Room For All - S2 E16 - Live at the 2025 Social Enterprise Festival - Nina Gbor

Nina Gbor: Championing Sustainable Fashion & Tackling Fast Fashion Waste | Room for All Podcast

Join us in this inspiring episode of the Room for All podcast as we welcome Nina Gbor, a passionate sustainable fashion educator, speaker, and researcher. Nina shares her journey from a vintage fashion enthusiast to becoming an advocate for sustainable fashion. Discover her work with Eco Styles, organizing large-scale clothes swaps, and founding Swap in the City, Australia's first no fast fashion clothes swap hub. Nina discusses the adverse impacts of fast fashion on the environment and health, her policy advocacy efforts, and how she encourages grassroots movements. Learn how you can contribute to a sustainable fashion movement and make a significant impact on the environment by changing your clothing consumption habits.

00:00 Introduction and Warm Welcome
01:56 Nina's Journey into Sustainable Fashion
03:32 The Rise of Secondhand Fashion
05:03 Swap in the City: Revolutionizing Fashion
09:34 Challenges and Advocacy in Sustainable Fashion
12:10 Future Goals and Vision
16:30 Final Thoughts and Contact Information

Eco Styles is a circular economy & sustainable fashion education platform that engages with media, councils, organisations, schools, community groups and individuals to develop strategies for systems change towards a holistic circular and sustainable fashion future. Swap in the City is a community hub offering drop-in clothes swap days every week and events focused on sustainability, circular economy, ecological economy and social wellbeing. Our mission is to reduce textile waste by making swap culture accessible to all – through hands-on experiences and practical education.

https://www.ecostyles.com.au/

https://www.ninagbor.com/

@eco.styles

@swapinthecityau 

Transcript

Swap in the City: Sustainable Style Conversation

​[00:00:00]

Nina Gbor: [00:01:00] Nina, Nina Gbor, welcome. Thank you. Welcome to the Room for All podcast. Oh, thank you so much for having me. This is exciting. Pleasure. I, uh, was reading all of the bios and things this morning and I was very excited. Interview. I'm a big fashion advocate. I love fashion, my wardrobe. Love it. You can look, I can't fit any more clothes in there, but I keep, you can lead this interview then.

Oh, please, please tell me more about what you do. So I am a sustainable fashion educator and of [00:02:00] course that came from the love of style and clothes. I'm digging the outfit. I'm, I'm with you today. Thank you. Um, so I'm a sustainable fashion, um, educator, speaker, researcher. Um, I run clothes swaps. Mm-hmm. And, um, basically work with your jam schools.

Oh, stop it. I told you I was excited for this. I work with anyone, schools, councils, businesses, uh, community groups, environmental groups, um, and encourage better habits around consuming clothing and also encouraging people to be advocates. For systems change. So I also work with a think tank where we do research and recommend policy to the federal government to make the fashion industry better and healthier and more fun.

Amazing. And what inspired you to do this? Oh gosh, it's, it's really interesting. When I was like very young, like three, four or five years old, my mum and my brothers, we used to watch classical movies from the forties and fifties. Oh, and I fell in love. They're fashion. Unbelievable. Yes. Oh, the OG style icons?

Yeah. Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly. Got it. [00:03:00] Sophia Loren. Those were, you know, when I was four. I thought, when you grow up, that's what you look like, that's what you dress like. Certainly. Um, so I wish, I think I fell in love, right? Yeah. I fell in love with vintage fashion from a very young age, um, when I was a teenager and kind of was able to have my own, create my own vibe, my own style.

I started mixing, you know, forties, fifties, vintage with modern, uh, contemporary rather clothing. Um, and little did I know that would be my future career. 'cause this is long before there was ever a sustainable fashion movement or industry or these issues ever came to the fore. But I saw all this waste, all this stuff, you know, ending up Yes.

You know, as mountains of trash and landfill. And I just thought, oh my gosh, it's getting more, there's so much potential with these clothes. They're amazing. So I would, I kind of went on a one woman mission, um, from my teenage years, um, encouraging people to wear more secondhand and mix it up and just create their own vibe style instead of falling fashion trends.

So that was kinda hard. And do you think huge peop more, more and more people are doing that, or less and less people are [00:04:00] doing that now? Thankfully more people are doing it great. Um, but it's, it was a journey to get there. So all these years from, for many years I was in the closet about where secondhand.

'cause you know, in mainstream culture it was considered taboo. Yeah. It was a socioeconomic. I did it for the love of it and, and for the hate, hatred of waste. Yeah. But people just didn't, I go into spaces, I get laughed outta rooms. People are like, I love your outfit. Where is it from? Then when I say it was from an op shop, I say it drift.

Yeah. And people, you know, this was 10, 15 years ago, people have just turned down their noses and stuff. And um, you know, over the years it's become, you know, as people understand the impact of fashion industry on the climate CRI crisis. Yeah. And on, you know, so many other things. And, you know, cloud living crisis, it's become far more acceptable.

Um, there's a global movement around it, so now it's actually trending. So I've pushed for years, which yeah, to make it trendy. Now it's like the thing, and it's like even like, um, op shops are becoming gentrified and yeah, I have always been like, I am. Op shopping every week. Like I, which is why my closet is so [00:05:00] big.

I know the feeling. I just, I need a bigger walk-in. Yeah. So what does swap in the city do? So like, do you do like swaps? Yeah, so, um, my main platform is called Eco Styles. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's a sustainable fashion education. Then eco styles, birthed clothes, swap and style. Okay. So clothes swap and Style is a platform perform where for years I'd run big public clothes swaps anywhere from between a hundred to 700 people.

Usually with councils, um, you know, it would be usually on a Saturday morning, people bring, you know, around sort of five items, quality items that they no longer need. Um, and we create like a big sort of boutique in the, in this hall and people just, it's like you use your own cur your own clothes for currency, unbelievable.

And then you swap right for free. Sorry. See, I'm too excited. Yeah. Clothes are always exciting for me. So yeah, that, that was, that was that. And then clothes swap and style, it, you've birthed swap in the city. Yeah, so swap in the city is the first of its kind clothes swap hub. [00:06:00] Um, and it's a no fast fashion clothes swap hub where people come, we're there, you know, three days a week usually around lunchtime.

And so it's a specific physical location. It's always the same. It's physical, always the same. Where is it? Um, it is at Haymarket. Okay. Um, on George Street. It is, um, right at the Chinatown stop. Yeah. So not far from here. So basically, yeah. It's basically the HSBC building on the third floor. So people see the bank and they think, oh no, you fashion and bank.

Nah, I'm no come in corporate please. Corporate fashion on the third floor. On the third floor of the HSBC building bank. Yes. Yeah. Okay. Yes. You remember this actually. Yeah. I'm not good with directions, but I am. Good with getting anywhere that's closed. Oh, get on, get on our Instagram. So it's swap in the city au.

Okay. Um, and we have lots of reels that literally, you know, we have one of the girls that works for me, the most recent reel they did was basically started in front of the bank to assure people that yes, when you get to the bank you are at the right place. 'cause people like, no, no, no. I went there and I saw a bank and I went, turned around.

I'm like, no, no, no. Come in. And why did you choose their location? [00:07:00] Is that because. That gave you the space or it was what? It was just what, when I was looking for spaces, it was at that moment it was what came up. Prime location, what worked. Yeah. Prime location is literally at the tram stop, um, at Chinatown.

So it was perfect location, very easy to get to, highly accessible. So it's a hub where people can, instead of going to an event. Um, I'm waiting, you know, two months or whatever for the next close swap. You can just pop in at your lunch break Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM It's, I'm taking a lunch now.

Um, yeah, and it's just so much fun. It's, it's, it's easy. Um, and, and you know, we, people just have a lot of fun with it and get great stuff as well, you know, and it's, and it's to combat the fast fashion basically. Yeah. It's, it's to give people an alternative way of consuming clothes. Or Yes, interacting or engaging with clothes sustainably.

We also teach people about swapping how to run their own swaps. We teach, educate them about, you know, what is, you know, um, good quality textiles. Yeah. Like polyesters not, you know, synthetics versus [00:08:00] natural fabrics and quality brands versus non-quality. And then also, you know, it, we, we have free downloadable kits and resources on how to run your own swaps.

So it's kind of, it's a swapping platform. It's also an education platform. It's a community platform. We have a community now where, you know, when we have the swaps, people are actually styling each other. They're like, oh, that dress looks good on you. Let me grab those shoes, try on the, with the shoes and scarves.

I mean, so it's just a great community to be around. Girls do that with their friends. Yeah, like, so it's just a bigger. Friendship. Yeah. Circle. It was only circle I think a couple months ago that I watched on Netflix. I'm sure you've seen that documentary about the fast fashion and where the clothes end up.

Yeah. And the big recircle, you know, it's, it's almost like a circular economy within the bad economy of, you know, this clothes that get sort of and end up in South America. Those beautiful like areas Yeah. Ends up, ends up in, in the Atacama desert in Chile. Yeah. Ends up in Ghana. Ends up in Kenya, yes. Ends up in parts of Asia.

You know, and you know it's not going to land, it's going to landfill in those countries. So we're not actually [00:09:00] doing a favor by sending it to those countries because it's too excessive. It's, yeah, A lot of it is plastic, polyester. Yes. Um, a lot of it is unwearable, A lot of it is culturally inappropriate for those countries, so it's not, what we have to do is manufacture less clothing.

Yes. And better quality clothing. That can be reused and recycled and are better. The problem is that you're fighting against this huge, you know, global Yeah. Uh, brands that sort of produce so cheaply and quickly and deliver and yeah. It's such a difficult battle. But it sounds like you're saying younger generations are sort of going a little bit more in that direction.

Yeah. So, so it's to, to counter this issue, we have to take a multifaceted approach, and this is what I always get people to understand. Sure, working with individuals and having these little closed swaps and community groups and in the bigger scheme of things, that's barely a drop in the ocean. Mm-hmm.

Which is why I moved into doing research and recommending policy to the Fed federal government as well as, you know, sort of quote unquote recruiting people, young people, whoever to be join the advocacy. [00:10:00] That's how we're going to counter this. Educating people, but also encouraging them to speak to their, you know, local and federal representatives, their MPs, their senators, their counselors, um, to push the issues forward and push policy change forward.

The only way we're gonna have changes is through policy change. Systems change. Yes. We're big on systemic change. So, so it's a top down, but it's also a bottom up approach, right? Yeah. It's behavior different, right. So, so, I'm. You know, I'll, this is a secret between me and you guys only. I have ADHD, you and I first, it's not a secret anymore.

Now it's not a secret anymore. You did it on the podcast. Don't. Um, so I make it work in my favor, whereas, you know, I like to do for, I, I get distracted easily. So I, I, I try to distract myself with purposefully. So, you know, I do the research over here. Yeah. Which requires focus. And then, you know, I have a clothes swap, which is a lot of fun.

It's like playing dress up with your, with a group of friends. I get, I get, you know, fulfillment from that. And where I get new clothes, well, pre love, secondhand, new clothes as well. Everything I'm wearing here, almost everything is from a clothes swap by the way. Yeah. Um, [00:11:00] and great style. Yeah. Amazing. And, and you know, when I go to, to give talks in schools, it's a different audience.

It's a different way of engaging with younger. Younger. I really do think that education, like we need to be getting into schools. Oh yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Primary schools. Primary schools for sure. Like it needs to be done for sure. And something that's really sad, you know, with regards to children is that, you know, the fashion industry in Australia is very nascent.

Um, we have very few brands and so many brands are closing down every year and they can't compete with fashion and all this. So, and the number of parents I have, contact me on LinkedIn and say, my teenager wants to study fashion. Please can, if you can just talk to them for five, 10 minutes. And sadly, there aren't really any jobs as much.

Mm-hmm. Well, not a wide variety of jobs. Um, I, I know that they don't want to graduate from uni and work in retail as a, you know, in a shop. But they wanna be designers, they wanna be makers, they want to do all these things, creativity, but there's no opportunities. There's, there's, yeah. So it's, it's about also encouraging, getting, you know, asking the federal government to protect the industry by, [00:12:00] you know, things like taxing ultra fast fashion and banning influencer advertis and a lot of these other.

Things that hopefully will create more opportunities for young people. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Otherwise it just doesn't happen by itself. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Very interesting. So what's ahead for you? So behind, yeah. One of my friends who we swap fashion, uh, she's listening to the Right podcast. She's big on fashion.

Love it. Yeah. So what's ahead for you and for your organization in the next few years? So, well with Swap in the City, we just started. This hub, um, a few months ago, and it's going really well. We, so we wanna hopefully make it bigger mm-hmm. And expand it. The dream is to make swapping culture part of everyday mainstream culture in Australia.

You know, it doesn't have to be an event, it doesn't have to be a hub that you go to, or it can be, you can host your own events. It could be just you're having a barbecue at home, you know, with friends and family and neighbors, or a movie night at home with your girlfriends, and you can just bring a few clothes.

It's just a rack in the background where you're leaving grab, it's a book club, but for clothes. Yeah. And it's not, it [00:13:00] doesn't have to be even the focus of the event. Yeah. It could just be you're having a, a movie night or you're just catching up with friends or having a dinner and just in the background there's a rack or a table where people can bring stuff and dump it as you're leaving if there's something, you know, such a simple thing.

It's such a simple thing. Unbelievable. Yeah. And yeah. Yeah. 'cause in this country we're. Discarding over 300,000, uh, tons of clothes every year. It's a lot. And then in terms, and it's not just clothes, like we're throwing away like seven, I think it's 76 million tons of stuff. That's everything. Not just clothes.

That's like household stuff, kitchenware, you know? So if people can swap stuff in neighborhoods, I think it'll save a lot of money. When the cost of living crisis, they don't have to resort to fast fashion. Or my daughter and I do it daily. But she's constantly in my wardrobe. I would love to see your wardrobe.

Love. I've got sparkle suit, which I've never, I've got, you have to send me photos. No, we're best of friends now. You and I. You and I, yeah. You connecting this a very Yeah, we will. Quite a few levels. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Um, so if you [00:14:00] could wave a magic wand, what, what would you use it on? I think I just said it, it in this regard.

Mean for me, yeah, it would be several million dollars. No, just kidding. Um, in this regard, it would, it would be that, it would be seeing swapping become part of everyday mainstream culture in Australia. Not just with women and fashion, but every, even guys mates hanging out, I think know they just bring stuff they don't need.

Don't do that. No. Yeah. They don't, I'm trying to get them. They just don't. How often do I shop? Oh God. You're the worst. Actually. Men are more sustainable when it comes to clothes. They are. His clothes will last him 20 years. Yeah. No. Well that's a little be too. Men will wear clothes literally falling off the body.

Suit a good suit. Suit. Yeah, that's right. A good suit. Has the body change the shape. You buy new clothes or their partners like you are not wearing that with going out with me. You are not. And then, you know. Yeah. Um, a question that we've asked. Some of the other guests, which is a little bit out there, but if your enterprise was a dish on a menu, what would it be?

[00:15:00] Oh my gosh. I know it's really hard. Right? We got some good answers before. We've got some good answers. Ooh. Oh my goodness. Mm. I would have to say. It's a pizza. See another different place. Answer. I love pizza. Reason, the rea and Fashion. Oh, yeah. Why, why, why? We're, we're, we're best friends. There's no two ways about it.

We're we're locked in for life. So pizza. Why pizza is because. Everywhere around the world, everybody makes it their own. Oh, and with pizza, you, with sustainability, it's not one thing. It's, like I said, it's a multifaceted approach to make it happen. Everyone makes it their own. You do it in your own way with the same with, you know, the big goal in mind being that it's a pizza that will come outta the oven.

It'll be delicious. It's always delicious. But then with pizza, I've realized, as with eco styles from where I started. It's evolved so much that now I do very different things and it's like, it might've started off as a margarita, very simple getting, have a good margarita, right? Getting people to wear secondhand was a very straightforward message, but now it's like, [00:16:00] but you clothes swapping whichever way you want.

And the clothes swapping, let's say that's pepperoni. Pepperoni, and then it's research that's tomatoes, it's, it's like now my pizza is like a fully loaded pizza with a lot of things on top. There's still room for it. Room. You can also stuff the crust. You can also stuff the crust. You can add another layer of cheese on top and then start again.

Add more toppings. You can build it. So I would say it's a pizza. You just keep adding. That is, I love on top that's, and as an Italian, I love the answer. And you can never have a bad pizza. No, no. We need to wrap it up one, unfortunately. What's one thing that we haven't asked you or you haven't been able to say that you really wanna say, and where can people get in touch with you?

For audience? Have you forgotten anything? And me, for example? Yeah. So I wanna say about sustainable fashion. We need a lot more advocacy and we need Ev all hands to the pump because the situation is really bad. There's something I didn't mention, like for example, some of the ultra fast fashion stuff has toxic chemicals, right?

And some of it is really bad for young children at these clothes, you know? So we need all hands. It's not about [00:17:00] fashion. So in my industry we call it sustainable fashion, which puts other people 'cause they think, oh, I'm not into fashion. It sounds very elitist. It should really be sustainable clothing, sustainable textiles.

Although that doesn't grab the headlines. It sounds boring, but we need everybody to be involved in this advocacy because it's, it's protectionism for an industry within Australia where we could have a healthier industry, um, and it could boost our national economy. So I'm getting very technical here, but also it's, it's protect, it's protecting our bodies.

It's protecting our environment. We need everyone to be involved. Men, women, younger, older, it doesn't matter because it's about clothing. Everyone uses textiles, whether through clothes. Yeah. Or through furniture, through car seats. It affects all of us. Yeah. So it's not just a fashion argument's, an economic argument is an environmental argument.

It's a human health argument. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of these toxic chemicals get into our bodies. Fantastic. Unfortunately. Well, not, not unfortunately, but fortunately we don't get sick straight away and die. Yeah. But it accumulates. It's a slow, it's a slow, yeah. So that doesn't mean we shouldn't, we shouldn't pay attention to it.

And it's a very serious issue. And [00:18:00] I'd luck everyone to advocate that these interviews, these interviews are great. So Cool. I hate that they're only 15 minutes. When do people find out about you? Right. Eco styles. Um, I, you just Google eco styles. You Google, Nina Gbor. Gbor is G B O R, not G A B O R, up on the big screen.

Yes. Um, it's a great name by the way. Thank you. Yes, it's, it's the how, it's the lottery I won at birth. The only lottery having a surname that allowed me to ease into fashion. Um, nobody can ever pronounce my name, so you do definitely have the, I got, I got lucky. Um, they can find me. Just Googling swap in the city au um, eco styles.

Nina Gbor. I'm on Instagram, TikTok, and of course the website and LinkedIn. Fantastic. Thank Nina. Thank you very much being our for guest, having me, and enjoying the rest of the day. Thank you. Take care.​[00:19:00]