We chatted with Makenzie Lowe who started The Good Loop in her San Diego community. 

In 2019, Makenzie hosted The Good Loops first event with the intention of creating a community of people passionate about leaving the earth better than they found it, learning about sustainable fashion, and giving back to our homeless community in need. 

Thank you Makenzie for taking the time to chat with us about starting The Good Loop. Looking forward to the possible expansion to other cities! 

Tell us a bit about yourself. Could be anything from where you are from, what your favorite hobbies are, what your background is in? 

Hi! My name is Makenzie and I live in sunny San Diego, California. I have worked for an environmental and human rights focused non-profit for the past 4 years and in 2019 I decided to take my passion for sustainable living into my community with a project called The Good Loop.

When I’m not working I love film photography (I shoot on a camera that's been in my family for 3 generations), surfing, yoga, sewing and spending time with my friends and family outside.

Tell us about The Good Loop! What inspired you to start? What has your journey been like?

Though my degree I learned in depth about hazardous labor conditions for garment workers and the negative effects creating garments can have on the planet. At the same time I was learning about how sustainably-made fashion is often more expensive and therefore not accessible for everyone.

I grew up swapping clothes with friends and family and I decided I wanted to bring this concept to my community to encourage an affordable (free!) way for everyone to enjoy the fun of fashion. Think raiding your BFFs closet, but also for the greater good of this planet.

The ultimate goal is to close the clothing production loop and prevent items from going from rack to landfill. I think for many fashion can be such a fun form of self expression, but with eco-anxiety on the rise with our current climate crisis many want to make sure we are making the least harmful impact on our planet.

I encourage participants to donate remaining clothes at the end of each event so that I can donate these to a local houseless or foster youth in our community. We were able to donate 7 bags full of clothes to a women’s emergency shelter last event. It felt amazing to bring our community together to support each other. It’s been a journey that continues to surprise me with the support from others around me and I’m inspired by the growing interest to learn about and engage with sustainable consumption.

Biggest piece of advice for someone looking to get into the Sustainable Fashion Industry? 

Have conversations with your friends and ask questions! Sometimes the most sustainable options are the simplest -

• Clothing swaps with your friends, mending clothes etc.
• Filling your instagram or social feed with people that inspire you also helps you to become more aware of what’s going on in the industry
• Books and podcasts etc. - one of my favorite blogs The Good Trade sends weekly newsletters filled with sustainability focused tips, tricks, interviews etc. 

Anything else you'd like to share?

We’ve been patient during COVID and have paused our events for the health of everyone. This has no doubt been an incredibly difficult year for many and I look forward to having our next event as conditions begin to become safer and hope that I can take this to other cities if conditions allow.

I think TGL events bring so much joy and connection to our community members and the ability to give back to our community in need is so important during this time. I can’t wait to continue to build this event and hope to make the next as safe and positive as possible.

To support Makenzie & The Good Loop: click here. 

Edited by Isabella Preisz, discover her work and podcast: click here.