The future could be brighter, but young climate activists aren’t forfeiting hope.
In a special Earth Month series, each week WWD will profile the Gen Z talents seeking to demystify climate change, refashion influence and mobilize the masses. With the planet only 0.4 degrees shy of the urgent stop point of 1.5-degrees Celsius warming outlined in the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, advocates are proclaiming that there is little time to spare.
First in the series is Woo Qiyun, the science communicator behind “The Weird and Wild,” who is trying to demystify climate change (to an audience of 15,000 on Instagram) via simple yet high-octane graphics while spotlighting underrepresented Southeast Asian influence at the global deal-making table.
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WWD: How do you define your climate work in your own terms?
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Woo Qiyun: So much of my climate work is rooted in creativity and fun; I wanted to create impact in a way that felt welcoming, bold and colorful. Illustrating and sharing that work on Instagram has allowed me to do that, and allowed me to meet so many like-minded people. Based in Southeast Asia, I want to be able to spotlight the issues, solutions, science and perspectives that don’t get featured so much on major news channels. Sticking true to that, I’m grateful to have been able to push out content that I enjoy making and consuming, and to hear that people resonate with what I’ve been doing is humbling and satisfying. I’ve received an immense amount of support and I am so deeply grateful for all that. I’d say I’m still exploring my style and what “in my own terms” means.
WWD: Where have you helped motivate the biggest push or change in fashion? What about more broadly?
W.Q.: I’m not sure if I’ve motivated a big push but I’m hoping to use my platform and my work on “The Weird and Wild” to do two things — demystify sustainable fashion and normalize better ways to relate to fashion. I think so much of sustainable fashion comes with jargon and also marketing-speak that is more trendy than scientifically rooted. I think being able to break that down, understand what goes behind these labels, allow us to understand what is going on with brands pushing out sustainable lines. My hope is that literacy helps us be better consumers.
In 2018, I made a very conscious decision to stop buying new as best as I can — which was really hard for the shopaholic that I was. Ever since then I’ve been shopping secondhand, renting, upcycling and really making the most of my closet. That has radically changed the way I look at clothes and also consume it, and hope that my audience can see that such a lifestyle is desirable and we don’t have to chase trends to feel like our best selves.
WWD: What is the future you are imagining, and how do we get there? What role does each party play, and why should the fashion industry pay attention?
W.Q.: I am imagining a future where we have a healthy relationship with fashion. Where the industry does not prey on our insecurities and need to fit in, but an art form that creates things that we want to wear forever and ever because we love what it means to us and, of course, the planet. There is so much that every player in the industry can do, be it designers creating outfits that we love that will stand the test of time, to supply chain managers who can define the terms in which these clothes are made. The fashion industry needs to pay attention because it affects the industry’s longevity.
Southeast Asia is home to so much of the fashion supply chain, and also so much rich biodiversity — and yet also the home of so much of the negative impacts of fashion, be it on the environment or the people making our clothes. I imagine a future where we stop exploiting what we have. There’s no fashion on a dead planet.
WWD: How are you dealing with any newfound spotlight your platform has afforded? What about any criticisms?
W.Q.: It’s been a constant work in progress and I’ve been struggling with the pressure of having to post more to “work with” the algorithm that has afforded me the attention and spotlight to say things that I feel are important. I’m also learning to balance having to do paid work — that sustains my free content — in ways that speak to my values without feeling like I’m “selling out.” I’m also mindful that this platform is tied so closely to my identity, that I have to learn to create a healthy relationship with performance metrics, opinions or criticisms.
WWD: Who is your dream brand collaborator and what advice do you have for forging meaningful partnerships today?
W.Q.: Patagonia — for a few reasons. It isn’t just that the brand advocates for environmental justice causes, but also the very fact they also dedicate a fair amount of resources to platform and uplift the local communities they are in as well as the creative community. I was in Atlanta some months ago and it was awesome to see them celebrate a local muralist that they invited to really make their store pop. I think such collaborations and focus on building ecosystems is often so rare for big brands with so many physical and financial resources at their disposal. I want to see so much more of these meaningful collaborations that can help push environmental literacy in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Meaningful partnerships look like mutual respect and understanding. When I work with brands, I appreciate open and honest communication on what they want to achieve, and how I fit into the picture. The best kinds of partnerships allow for some flexibility to push boundaries while at the same time achieving the same objectives. I am manifesting more creative collaborations that will allow us to push for change.