Talk at London College of Fashion graduation ceremony... by Visiting Professor, Galahad Clark!!!

21st July 2008

Mr Chairman, Professors, Graduates... It's great to be here - at my first ever graduation ceremony!

A lot of my friends would laugh at me if they heard I was giving this talk at a fashion college!  Especially the ones that know anything about fashion.

My first time to wear the robes and a cap...  I'm really just a humble cobbler and have the utmost respect for you guys that can clothe the rest of the body... Today, with all these robes, its all about the shoes anyway...

Anytime anybody says to me, I want to go into shoes and fashion, I always say, "Are you mad?" 

The longer I'm in it - the fatter, balder and more weathered I get...

But if you insist...  then I've got 3 tips:

Shoes (and fashion) are bad for you...  (and for the world)

Minimize this by searching for the essence in every product - try to make things that allow the world and the people in it to flourish - the best thing we can do is make products that people love and will wear for a long time...

Just like your favourite jeans...

And at the end of all our exploring - we arrive back at the beginning...

My favourite shoes that we make are called VivoBarefoot. An ultra thin puncture resistant sole that allows you feel the ground, flex all your muscles in their natural way and gain a natural posture and walking style as we were designed. The shoes last a long time and people get hooked on the back to basics enlivening experience.

We make many different types of shoes - and are constantly learning about what are the most sustainable. In lieu of real life cycle analysis - we try to be inspired by ideas of ecological survival... For a plant or an animal to survive in the eco system they have to be efficient, simple, balanced, beautiful etc... Or they die out.  It should be just like that in product design...

A government study revealed that 80% of a product's environmental and social cost is committed by the final design stage. Design actions can and should be preventative.

Sustainable design is good design and as we learn about the way the world works we have to be prepared to be flexible and keep our designs appropriate.

If fashion does not generalize a worldview - then it is nothing.

Try to make shoes that are good for you... (and for the world)

The second tip (and this is an important one):

Win the Materials Game - Win the Game

There are a thousand ways to skin the eco cat; and many of them are full of contradictions. We have to try to be comfortable with this complexity and realise that it is a moving feast.  For example, in a recent study on organic cotton t-shirts... 75% of the environmental impact was not in the growing or the making but the after care... Organic cotton is harder to wash and needs higher temperatures than nylon for example.

We just implemented the use of Bio-degradable plastics throughout our packaging... soon after I read an article that bio-degradable plastic harms and weakens the recycling process or normal plastics...

Worn Again trainers are the most obviously eco friendly, but, use the most energy, production miles and glue to make. And due to the irregular nature of the materials have the highest return rate of any shoes we make...  

Thus scoring the lowest mark on our eco matrix.

Materials cause most of the delays, are most of the cost, determine the quality and the perceived value... Get them right and you're on your way.

Win the materials game - Win the Game!

My final tip is:

When the war is over - where are the heroes?

The world is full of generic me too products that we don't need any more of! As young designers and developers - take time (and money) to develop non-generic products that support ideas of bio-diversity and survival. 

It took us two years and $150k to develop the Mobius shoe with United Nude - and it is still our best seller to this day. 

For fashion companies - it is important to have iconic styles - companies become famous for their famous products. Especially when the going gets tough... 

When the war is over - make sure there are heroes...

Just in the last few years - since I've been coming here - LCF has transformed itself into a forward thinking place with a conscience.  You are the best minds and hope for the industry -and the world expects a lot!

I challenge you guys to specialize, take on an issue, throughout your career, even if it is only for a few hours a week. 

See barriers and cut through them. Don't let complexity stop you. Use the stupid question as a design tool. Take on ambitious projects. You are coming of age at an amazing time. As you leave LCF you have technology at your fingertips and an awareness of issues we knew very little about 10 years ago...

With that awareness you have an informed conscience that will torment you if you abandon the issues that can change the world - one thread at a time... 

Good Luck!