A Conversation with Amanda McCarty of the Clotheshorse Podcast, Part One.

And our next hotline prompt!

This week we are joined by fast fashion buyer turned activist, consultant, and podcast host, Amanda McCarty (she/they). Their podcast, Clotheshorse, is a masterclass on what actually goes on in the opaque underbelly of the fashion industry. Amanda is also especially gifted at reminding us all that with every purchase, we shop with our dollars, and in this way, we have the means to deploy ethical consumption under capitalism.

Amanda spent close to two decades inside the fast fashion machine, working as a buyer for major brands and startups alike, helping companies like Urban Outfitters decide what clothes we’d obsess over for a few wears before quietly discarding them. Behind the glossy campaigns, they witnessed the burnout, the cutting of corners, the sad desk salads, and the emotional dysregulation that set the tone for far too many workplaces.

For Amanda, as their awareness grew that so much of what they were helping to bring into the world would ultimately end up in landfills, so did…