the tactility of clothes.

I think there's an interesting avenue there with AI-generated images, renders of products that haven't been made, or potentially letting people tease things, like a pre-order system or something, without there being too much product produced. This could help reduce the carbon footprint associated with the traditional supply chain that is happening now, with the potential for customers to get involved with the co-creation of the designs as well. But there's always an energy trade-off, and nobody knows for sure how much energy they're actually generating within it. If a customer comes in and buys a digital machine item, where does that sit? They have to store it somewhere, that takes up data. It's all these factors that nobody knows for sure, I'm not a computer scientist, I'm not an engineer, and I think it requires somebody who has a bit more mathematical knowledge to really understand this problem. So there's definitely potential, but it depends on how it gets used.

On your podcast, Fashforward, you talked about the returns industry and its hidden impact. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

The fashion industry is great at creating a seamless system where consumers don’t see the nitty-gritty. If you order ten pieces, try them on, and send eight back, your job as a consumer is done. You assume those returns are being sorted in the most efficient and ethical way possible—but in reality, a lot of them never even make it back to the shop floor. So, where do those returns go? Are they sent to landfill? Burned? Offloaded to charity shops that may not even have the capacity to take them? More often than not, they end up in the Global South, where communities are left to deal with the excess.

It’s a question of justice—who benefits from the system, and who is left with the consequences? Something as small as returning an item becomes part of a much bigger problem, one that impacts thousands of people across the world.

Recycling isn’t the answer yet either. Less than 1% of textiles in the UK are actually recycled, and blended fibres are especially difficult to separate. Some companies, like Circulose, are working on ways to break down materials like polyester, but for now, those solutions are still playing catch-up. Until they do, the best thing we can do is keep clothes in circulation as long as possible. That’s why swap shops are so important—they keep products in use until there’s a real end-of-life solution, rather than sending them straight to landfill.

It would be great if technology could fix all of this, but we can’t rely on it to swoop in and save the day. And maybe placing all our hope in tech is taking us further away from the real issue: overconsumption. We should be living within the planet’s ecosystems, not just on them—figuring out how to work with natural limits instead of pushing past them.

Sustainable fashion and the digital world of fashion can feel overwhelming — how do you approach it in a way that’s realistic and impactful?

This is something I discuss with students a lot—it’s overwhelming. The best approach is to focus on what you feel strongly about. Lean into your skill set and figure out what you can do. Whether that’s running a swap shop or researching biomaterials, start with one thing and build from there.

That leads me to my next question—how do you approach your own wardrobe with everything you do?

I love fashion. That’s why I work in the industry. I still enjoy looking and feeling good—wearing certain clothes can change your attitude, and your confidence. It's a powerful tool for self-expression. But over the years, I’ve become much more conscious. I went through a phase of feeling guilty about every purchase. Now, I don’t let myself feel guilty, but I do consider everything before I buy it.

First, do I need it, or just want it? Wanting something is fine, but am I going to wear it a lot, or is it just a trend-driven impulse because I saw it on Instagram? For example, I wore a dress to an awards event last night that I had wanted for years. I first saw it, and loved it, but didn’t buy it new. Then, years later, I found it on Depop in my size and knew it was meant to be. I didn’t feel guilty because I knew I loved it and would wear it.

I still get frustrated with myself sometimes, with how I respond to clothes. I get frustrated with friends and family too, but I try not to project my feelings onto them. People are bombarded with marketing messages constantly. I was part of it—I was modelling for those campaigns. It’s everywhere. You can’t make someone feel bad when they haven’t been given the tools to think differently.

What keeps you inspired and hopeful? It’s easy to get overwhelmed.

I’ve definitely felt hopeless and burnt out. But looking back on my career, I know I’ve made the right choices. Even small steps are still something. It helps to know I’m contributing to future generations and using whatever privilege I have to be part of that collective effort. It's not just me or my team—there are so many people tackling this in their own way.

That’s what keeps me going. I couldn’t get up every day and work for a brand that wasn’t addressing this.

Finally, to finish on a lighter note—which three people would you invite to a dinner party?

Stephen Fry for his intellect and humour. Bowie for his magic. And for the third… honestly, I’d love to have someone from the future. Someone who could come back and tell us what’s happening, and where we should be heading. Hopefully, it won't be all bad news!

Jade McSorley wears the Beaulieu Spectacles in Gold