The world is awash in discarded materials, and our choices—both in what we create and consume—are leaving their mark. Landfills brim with remnants, while oceans bear silent witness to the throwaway culture of modern life. The fashion industry, renowned for its innovation and allure, finds itself at a pivotal crossroads in this story. Fast fashion’s quick-turnaround approach has produced an astonishing amount of textile waste, much of it destined for landfills or incineration, releasing toxins that seep into our planet’s delicate ecosystem. Now, as awareness grows, so too does the opportunity to turn the industry’s creativity toward solutions, paving the way for sustainable fashion, the circular economy that respects both style and our shared world.
Yet, what if the solution to this seemingly insurmountable problem could begin right here, within the fashion industry itself? What if, by transforming fashion into a model of sustainability, we could create a blueprint for other industries to follow? This mission is at the heart of Nina Gbor‘s work, a prominent advocate for the circular economy.
Her passion for vintage clothing and sustainable styling runs deep, starting as a personal love and growing into a broader vision to tackle waste across various industries. Nina’s approach reflects her belief that every choice—whether in fashion or beyond—can be a step toward a more sustainable future. Through her work, she’s redefining style as a powerful tool for positive change, proving that fashion and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand. As the Founder of Eco Styles and Clothes Swap & Style and the Director of the Circular Economy & Waste Program at The Australia Institute, she stands at the forefront of this movement.
Nina’s approach to sustainability began with her love for secondhand clothing, which she used to express her personal style and as a statement against the environmental impact of fast fashion. “I started with fashion and clothing,” she explains, “Because they’re exciting, stylish and relatable. But the deeper I delved, I realized the patterns of overproduction and waste generated in this niche are similar to what we see in industries like plastics, electronics and furniture.” The same unsustainable habits—producing too much, consuming too quickly and discarding without thought—are visible across all industrial sectors.
Nina has a Master’s Degree in International Development and years of experience in sustainability. She realized that fashion could be a powerful starting point for broader, systemic change. Following this element, she addressed waste management in the fashion industry. “We can lay the foundation for transforming other industries,” shares Nina. She sees textiles as the “eldest child” in a family of waste-heavy industries, one that, if disciplined, can influence its siblings to adopt more sustainable practices.
Nina’s pledge to change extends far beyond fashion runways and wardrobes. Being the Director of Circular Economy & Waste Programs at one of Australia’s leading research think tanks, Nina’s focus stays robust towards waste streams across various sectors. From food waste to electronic waste, from furniture to construction materials, Nina’s work is redefining how we think about consumption and disposal. Her platforms—Eco Styles and Clothes Swap and Style—serve as dynamic establishments for education, advocacy and action. By collaborating with councils, schools and community groups, she promotes clothing swaps, runs workshops & sustainability courses, and encouraging individuals and organizations to rethink their relationship with waste.
Her influence spans across media, with a notable feature on Australia’s most renowned environmental television series, ABC TV’s award-winning series, War On Waste, where she served as both a featured expert and impact consultant. She is also an authority figure for Australian news and media channels on various sustainability topics. Through these platforms, Nina continues to educate and inspire, showing that sustainable fashion is not only possible but can be a catalyst for change across other industries.
For Nina, the circular economy is not simply a strategy for managing post-consumer waste, but a new way to think about the entire process of making, using with genuine efforts to keep materials out of landfill. With textiles as the entry point and due to fashion’s influence in the community, Nina feels inclined that other waste-generating industries can be persuaded to embrace the same sustainable strategies.
Through her dedication, leadership and vision, Nina believes that transforming the fashion industry can indeed serve as a blueprint for creating a more sustainable, circular economy that benefits everyone.
Acknowledging Sustainable Fashion
Nina’s passion for sustainable fashion has turned her into a brilliant educator, international speaker, researcher, and eco-stylist. She works with diverse audiences, including media outlets, councils, organizations, schools, and community groups, to develop systems change strategies for a more sustainable fashion industry.
Nina delivers guest lectures at universities across Australia and internationally. In addition to her edifying excellence, she designs and facilitates programs, short courses, and workshops in sustainable practices. As the creator of Clothes Swap & Style, she has been conducting clothes swaps for over 14 years, instilling an entrenched mindset of reusing and circularity.
Nina coined the phrase “Get off the fashion TRENDmill,” encouraging individuals to embrace a more holistic approach to fashion. By shifting focus from fleeting trends to sustainable personal style, she aims to contest the growing textile waste crisis and motivate others to make more conscious choices in their wardrobes.
Vintage Roots, Modern Impact
Nina’s journey into the world of fashion began in her childhood. That was the time when classic films from the 1940s and 1950s captivated her imagination in Indiana, USA. Her family’s love for these timeless stories sparked a fascination with vintage style that would direct her future. When her family moved to Nigeria during her teenage years, she encountered a striking reality: the overwhelming influx of secondhand clothing imported from countries in the global North.
Back then, vintage clothes from the 1940s to 1960s and earlier had yet to register any attention in mainstream Western culture. This helped Nina blend the more classic pieces with modern styles, creating a unique personal style that greatly boosted her confidence and eventually laid the groundwork for her career.
There were troubling issues beneath her enjoyment of styling secondhand clothes. The volume of imported garments was excessive and far more affordable than locally made clothing. This disparity threatened local textile businesses, leading to the closures of the textile brands and stalling the development of Nigeria’s textile industry, making it difficult for Nigeria’s economic pace where textiles were concerned.
Additionally, the environmental impact of these imports was alarming. The discarded secondhand clothing was scrapped in water and on land, while toxic chemicals from these garments seeped into the soil and water sources used for everyday needs.
In addition, the pile of residue encompassed a wide range of imported products, including used electronics, vehicles, furniture, expired food, and pharmaceuticals. In some cases, the waste was burned to ashes, reducing its volume but releasing harmful chemicals into the atmosphere. Experiencing this at just 15 years of age, Nina anchored her vision to address waste and promote more mindful consumption practices. Fashion emerged as an ideal starting point due to its pervasive nature and ability to draw attention to broader waste issues affecting various products.
As Nina delved deeper into her mission, she became acutely aware of the vital role women play as contributors and leaders in society. While living in Nigeria, she observed a unique ethnic group where women primarily managed farms and cared for children while men often spent their days socializing at local establishments. This surrounding nurtured a stronger flow of household income and care, resulting in better education for children and enhanced community cohesion among women. It became clear to Nina that empowering women positively impacts families, communities and even nations at large. This understanding drives her efforts to enable women in meaningful ways. Clothing and fashion naturally draw the interest of women, who represent the largest consumer base in the industry.
This understanding solidified her belief that fashion could serve as a powerful platform for change. With women being the largest consumers in the fashion industry and women also making up approximately 80% of garment workers globally, Nina recognized that addressing women’s issues within this space was crucial for improving the industry as a whole. Her journey from a young girl inspired by classic films to a passionate advocate for sustainable fashion and women’s empowerment reflects her commitment to creating healthier systems for both people and the planet.
Circular Economy and Transformative Waste Solutions
Nina plays an important role in shaping the direction of operations of two impactful platforms. Eco Styles is dedicated to driving system change and influencing consumer behavior through education, research, partnerships, and events. The team collaborates with the media, councils, organizations, schools, etc., to create comprehensive strategies that would encourage a more holistic circular economy. These strategies are directed at reducing and eliminating different types of waste streams, leading to a more environmentally harmonious future.
In her strategic approach, Nina grabs the opportunities that promise impactful and holistic developments. Clothes Swap & Style aims to integrate the practice of swapping clothing and other items into everyday culture in Australia. The country generates nearly 76 million metric tonnes of waste each year, equivalent to 2.95 metric tons per person. This initiative addresses a pressing issue that many nations face.
Through nearly 15 years of organizing clothes swaps, Nina has observed their transformative potential; these events serve as an entry point into sustainability for those who may not yet be engaged. She has witnessed firsthand how they empower individuals to transition from being passive observers to active participants in their communities, eager to take action and create environmental change in various capacities.
With her impeccable knowledge, she develops research reports and recommends policies to federal and local governments that aim to decrease waste and environmental crises. She collaborates with industries, stakeholders, retailers, manufacturers, leaders, and policymakers along the supply chain to find all-inclusive solutions to pressing waste issues. To put it succinctly, her work involves creating a more sustainable future altogether.
Empowering Change Through Leadership
Nina emphasizes her leadership style, which involves leading by example. This characteristic emerged organically rather than through deliberate intention at the outset of her career. Unlike the well-trodden paths to achieve success in traditional fields such as politics, economics, law, and medicine, those who ventured into the circular economy and sustainable fashion sector had to carve their unique routes to reach new horizons of success. For Nina, this journey felt akin to fashioning a path through a dense forest. As sustainability and circularity gained traction in recent years, people began to seek guidance from those who had already navigated the hardships.
Looking at the extraordinary levels of environmental damage and waste, Nina is firmly committed to nurturing change through a dynamic and adaptable mindset. Her approach to tackling these challenges centers on a bold openness to innovation, embracing fresh ideas—even those that break new ground. With creativity and resilience, Nina is paving the way for sustainable solutions that go beyond traditional boundaries, inspiring others to join her in reimagining a cleaner, more sustainable future.
Understanding that a multifaceted strategy often leads to significant advancements, Nina values agility as a core principle of her leadership. Nina leads by embodying her truth, purpose and mission. She actively recognizes that resourcefulness and the mindset to think practically are crucial. With these qualities at the center of her approach, she encourages her team to develop confidence, pursue unconventional solutions and remain open to experimentation.
Adopting Sustainable Style
Nina’s approach has transformed circular and sustainable practices like reuse and repair into appealing alternatives to overconsumption and wastefulness. Her focus is on consumer experience, particularly in the realm of sustainable fashion. This involves creating and showcasing stylish, captivating outfits crafted from secondhand garments or from brands that prioritize materials with minimal environmental impact.
The allure of conventional fashion, which often harms people and the planet, is largely driven by fleeting trends. Society has been conditioned to chase after these trends throughout their lives. With the rise of fast fashion and ultra-fast fashion, new trends and microtrends emerge weekly, contributing to staggering amounts of waste. To address this issue, Nina introduced the term “the fashion TRENDmill,” highlighting the need to step off this cycle of overconsumption. She advocates for a significant reduction in production and consumption while implementing the principles of a circular economy. The fashion TRENDmill concept has evolved, says Nina. It’s no longer about following the latest fashion trends. It’s about ending the modern global trend of overconsumption fueled by the linear take-make-waste system, overproduction, planned obsolescence, single-use and the vast throwaway culture. This is the global TRENDmill we need to end. It’s prevalent in nearly every industry that uses materials and makes products.
By assisting individuals to recognize that they can express their style sustainably, Nina encourages better clothing habits. She engages with audiences through guest lectures at universities, public talks, workshops, events, and social media platforms, demonstrating a variety of ideas for adopting circular measures.
In her research and policy work, Nina strives to identify gaps and bring nuance to discussions while seeking holistic solutions. This endeavor is challenging, and she acknowledges that perfection is unattainable. However, she firmly believes that half-hearted measures can jeopardize projects or even exacerbate issues when time is wasted on solutions that ultimately fall short. It is crucial to conduct thorough analyses to ensure that progress is genuine and meaningful from the outset.
A Path to Transformation
The impact of fashion on an individual’s sense of self and confidence is profound, as it often serves as a powerful means of self-expression. Personal style is frequently intertwined with self-image, and helping women discover or enhance their sense of identity through clothing is a vital aspect of Nina’s mission.
With approximately 80% of garment workers worldwide being women, the challenges they face are alarming. Only about 10% of these women earn a living wage, while many endure modern slavery, exploitation, poor working conditions, and various human rights abuses. Nina’s work includes advocating for the rights and fair wages of these workers in the clothing and textiles industry. Through research, education and collaboration with not-for-profit advocacy organizations, she strives to bring attention to these critical issues and promote positive change for women in the fashion industry.
Transforming Perceptions
The challenges surrounding the circular economy and sustainable fashion often stem from deep-seated prejudices against secondhand items. For years, a stigma has lingered in certain higher socioeconomic circles, where these items were viewed as suitable only for those of lower economic standing.
Nina has tirelessly worked to elevate circular operations and events, striving to make them appealing to all segments of society. Her goal is to shift the focus from the affordability of secondhand goods to the importance of fostering a healthier, cleaner environment.
Another significant hurdle is the perception that environmental projects as merely charitable endeavors that should not require substantial funding. Many view these initiatives as optional rather than essential components of modern life.
This mindset obscures efforts to gain serious recognition and obstructs funding for vital for local governments and environmental organizations to carry out necessary environmental activities. Through her efforts, she seeks to challenge these misconceptions and promote a more inclusive understanding of sustainability.
The Harmony of Roles
Nina believes that the beauty of her diverse roles lies in their ability to complement one another. Through Eco Styles and Clothes Swap & Style, she engages with individuals, communities and industry stakeholders to drive meaningful change tailored to their specific needs.
At the Australia Institute, she draws upon her extensive experience and insights gained from direct interactions with citizens, consumers and industry representatives. This rich background informs her policy recommendations and sparks deeper conversations in key areas, enhancing the impact of her work.
Finding Purpose in Environmental Advocacy
Nina advises that a strong passion for purpose-driven work is essential for anyone looking to make a mark in environmental advocacy. The journey can be challenging, requiring a mindset focused on meaningful change. Perseverance is key, as progress in this area often unfolds slowly but can be immensely rewarding when it does.
The path forward is not always clear-cut, making it crucial to utilize every available resource. Individuals can begin by volunteering with organizations dedicated to environmental causes or even establishing platforms to raise awareness through writing and speaking. Social media serves as an excellent avenue for sharing impactful content. With dedication and creativity, there is potential to secure a position within this important field.
Vision for a Sustainable and Healthy Future
Nina expresses her aspirations for the future of her work with clarity and purpose. She aims to explore new models and systems that can lead to healthier societies. Her goal is to collaborate with organizations, companies, businesses, both large and small, that are eager to adopt transitions towards more sustainable and circular systems.
As we conclude this story, it’s apparent that Nina is not just combating the fashion industry; she is redefining it. In an industry where fashion constitutes almost 10% of global carbon emissions, this commitment to sustainable style indicates that a 92-million-ton waste industry can transform into a force for conscious empowerment.
