Once You See Fashion's Waste Problem, You Can't Unsee It

Camille Tagle was living her dream—designing evening wear for luxury fashion brands, seeing her gowns on red carpets.

Then one day, her boss looked at hundreds of fabric samples they'd ordered and said, "I'm not feeling it anymore. Start from scratch." That moment changed everything.

In this episode, host John Kane Gonzales sits down with Camille, Co-Founder of FABSCRAP, to talk about what happens when you can't unsee the waste anymore. You'll hear how she walked away from fashion to build a solution that didn't exist, why thousands of volunteers showed up without her asking, and how she built a financially sustainable nonprofit where brands actually pay for the service.

"There was this need and I had these answers and I had these skills. And so it felt like, why would I not just jump right into this and try to do it sooner than later?" - Camille Tagle

🚀 Key Takeaways:

The Hidden Waste Problem: Fashion's biggest waste happens during design—samples and full rolls thrown out before reaching stores—and most people have no idea.

Community Powered, Not Grant Funded: FABSCRAP mobilized 11,000+ volunteers and generates 64% of revenue from brands paying for services, not donations.

Brands Found Them: All 800+ brand partnerships came inbound—when the solution works, you don't have to convince anyone.

The "Can't Unsee It" Moment: Watching her boss throw away hundreds of fabric samples became impossible to ignore and fuel to build something different.

Naivety as an Asset: Being "young and naive" helped Camille start—knowing the complexity ahead might have stopped her.

⏳ Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Camille and FABSCRAP

01:48 Camille's journey from fashion designer to textile waste pioneer

04:01 The moment she couldn't unsee the waste

05:14 Making the transition from luxury fashion to nonprofit

07:15 Meeting her co-founder Jessica

07:53 How family reacted to leaving fashion behind

09:07 Why she decided to start FABSCRAP now

12:05 Defining her purpose beyond design

14:43 What sample headers are in the fashion industry

15:34 The commercial textile waste problem no one sees

17:45 How FABSCRAP's fabric recycling service works

19:17 Why brands don't monetize their fabric waste

23:16 Getting fashion brands to sign up for recycling

25:44 The warehouse sorting and volunteer process

29:27 Building 11,000 volunteers without advertising

35:22 Scaling with just 15 employees

38:53 How 800+ brands found FABSCRAP organically

40:15 The revenue model: brands pay for services

44:12 Future plans for scaling FABSCRAP

46:38 What infrastructure FABSCRAP needs to grow

47:55 Challenges in the sustainability space

49:25 Advice for aspiring social entrepreneurs

🔗 Connect with Camille Tagle

Website: https://fabscrap.org

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camille-diane-tagle-017b00a/

🔗 Resources Mentioned

Volunteer or Shop Fabric: Visit http://fabscrap.org to get involved

FABSCRAP on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fabscrap

🎙️ About SowGood to GrowGood: Hosted by John Kane Gonzales, entrepreneur and innovator. We explore how change-makers and innovators are building sustainable systems for a better future, turning ideas into scalable impact.