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Dressed to Kill, the third episode of Season Two of PBS's Human Footprint, explores apparel and its impact on our planet. Literally. Because the ways that we make what we wear, the practices, habits and infrastructure, it can alter the land that we live on. Earlier this week I met with Dr. Nate Dappen and Dr. Neil Losin, directors and producers of the docuseries, to talk about this fascinating episode.
Dr. Losin and Dr. Dappen were quick to tell me that they're not really fashion people, but it wasn't defensive; they were showing me how they found an entry point into apparel.
"I learned a ton about fashion," Dr. Dappen said when I asked about the personal effect of making this episode. "I don't think I'd ever really thought about it quite as deeply as this episode forced us to think about it. It became clear working on this, not only that we're a species that has spent time and effort and energy and resources into crafting materials that clothe our bodies, but clothing really is the thing that's allowed us to take over the whole planet; it's allowed us to move everywhere. That practical side is great, but I think the other side, about fitting into groups, is so critical. Maybe I didn't appreciate it as much until I read Virginia Postrial's book, The Fabric of Civilization. In some ways fitting in feels almost like a dirty word, but I think I have a much deeper appreciation for how important it is, and I came to realize how critical of a role that form is to function in our groups and in society and in this complicated world we live in."
"For my part," Dr. Losin told me, "I think historically I felt like the person who dresses functionally and I didn’t care what people thought, like that. I think I’ve realized as I’ve gotten older, and maybe a little more introspective, that even in the social circles that Nate and I travel in, in our jobs, we’re science and wildlife documentarians. You walk around a film festival or an industry event and it might not be high fashion. But there are still the social signifiers in the way that people are dressed, right? It’s the North Face jacket and it’s the Arc’teryx slacks, or some certain shoes, something like that. And yes, those things are very functional, but I think it’s fascinating the way that function has been co-opted into a social signifier and a fashion statement as well."
At its essence, fashion—both what we wear and how it is made; how all of that affects everything else in our world—it's a fascinating intersection of science and culture. Fashion needs to make changes to its industry practices for the good of all; we need to remove petroleum from clothing. Messaging that audiences will hear is vital to making progress, and this series is an excellent example of how things could be done. It's pretty impressive work from (relatively) new filmmakers.
"This is the first hosted show that we've made," Dr. Losin told me. "We were all new to this to some degree when we started," We met Shane back when he was a grad student studying lizards at Harvard."
It turns out that all three of them began their careers in herpetology. "We bonded over that," said Dr. Losin,"and the first time we filmed Shane,we filmed him for a film about lizards."
A few years later they worked together again on a science communication workshop and when they were finished Dr.Campbell-Staton told Dr.Losin and Dr.Dappen about an idea he had been playing with: how neat it would be to create a docuseries about evolution driven by people.
At this point,Dr.Losin told me,"Shane had done a little bit of on-camera work,but nothing where he was the main character,the host.We learned together and we learned to trust Shane's instincts and he learned to trust our instincts.Nate and I had actually already begun developing a similar concept on our own that we hadn't really started pitching to broadcasters yet.And Shane said,'I think I should be the host.'And we looked at him,we had interacted with Shane maybe a handful of times at that point,and we both thought he really would be a good host.PBS was really excited about the concept and gave us the opportunity to actually give this a shot."
That was that.Roughly a million hours of work later,Human Footprintwas born.
"Making a show like this,"Dr.Losin told me,"it has to affect you in some way.Hopefully it affects the audience in a similar way and gets people to think a little bit harder.About the choices they make and some of the hidden costs that go along with that,the externalities that aren't priced into the sticker price,whether that's a $5 t-shirt or it's a $3 hamburger.We're not paying for the environmental costs or the climate change costs of the production of that beef.These kinds of choices are all over our lives,where either our social structures,our institutions make the costs invisible or whether,in some cases,there are literal subsidies to industries that artificially decrease the prices of things.I think it's always worth investigating,interrogating the choices we make and trying to get why this thing that seems like it ought to be expensive is really cheap?Usually there's a scary answer at the end of that tunnel."
The most cursory online search into the impact that the textile industries in Southeast Asia have had on the waterways in that part of the world will prove to you how very right he is.
"I don't have any empirical evidence to support this,"Dr.Dappen said,"but I feel deeply,after working on this episode and so many other episodes of Human Footprint,the big thing we're lacking in our lives is connections to the people that make the things that make our life good.The systems that we operate in now make that so difficult.The people who make our clothes are on the other side of the planet now."
I asked if the guys if making the episode had convinced them to talk more about clothing, if it changed the way they communicate about what we wear with the people in their lives.
"A lot of the conversations I have with my family and with my friends now revolve around, how can I have less that is more valuable," Dr. Dappen told me. "It does seem like there is an obsession with individual expression, but the value in that individual expression, I think it doesn't align with folks' true values. I think most people want the world to be a good place. They want the world to be more sustainable, but through a lot of the choices we make, they betray them. That's a core thing that I've been taking away. I don't mean to put the blame on customers because we're in a system now where the consequences of our choices are totally obscured by the system. We don’t even know how bad of a choice we’re making or what it’s doing to somebody or someplace on the other side of the world."
Dr.Losin agreed."I think we in developed world are incredibly insulated from consequences our consumer choices.I think we're pretty immersed this world conservation wildlife sustainability.I had certainly heard these clothing graveyards Chile;for example,but had not seen them,had never filmed them and really didn’t understand full scope what was happening there.We are rarely doing true investigative reporting.You can’t really do that documentary timeline,budget;at least not broadcast television.Some people work investigative docs take many,many years make.We’re not doing that,but we are able find people who doing investigative work.”
In this instance,talking John Bartlett,a National Geographic journalist based Santiago,Chile,really helped cement vision episode show.
“Spending time ground John Iquique,”Dr.Losin told me,“which something Nate did basically solo,it all came together very short notice.We happened filming Shane something else then opportunity camera person down Iquique meet John.And were like,we’ve got do this.It all came together fast.Becoming tap people actually ground investigative reporting something really like do.It's why feature so many journalists show,because recognize we're not ones actually discovering.But tapping those unraveling systems,supply chains everything else,bring audience place learning something new hearing directly people really found out.”
“What we tried to do,”Dr.Dappen added,“is piece together disparate aspects this story way have never been put together.Leading people creation fiber devastation ecosystem,creation hats Fashion Week then showing how all connects happening today fashion waste issues sustainability.I think that one things show does well;I think put together story way unique.”
The story is important; telling it is the reason for this work; but the people making this series are very conscious of the experience the audience will have. This is not a heavy-handed lecture and you will not be made to feel like a terrible person at any point in time while watching. After speaking with the filmmakers, I suspect that they would see very little utility in that approach.
“We put a huge amount of effort into doing everything we can not to create any villains,”Dr.Dappen told me.“Because,I would say,with very few exceptions,there are no real bad guys and good guys in this world.It’s just most people trying to fit into their groups and make a life for themselves that is reasonable.And that is by design in our show.We definitely don’t want to point fingers or if we do,we want to make it feel like Shane in the voiceover.As it’s written,you can hear Shane grappling with himself,with his own choices.That’s intentional on our part,like hey,I’m also part of the problem.I’m also on this journey of self-discovery.”