Let Them Be Naked is a new film by designer Jeff Garner. Here, in our exclusive interview, he speaks out on why toxic fashion needs to stop
By Bec Gregory
Here at Eluxe, we’ve already written several articles on toxic fashion. We’ve highlighted how chemical dyes and finishes on textiles can cause everything from dizziness to cancer in humans. But the impact doesn’t stop there—these toxins also contaminate waterways, causing significant harm to ecosystems and wildlife.
So, we were delighted that there’s a new film highlighting all these issues!
Let Them Be Naked is a sustainable fashion documentary by Jeff Garner, the plant-based couture designer at the helm of eco-label Prophetik.
Already an Emmy-winning filmmaker for his short documentary Remastered: Prophetik, Jeff Garner teams up with wellness expert Darin Olien and subject specialists to investigate the health risks posed by unregulated toxins in the fashion industry. Together, they reveal practical, sustainable solutions for non-toxic clothing.
The film is executive produced by Suzy Amis Cameron, with Gerard Butler and Charles Annenberg Weingarten as consulting producers, and features insights from experts like Lucy Siegle and Dr. Ana Soto.
Premiering at major film festivals, Let Them Be Naked has won six awards. These include “Best Sustainable Fashion Film” and “Best Environmental Film Award.”
In our exclusive interview below, Jeff opens up about the motivations driving this project, his hopes for the films potential impact on the fashion industry, and shares tips on how we can all help to create a more conscious future in fashion.
Our Interview With Jeff Garner
ELUXE: Let Them Be Naked explores the toxicity of clothing on human health and the environment. What inspired you to create a film about this topic?
JG: I lost both a child and my mother to toxins. There is nothing more motivating than a personal story that also affects so many.
Everyone knows someone that has breast cancer. Being a fashion designer and knowing the makeup of these dyes and fabrics, I could not just turn a blind eye or walk away. It is a public health issue that needs to be addressed, even if it will affect the fashion industry.
Commerce should never be more important than someone’s health or life.
ELUXE: You have already received six awards. How has this recognition influenced your outlook on the film’s potential impact on the fashion industry?
JG: I believe Let Them Be Naked touched a chord in people’s hearts. When they hear my story and journey, along with others’ in this fight for good, it ignites a spark; a true spark to make a difference and have a positive purpose in life. We are bringing back the power of choice to the consumer. It can be an invigorating feeling!
ELUXE: How have your experiences as a couture fashion designer influenced your view on the need for change within the fashion industry?
JG: I have a scientist’s mind. My grandfather was the first chemist that Oppenheimer hired for the Manhattan project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. I learned so much from him. But one must analyse the materials you are using to understand how they will affect the outcome of any project you are doing.
Our fashion industry needs to be checked. There are no regulations or checks and balances. [Using] toxic chemicals keeps everything cheap and profit margins happy. Consumers are paying for this cheap cost with their health.
As a sustainable couture designer, I have used that platform to show things can be made differently and look beautiful and can compete with those cheap synthetic fabrics. Luxury brands using synthetics is like a house built out of plastic versus stone. It will not breathe and will off-gas and eventually just look bad.
ELUXE: What are the benefits of using more natural fabrics?
JG: Natural fabrics breathe. They can even heal with the right dyes. For example, the Picts and Vikings use to paint themselves with woad. If they were wounded, it would help them heal on contact. The industry could be so much more creative with its material use and plant dyes. I believe that using the elements of nature to design with is true luxury.
ELUXE: Were there any specific insights that inspired you to take action in your own work?
JG: I have always been operating with plant dyes and fabrications. There was no switch over moment. I believe growing up on a horse farm in Tennessee and being connected to nature kept my consciousness alive enough to recognise what values are important.
If I cannot create within my values – basically not designing or producing anything that could potentially harm another – then I would have to do something other than fashion.
So, I had to figure out a different solution born out of necessity.
ELUXE: What impact do you hope Let Them Be Naked will have on viewers?
JG: I hope this documentary will inspire a Renaissance of natural materials and dyes. And I hope we can move away from fast cheap fashion that does no good for the world or consumers. We must lead over our destiny. It is time! People need to speak, and the industry leaders need to listen.
ELUXE: How can consumers make more conscious choices about what they wear?
JG: They simply can look at the material makeup and ask companies about their dyes. And if they can find undyed natural cotton, hemp, linen, or silk, those are the best options currently on the market.
Change detergents to use only non-toxic ones like Seventh Generation, which can be found anywhere.
And change your sheets!. You sleep in them every night and your body needs to detox. So, your sheets need to be made of breathable fabric.
ELUXE: Which sustainable solutions for non-toxic clothing are you most invested in and excited about?
JG: I personally have created men’s hemp boxers with natural cotton waistbands for my friends, since they did not have any options on the market. I love providing solutions that look amazing as well as performing better than synthetics.
With hemp as a true luxury fabric, you do not need to wash as often. It’s porous in nature and anti-bacterial and anti- fungal. It’s pretty amazing.
I also am working on board shorts. I am a surfer, and sitting in the sun with nylon swimsuits is like smoking in a sauna!
ELUXE: How do you envision sustainable luxury fashion evolving over the next decade?
JG: I see more designers coming to play with me in this luxury world with plants. I see the use of synthetics in luxury fashion fading out.
As I say in Let Them Be Naked, luxury should be defined by both beautiful design, but also the most beautiful and handmade materials. They should last for decades. It should be about craftsmanship, aesthetics, and materials.
We must move back to fashion design as an art form with a visionary designer at the helm, not a celebrity or media person knocking off other designers to create a collection.
ELUXE: What key changes do you hope to see in the industry to make that vision a reality?
JG: I see the general public being driven by Let Them Be Naked to come to desire change. I am speaking with mainstream companies that want to change and need guidance on how to do so in a productive way. I can feel the energy and the desire. It is exciting to be a part of something that will help save many lives and leave our earth in a much better place in the future.
ELUXE: What advice do you have for people who want to contribute to a more sustainable fashion industry?
JG: Learn about fabrics like our grandparents used to know. Learn how to dye your own garments at home using materials around your farm or local park. Ask any local shop or retailer for non-toxic natural options so it encourages them to find small makers like myself to stock in their shops.
Most importantly, support the movement! It affects everyone, and we must push forward, no matter what, to make true change.
Watch the trailer for Let Them Be Naked HERE.
Her recent projects explore spiritual life in Britain and the effects of female-centred spirituality on women's wellness.
https://www.instagram.com/copycreatrix/
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