Mother of Pearl Creative Director 

Topic: Sourcing News Reviews; Sustainability

Mother of Pearl creative director Amy Powney recently began converting her company into an entirely sustainable business. Growing up in a family that provided their own electricity and water supply, Powney entered the industry with an understanding of where things come from, and how to sustainably keep them coming. When starting “Mother of Pearl” with co-owner Maia Norman in 2002, Powney knew she didn't want to fall down the same pipeline. In school, she realized she wasn't learning about the industry in the way she felt she needed to, leaving out all of the more niche parts of the supply chain that allow one to source sustainably. However, after a documentary was made about Mother of Pearl and Powney using money given to her by BFC/Vogue Fashion Fund, Powney drilled out how important understanding the supply chain can be to inhabit a sustainable fashion brand. She built more robust bonds with her suppliers, allowing conversation to occur on how she and all of her suppliers can work together in the most sustainable way. 

This article once again highlights the benefits of a transparent business model for attaining sustainable business practices. One of the things brought up in the article is how many companies lie about how green they are because only certain people within the companies are aware of where everything is coming from. Powney fixing that for her company, and emphasizing the importance of knowing your vendors is something I haven't seen many creative directors or business owners encouraging, as it usually falls on people hired specifically for the purpose of talking highly about their sustainability efforts, such as SHEIN’s Adam Whinston. I think that knowing the actual people you're sourcing from can help a lot, especially with shadier business practices, to dilute the impact sourcing in other countries can have, and while transparency is not the end all be all within the industry, for those in power claiming to have ethical practices at the forefront of their business plans, it can allow for that to happen, and weed out the owners who only say that for cake points. I think Powney is doing really cool work that I hope we can see replicated on a larger scale in larger companies. 

Webb, Bella. “How Mother of Pearl Shifted to a More Sustainable Business Model.” Vogue Business, Vogue, 2 Aug. 2023, www.voguebusiness.com/sustainability/how-mother-of-pearl-shifted-to-a-more-sustainable-business-model.