Beauty Fix with Naomi Shimada

Get your fashion fix while fixing the world. Model Charli Howard rights the wrongs of the fashion industry while staying stylish. Looking good, doing good and feeling good.

Model and activist Charli Howard sets out on her mission to right the wrongs of the fashion industry by asking if it’s possible to look good and feel good.Charli always dreamed of being a model but she reveals how, to make her dreams a reality, she was pushed into being thin rather than being healthy. One day a pair of leather trousers, a phone call and a social media post changed everything.She chats to fellow model, Sonny Turner, who never wanted to be thin. Sonny wanted to be curvy. Really curvy. The two models take time out for a trip to the spa to chill out and chat curves, Kardashians and cat-fishing.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Can you work in fashion, love the planet and love yourself? Model and activist Charli Howard learns how a new breed of fashion brands are making it cool to be kind to people and planet.Charli meets Emmanuel Enemokwu who runs a streetwear start-up that's taking steps towards sustainability. At 22, and with no background in fashion, he has set out to reclaim the name he was bullied for at school and to make T-shirts and hoodies that are as conscious as they are cool.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

How do you cover up without compromise? Model and activist Charli Howard continues her investigations into the fashion industry with a look at modest fashion.Charli meets the model who made modest fashion mainstream and learns how she’s now changing the face of the fashion industry behind the scenes. Mariah Idrissi became one of the first models to wear a hijab in a mainstream fashion campaign, back in 2015. Now she works as a brand consultant, educating companies about what Muslim women and other modest fashion fans want from their clothes and cosmetics.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca Stratford

Can something old feel like something new? On a mission to mend fashion, model and activist Charli Howard embraces 'thrifting' for vintage, rather than throwaway fast fashion.Charli meets online re-seller, stylist and entrepreneur Bella McFadden, AKA @internetgirl. Together they step into the Depop pop-up shop- a real world incarnation of the online reselling app, incongruously located in a department store. Clothes are Bella's life as well as her business and she shares how thrifting let her find her style as a teenager. But why is thrift not quite as thrifty as it used to be? Plus, eco-fashion blogger and stylist Greta Eagan compares leather and pleather, looks to the fabrics of the future and gives us her tips for sustainable dressing.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca Stratford If you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

What does #MeToo mean for models? Mending the ways of fashion, Charli Howard meets a change-making model on a mission to prevent harassment and abuse in the industry.Kristina Romanova is a successful model turned tech-entrepreneur. She co-founded the digital support network Humans of Fashion in 2018, after a friend and fellow model was sexually abused on set. A non-profit app and website, it connects users with pro-bono lawyers and therapists to offer legal advice and therapy on a range of issues, from sexual misconduct to mental health. Two years on from the movement that swept through Hollywood, how much has changed since the fashion industry experienced its own #MeToo moment in 2018?Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Can you buy good jeans? Searching for ethical dress sense for people and planet, model and activist Charli Howard looks on the bright side - and the dark side - of denim.Charli meets Molly Hopwood, a young designer plucked from Graduate Fashion Week to work for Tu at Sainsbury's. Unlike much of the new generation of ethical jeans, Molly's Denim for Good collection aims to do denim differently, by making it affordable as well as sustainable.Tansy Hoskins, fashion journalist and author, sheds light on the dark side of denim, from field to factory. Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca Stratford

Who made my clothes? Untangling the fashion supply chain, model Charli Howard gets a first-hand account of what it takes to stitch the western wardrobe from Bangladeshi garment-worker-turned-activist Kalpona Akter.Kalpona shares her journey from being a child working on a factory floor to becoming a frontline campaigner for jobs with dignity in the garment factories of Bangladesh and beyond.How can we be sure that £2 T-shirt didn't cost someone's livelihood - or even their life - as in the case of the Rana Plaza factory collapse of 2013? Well, now there's an app for that - sort of. Good On You co-founder Sandra Capponi explains how the app rates fashion brands on their impact on people, planet and animals. The app aims to empower shoppers to make ethical choices, while incentivising the industry to do better.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca Stratford

Can you love the planet, hate waste and keep fit? On a mission to mend fashion, model and activist Charli Howard talks fashion for fitness with Cyrill Gutsch, founder of Parley for the Oceans. Parley have collaborated with Adidas on ‘high performance, low impact’ active wear and trainers made from upcycled ocean plastic.But what about microplastic pollution? Charli talks to a world authority on clothing fibre pollution, ecologist Dr Mark Browne from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, to learn about the problem of particle shedding and what the future of fabrics might look like.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Why are fashion assistants exploited? In search of what makes ethical dress sense, model and activist Charli Howard turns her attention to the people working behind the scenes of luxury fashion.First, Charli hears from Giulia Mensitieri, an anthropologist whose book, The Most Beautiful Job in the World, exposes low pay in high fashion. Giulia followed a glamorous Parisian stylist paid in designer handbags but living off fast-food and sofa-surfing because she couldn't pay her rent.Next, Charli meets someone who's been living and blogging the precarious lifestyle of an intern and stylist's assistant. The woman behind the anonymous Instagram profile @FashionAssistants shares unfiltered memes and 'confessions' from the overworked and underpaid people who make fashion appear picture perfect, together with advice on how to challenge these industry norms.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Should we boycott fashion? To make sense of ethical dress sense, model and activist Charli Howard meets two people with very different takes on fixing the fashion industry.Laura Krarup Frandsen has swapped a career in fashion for campaigning on the frontline of Extinction Rebellion. Since presenting a pile of waste as her graduate collection, she organised a funeral march outside London Fashion Week, calling for the industry showcase to be cancelled. Laura is asking people to stop buying new clothes for a year and believes it's too late for the industry to become sustainable.Rachel Clowes also trained as a fashion designer and to show that sustainability can be sparkly, she's since set up The Sustainable Sequin Company. Not content with making recycled sequins, Rachel is now developing compostable sequins made from bio-plastic. As with her own business, she believes change comes gradually and has to come from within the industry.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca Stratford Theme music: On The Sly Digital Producer: Mark Ward Production Management Assistant: Flora McWilliam. Photographer: Tricia Yourkevich Video Journalist: Olivia Bolton A BBC Radio Arts and Events production for BBC Sounds

Model and activist Charli Howard is back with the podcast that shows us how to get our fashion fix, while fixing the world- and each other. Sustainability- but make it fashion.

Model Charli Howard chats to her friend and mentor Daisy Lowe about standing out on the catwalk, standing up for her beliefs on the picket line and the best outfit to wear to a protest. In a pre-lockdown chat, Daisy shares what it was like to become one of the few curvaceous models in the fashion world, at a time when it was still dominated by size zero. Now she's putting herself out there to get greenhouse gas emissions to net zero. But can you do self-care and still care for the planet?Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.Image: Presenter Charli Howard with model and campaigner, Daisy Lowe

How do you make fashion sustainable? And sustainable fashionable? Model Charli Howard learns how high fashion is setting trends for the high street on sustainability.Before lockdown, Charli popped round to the home of designer Amy Powney, whose sustainable style journey has taken her from living off-grid in a caravan in Lancashire, to the cutting room floor in London, to Creative Director of ethical womenswear brand, Mother of Pearl.Amy explains why she swapped the high street for high fashion but has recently come full circle with a department store collaboration. Also, Charli learns just how far the average T-shirt has travelled.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordImage: Presenter Charli Howard in a long-sleeved, ankle-length evening dress (model's own)

Is Gen Z gender fluid? Model Charli Howard finds out why gender fluidity is always in fashion for one stylist.Kyle De'Volle has dressed Bruno Mars and Rita Ora, walked in London Fashion Week and now he’s Fragrance Ambassador for Jean Paul Gaultier. In a pre-lockdown chat, Kyle tells Charli why dressing up became his escape route as a child, why he won't be put in a box and why gender fluidity is nothing new- but it could be the future.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Can you be vegan and still love fashion? Model Charli Howard gets her head around the vogue for vegan fashion with actor and activist Evanna Lynch.Evanna rose to fame playing Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films, at a time when the leather 'It Bag' was a must-have. Feeling she was 'brainwashed' by the fashion industry as a teenager, she now champions cruelty-free fabrics made from pineapple, mushroom and apple. In a pre-lockdown chat, Evanna shows Charli how veganism and vogue can mix.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.Image: Presenter Charli Howard with actress and activist Evanna Lynch

Model Charli Howard meets the activist remodelling fashion for people with disabilities.Jillian Mercado: Teen Vogue and Gay Times cover star, L Word actor and New York Fashion Week catwalk queen. She's also worked with the United Nations on reducing inequality and modelled a groundbreaking adaptive fashion collection for Tommy Hilfiger. But what exactly is adaptive fashion?In a pre-lockdown chat, Jillian tells Charli why adaptive fashion benefits everyone and how the whole industry needs to adapt to become truly accessible and representative.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordImage: Jillian Mercado models for The Blonds catwalk show at New York Fashion Week, February 2020 Credit: Alex Cruz

In a pre-lockdown chat, model Charli Howard meets a fitness influencer turned innovator, to find out how what we wear to work out is working out for the planet.Award-winning entrepreneur Grace Beverley swaps the boardroom for her bedroom to chat about becoming a girl boss before she'd even graduated and taking on the big brands, by creating more sustainable activewear for all shapes and sizes. Athleisure is big business but with most sportswear made from synthetic fibres, micro-plastic pollution is also a big problem across the industry. So how can you look good in your gym gear, care for the planet and keep fit, all while keeping #Fitspo anxiety at bay?Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.Image: Presenter Charli Howard wears leggings and crop top (model's own)

Model Charli Howard meets the designer taking costume change to a whole new level in TV and film.In her day job, Assistant Costume Designer Sinéad Kidao's credits range from period drama (Little Women) to Disney princess (Beauty and the Beast) and from the biblical (Mary Magdalene) to the comic (Aisling Bea's This Way Up). When not dressing Saoirse Ronan and Emma Watson's characters, Sinéad runs The Costume Directory- connecting costume designers with sustainable and socially responsible suppliers all over the world.In a pre-lockdown chat, Charli asks Sinéad whether costume can ever be sustainable- and what can the rest of us can learn from her ethical on-screen creations.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordImage: Presenter Charli Howard in a black vintage cloak (producer's own)

What's the deal with buy now, pay later in online shopping? Model Charli Howard learns how to get the get-up we want, without getting into debt.Eve Obasuyi of the Money Medics offers money management tips on social media, tailored to millennial and Gen Z lifestyles. In a pre-lockdown chat, she shows Charli how to make sure a wardrobe crisis doesn't become a financial crisis.Earlier this year, 'buy now pay later' became the fastest growing online payment method in the UK, according to research by payment processors Worldpay. It's big in the online fashion world but some charities and consumer groups warn that younger shoppers are at risk of falling into debt.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Can our footwear reduce our carbon footprint? Model Charli Howard learns how one brand is stepping up to that challenge.In a pre-lockdown chat, Charli hears from François-Ghislain Morillion- one half of the sneaker head brains behind Veja. With one foot in France and one foot in Brazil, the brand’s shoes are made using wild rubber sourced from the Amazon Rainforest. Their distinctive V logo has been spotted on famous feet, from Meghan Markle to Eddie Redmayne. Charli asks whether they can take further steps towards sustainability and, in a world producing 24.2 billion pairs of shoes each year, how we can all walk the walk towards more sustainable consumption.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordImage: Presenter Charli Howard holding up a pair of trainers (model's own)

Can face masks be sustainable and stylish? Model Charli Howard meets the woman on a mission to make masks functional, fashionable and ethical.Smruti Sriram is the entrepreneur behind the Great British Designer Face Coverings project, bringing together big name designers and emerging talent, to produce reusable masks with profits going to charity.She's also the CEO of Bags of Ethics, a family business that made its name making reusable tote bags for the high street and high fashion alike.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca Stratford & Nicki PaxmanImage: Presenter Charli Howard wearing a fabric face mask (producer's own)

Model Naomi Shimada meets the people who know how to get their beauty fix, while showing that beauty is anything but fixed.Naomi meets fellow models, campaigners and designers fixing broken beauty standards, from Ebonee Davis embracing her natural afro hair, to Tan France celebrating his skin tone and Dame Zandra Rhodes, still standing out from the crowd at 80.How to look good, do good and feel good, from selfies to self-care. Download & subscribe to get your Beauty Fix.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca Stratford Photographer: Tricia Yourkevich

Naomi Shimada speaks to fellow model and activist Ebonee Davis about embracing her natural hair texture.When her breakthrough fashion campaign coincided with the fatal police shooting of an African American man, Philando Castile, in 2016, Ebonee's open letter to the fashion industry calling out systemic racism made headlines.What does it mean - and what does it take - to defy Eurocentric beauty standards, against a backdrop of racial inequality and injustice?In a conversation recorded before the killing of George Floyd in May 2020 and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed, Ebonee speaks to Naomi about learning to love her hair and her heritage and helping others do the same.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Researcher: Candace Wilson Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Naomi Shimada speaks to the Queer Eye stylist about challenging skin lightening in the beauty industry and colourism in society.Tan France recounts his own healing process, from secretly using skin lightening cream as a child, to learning to love the skin he's in and celebrating every skin tone on social media using his Shaded account.In a conversation recorded following the Black Lives Matter protests of summer 2020, with beauty brands showing their support online, Naomi asks Tan about his hopes for healing the industry as well as the individual.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Model Naomi Shimada asks if it's possible to go green in our beauty routines, to help fix the beauty industry for people and planet.Now that so-called ‘clean beauty’ is on trend, online and, chances are, on a shelf near you, it seems easier than ever to bring sustainability into the bathroom.Or is it? Could it be clever marketing, playing on so-called ‘chem-phobia’- fear of chemicals - and cashing in on the need to clean up the planet in a climate emergency?From green chemistry to greenwashing, Naomi quizzes Dr. Richard Blackburn, Associate Professor specialising in sustainable materials at the University of Leeds, and co-founder of Keracol, the company behind Dr. Craft cosmetics.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca Stratford

Model Naomi Shimada meets Sinéad Burke, the former teacher now schooling the fashion industry on designing and marketing for people with disabilities.In 2019 Sinéad became the first self-described ‘little person’ to attend the annual Met Gala fashion fundraiser and feature on the cover of Vogue. But when will the industry move beyond such milestones to become truly representative and inclusive?Fashion blogger and teacher, turned campaigner, consultant and author, Sinéad Burke is now educating children and chief executives alike. By working to fix fashion to represent people of all shapes and sizes, she’s also expanding the very idea of beauty.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Model Naomi Shimada speaks to a pioneering blogger about beauty without boundaries.Gary Thompson AKA The Plastic Boy first fell in love with make-up as a teenager in Birmingham, even though shades to suit his skin tone were hard to find. Later, when he couldn't find black male beauty bloggers to inspire him in the UK, he decided to start his own channel. Since breaking into the mainstream with an appearance in a landmark make-up advert in 2016, he's been using his platform to speak out.In a conversation recorded in the months following the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, Gary tells Naomi about the inequalities he still sees within the beauty industry, from advertising campaigns to board rooms and from cosmetics counters to social media.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.Photo: Gary Thompson/ Naomi Shimada Credit: Jade Keshia Gordon/ BBC

Model Naomi Shimada chats with the social media sensation and special effects make-up artist transforming beauty standards.Emmy Combs lost her hair at two years old and found the confidence to lose her head covering at sixteen. Now twenty, she's built a five million strong following online by sharing her make-up transformations, from Instagram glam to TikTok illusion, all while showing her followers that bald is beautiful.Naomi speaks to this one woman special effect all the way from LA to talk proms, pro-tips and the colour pink.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.Photo: Emmy Combs/ Naomi Shimada Credit: Tasia Wells_Getty Images/ BBC

Model Naomi Shimada talks to the beauty blogger about dropping the filter and showing her adult acne.Since she was 19, Kadeeja Khan has been building a following as a beauty blogger from her bedroom, under the name EmeraldXBeauty. For years she was fighting a silent battle of 'Instagram versus reality.' Then she decided to do things differently - and posted a video that changed her life. Kadeeja tells Naomi about how her perception of beauty has changed, from concealing to revealing.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.Image: Kadeeja Khan/ Naomi Shimada Credit: Kadeeja Khan/ BBC

Naomi Shimada meets fellow model Deba Hekmat, who's broken the beauty rules and stopped caring about body hair.For Deba, body hair is complicated, cultural and even comforting. Determined to put Kurdish beauty on the fashion map, Deba has modelled for streetwear and catwalk brands and now believes her body hair is for showing, not for shaving.She joins Naomi to discuss how growing her body hair also grew her body confidence.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.Photo: Deba Hekmat/ Naomi Shimada Credit: Suleika Mueller/ BBC

Model Naomi Shimada talks manicures, myths and dream salons with the nail art activist, author and model.Charlie Craggs studied at the London College of Fashion and it was there that she dreamt up Nail Transphobia, offering truly transformative treatments. Her mobile salon is a safe space where anyone can receive a free manicure from a transgender beautician and learn more about life as a trans or non-binary person, while enjoying a shape and polish.After seven years on the road, the salon has been forced to close during the coronavirus pandemic, but Charlie shares the rituals of self-care and self-preservation that are keeping her spirits up during lockdown.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.Photo: Charlie Craggs/ Naomi Shimada Credit: Vicky Lawton/ BBC

Model Naomi Shimada speaks to one of her personal fashion icons for the Beauty Fix finale.Dame Zandra Rhodes has designed flowing kaftans and killer frocks for rock stars and royalty since 1969, from Grace Jones to Alicia Keyes, Princess Diana to Paris Hilton, from Queen to The Queen.And she’s still standing out from the crowd at 80, rocking a bright pink bob and even brighter make-up. Zandra shares her timeless tips for sustainable style and for reinventing your look in lockdown.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordPhoto: Dame Zandra Rhodes/ Naomi Shimada Credit: Chris Bissell/ BBC