Description

In episode 138, Kestrel welcomes Shannon Lohr, the founder of Factory45, to the show. An online accelerator program, Factory45 takes sustainable fashion companies from idea to launch. Shannon’s newest project, Market45, is an ethical fashion marketplace, and it just made its debut in the e-commerce space.

“Now we are living in a world where you know, the average consumer, they’ve at least heard sustainable fashion before - they’ve heard those words. And that’s really cool. It’s really great to see the growth and the recognition of what’s happening in the space, and remembering that there’s no such thing as perfectly sustainable - if you’re making something new, everything has an impact, but knowing that we’re getting better, the conversation is at least moving along, and we have these independent fashion brands that are trying to provide better options for consumers.”
- Shannon Lohr, Founder of Factory45 + Market45

In this episode, Shannon gives us an update on where things are at with Factory45, and how much they’ve grown over the last 2 1/2 years. Also, we dive into her new project, Market45, to learn more about her approach to this discovery platform for ethical fashion.

Shannon shares how in June 2018, she and her web designer decided that they would have to scrap the Market45 project, because they couldn’t figure out a way to make it work with the backend. Then, after taking a step back, she gained perspective and came back to the drawing board with new ideas to put Market45 into action.

Shannon has a unique way of discussing sustainable fashion - she emphasizes how no product can ever be 100% sustainable because it’s going to have an impact, but that we should be celebrating progress over perfection along the journey.

The below thoughts, ideas + organizations were brought up in this chat:

• 4 pillars of Market45: sustainable fabric, ethically manufactured, recycled materials, and made in the USA or made in Canada // all Market45 brands fall under at least 3 of those 4 pillars

• Emily Belyea Creative, web designer Shannon consistently works with

• Market45 is meant to be a discovery platform that sends shoppers through directly to the partner brands’ websites - but you’ll get 10% off your purchases if you go through Market45

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