Emma Håkansson is the founding director of Collective Fashion Justice, a nonprofit organisation that seeks to create a total ethics fashion system.
Her writing has appeared in multiple publications internationally – including Nourish – and her first book, How Veganism Can Save Us, was published in mid-2022.
A valued member of the Nourish Vegan Awards expert panel, Emma kindly returned in 2022 for a second year to help determine this year’s nominees. Here, we dig in to Emma’s values, vision, latest work and reflections on how far the vegan movement has come since she first made the switch at the age of 16.
Nourish: What motivated you to explore veganism and plant-based living?
EH: While I’d always loved animals, I first considered the way my everyday actions impacted them when I was living in Sweden with my cousins. It’s as normal there to eat moose and deer as it is for us to eat sheep, and that made me uncomfortable. Sitting with that discomfort, I realised that it wasn’t the type of animal being killed and eaten which made me uncomfortable, but the fact that we killed and ate animals at all.
From there, I learned more about how animals are treated under the current system we live in, and I became vegan. Once I’d done that, I felt I had an obligation to do more for our fellow animals, and made animal liberation a central theme to my work and life.
Nourish: How does your day-to-day work reflect your values?
EH: I run a nonprofit called Collective Fashion Justice, which exists to create a total ethics fashion system. That means one which values human and non-human animals, as well as the planet, before profit. In the last year I’ve created an award-winning short film which explores these issues, worked with other organisations on efforts to ban fur sales, consulted with brands to help them shift away from animal-derived materials, and consulted on legislation which has passed in the City of New York, calling for more sustainable and ethical textile purchases.
All my writing work sits in the ethics and sustainability spaces, and my first book, which comes out next month, explores these themes and our relationship with other animals, too.
I’ve really made my day-to-day and work all about my values and working to create a world which has less suffering in it.
Nourish: What has changed in the vegan world since you started on this path?
EH: The normalisation of the vegan movement has definitely been a big shift, and one which was already happening back when I went vegan at 16. Not only are big brands getting involved by choosing more sustainable and innovative, animal-free products, but we’re also seeing real legislative change which is benefitting animals. Fur sales and farming bans across the world, commitments to reduce emissions and land use in a way which must address animal agriculture, and so on. These are encouraging steps with tangible positive outcomes.
Still from Willow and Claude, Emma’s award-winning short film exploring knitwear production, the wool industry, and ethical, sheep-free alternatives.
Nourish: Why did you choose to be part of the expert vegan panel for the 2022 Nourish Vegan Awards?
EH: It’s a real pleasure to be on the expert vegan panel again! I’m excited to encourage businesses to be more kind and to offer more ethical and sustainable products. When I’m voting, I’m thinking about that, supporting innovation and the products that are really moving the needle, filling a need and making us as a society realise that we don’t need animal products to survive or thrive.
Nourish: What impact do initiatives like the Nourish Vegan Awards have?
EH: Anything that can push brands to want to do better, to be more innovative, ethical and sustainable is a good thing – and I believe that the Nourish Vegan Awards do just that for many businesses.
A bit of healthy competition is a great thing when it means brands want to do better, not just when it comes to making sales, but in how they engage with the planet and those living on it. People are buying with their values in mind more and more, and that shows when we see which brands get celebrated in the awards.
Nourish: What vegan product or option could you simply not live without?
EH: Vegan leather, because I’m not someone who wants to wear canvas shoes every day – I’m all about boots! Also great quality, clean vegan skin care, and a solid vegan schnitzel.
Nourish: What isn’t yet widely available that you’d love to see developed?
EH: More accessible, sustainable and ethical alternatives to wool that perform the same way.
Nourish: What’s next for you on your vegan journey?
EH: There’s so much more work to be done through Collective Fashion Justice so I’ll continue doing that, and I’m really excited to see how my book is received. I hope it might help people with their own vegan journeys.
Nourish: Thanks Emma – we are equally excited to spread the word among our Nourish community!
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The 2022 Nourish Vegan Awards are open for voting until 17 July. Discover the nominees and vote today to win from this year’s outstanding prize pool.
