Linda Monroy
Our twentieth member of the month is Linda Monroy
UCRF is running a ‘Member of the Month’ feature on this blog, where a member, selected at random from the membership database, is sent five questions to give us all an overview of our members. Our twentieth participant Linda Monroy is a fashion upcycling artist and sustainability researcher from Mexico City.
—1 How would you sum up your research/practice?
I started as an artisan more than 20 years ago, intervening garments and then creating costumes, dresses, shoes and accessories from scratch, and selling them in craft fairs in small batches or made to order. But when I finished my bachelors degree in design and visual communication, and felt the pressure for getting a “serious and stable” job, I got an opportunity as a designer in the Mexican fashion industry.
At first, I thought the mistreatment and abuse I saw (and sometimes received) was only at that company, but after changing companies several times, I was able to see the bigger picture. Thanks to those years, I have a critical eye on the things that need to change. I stepped away from the industry and earned a master's degree in sustainability science.
Now I’m on my path to becoming a PhD in sustainability science, and I research the scope of secondhand clothing and the dissemination of artisanal work as a path to achieving a sustainable clothing culture.
— 2 How do you address fashion and sustainability in your work?
One of my passions is helping reflect a person's identity through their clothing, which is why it saddens me greatly when people feel they have to fit into the mold imposed by fast fashion, especially for teenagers. I am currently making a documentary to show the creativity, magic, cooperation, along with the economic and environmental benefits found in sustainable alternatives to the linear system of industrial clothing production.
I am an advocate for creating lasting bonds with garments, passing them down through generations, as well as finding the beauty of the handmade, so, my main goal is to analyze the barriers and motivations for using secondhand clothing, and teach techniques to extend the life of each garment.
— 3 What are the conflicts you have encountered around fashion and sustainability in your work?
I encounter many pseudo-experts promoting false solutions such as clothing made from recycled synthetic fibers (like PET) and garment recycling in exchange for discounts. These proposals are attractive because they give the impression of quickly doing something good for the planet, but they fail to address the root problems: the overproduction of clothing and unsustainable consumption, and they even exacerbate the environmental crisis by dumping microplastics into the water and textile waste into countries in the Global South. That's why it's important to continue raising awareness among people, especially the younger generations, who are the main targets of fast fashion.
— 4 What do you consider the key sources and cases when it comes to fashion and sustainability?
Water Consumption and Microfibers: The Biggest Threat https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-99-9856-2_6
Sustainable anti-consumption of clothing https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666784322000158?via%3Dihub
In need of a sustainable and just fashion industry: identifying challenges and opportunities through a systematic literature review in a Global North/Global South perspective https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-024-00400-5
Understanding the expansion of circular markets: Building relational legitimacy to overcome the stigma of second-hand clothing https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352550921003420?via%3Dihub
— 5 Could you recommend some less-known sources or cases you think should be more widely shared?
Impacto - An NGO committed to ethical trade, gender perspective, social justice and human and economic development, promote best practices and share knowledge. https://impacto.org.mx/
Slow Fiber: Shaping a Conscious Relationship with Fashion https://radicalecologicaldemocracy.org/slow-fiber-shaping-a-conscious-relationship-with-fashion/
Cultural misappropriation - in Mexico alone there have been 41 cases at the hands of Zara, Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Isabel Marant, Carolina Herrera, Ralph Lauren, Nike, Shein, Mango, Desigual, among others. https://www.jornada.com.mx/noticia/2025/04/23/cultura/impulsan-el-reconocimiento-a-las-disenadoras-textiles-indigenas?fbclid=PAY2xjawJ2BiZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABpzH2d7q-Dh-4md640UwrqzM2116GfufJ0KgKgYL55yyweUqKGzEVbd84Oxib_aem_IsYh_v0i7CWFt0YiA8P65
Thank you Linda for sharing your work!
