Impact Interview: Christian Smith

Name: Christian Smith

Role/Function: Partnerships And Stakeholder Engagement Lead, Fair Wear Foundation

What He’s Currently Working On: 

The most exciting thing at the moment is being part of an initiative that has been set up by Fair Wear and ETI. It's called The Industry We Want – where the initial goal was to identify indicators and metrics that can shine a light on whether the fashion industry is really making the progress we want to see.

There are a plethora of initiatives, programs, projects and related interventions but nothing seems to address the industry at scale, from a systems perspective. So we wanted to highlight this lack of movement and galvanize the industry to collaborate more effectively on key topics that we know can have a meaningful impact – Wages, Purchasing Practices and GHGs.

1. What was the “aha” moment that sparked your interest in social impact? 

There was not a single point – it really was a culmination of experiences.

I grew up in Freetown, Sierra Leone, have lived in London, New York, Brasilia, Takamatsu (Japan), Amsterdam, Lyon and Hamburg. That experience really connected me to people and got me to understand the world from different perspectives. Studying Energy and Sustainability in Brasilia was my first formal step and after that I realized that this was my jam. I don't think I could work in a space not linked to social impact.

2. How did you break into the social impact space? 

When studying for my master's in Environment and Sustainable Development, I was working part time as a researcher for a headhunting company. My studies got my boss interested in sustainability and we ended up doing a search for one of her clients. I met a ton of fantastic people who thought differently but the same as me, and that inspired me to dive in. So I used those very same contacts to headhunt my first boss. A lot of emails and perseverance and eventually a role opened up at ASOS.

3. What most excites you about the social impact space right now?

Despite the doom and gloom you see on the news, there is so much happening in this space.

More of the conversations that I had among other practitioners back in the day are taking place among friends and family. We have everything we need to create the world we want to see and even though governments might lack the will to make things happen, the cracks in the old system are widening which makes me hopeful for a just transition.

There is also a lot more interdisciplinary thinking with people making more connections between environmental and social issues, race and justice, race and environmental justice, diversity/inclusion and sustainability – in this space, it is crucial that diverse perspectives and insights are given space.

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