We recently connected with Jillian Clark and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jillian thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

I founded Roboro specifically to change the way things are done in the fashion industry. Fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world, with oil being the number one most polluting global industry. An industry that has such a devastating global impact is not an efficient, effective, modern or (arguably) profitable industry, and therefore opens itself up to opportunity and innovation. That is the space Roboro exists in, opportunity and innovation within the fashion and textile industries. A standard design process is one that starts with an idea and a rendering or sketch. Then materials, labor and execution necessary to turn that idea into a reality are sorted out. What Roboro does is changed up the order of events within the design process, and we start with the materials. The existing materials inspire the the ideas and sketches, and only then do we move into production. This new way of approaching design minimizes the production of virgin materials and instead utilizes existing raw materials. This not only saves the energy and resources used to produce virgin materials, but it ensures the energy and resources used to produce the existing raw materials weren’t wasted, by keeping the fabric out of landfills.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Roboro is a radical solution for the catastrophic impacts the fashion industry is having on our environment. Supply chains are fractured and spread across continents and oceans which makes it difficult to implement innovative solutions and procedures quickly and efficiently. This leaves brands, factories and consumers who are wanting to make more sustainable choices frustrated and overwhelmed. Roboro offers practical behavior and sustainable solutions for every step of the fashion industry’s supply chains.

I was inspired to start Roboro in 2017, while I was working full time as a costume designer for TV and film. I saw a documentary, ‘The True Cost’, and was shocked and embarrassed that I was unaware of the global impacts of fast fashion. While I didn’t consider myself to be working in “fashion”, a costume designer’s bread & butter are fast fashion stores- Zara, H&M, Topshop to name a few. They have large inventories with fast turnover and it’s easy to purchase and return large quantities of clothing. This is a devastating industry that I was directly contributing to and I was one of the worst offenders. I changed the way I approached my career; shopping from ethical brands, and sustainable and local businesses that shared these values. This was much to the chagrin of most producers I worked with. Working exclusively with sustainable brands meant budgetary needs increased. Making the active choice to spend more money on a better quality product, with a lower environmental cost, is rarely a well received choice amongst those in charge of finances.

I found myself needing to do more. I began making products out of the discarded fabrics and clothing from the various costume houses and productions in LA. I sold these products at local craft fairs and holiday markets and was blown away by the positive response. These products served as a gateway for the people to begin asking questions about sustainable fashion and their personal roles in the fashion industry worldwide. In 2019 I learned that we only had ten years to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. This next decade would determine the future for humanity. I restructured the company to more than just an upcycled retailer, and I wanted to tackle textile waste on a global scale. That was when we established our mission statement:

‘End Textile Waste’. .

This new goal offered the company more direction and clarity; not only for ourselves but for consumers who wanted to better understand why our company existed and why our work is so important.

Consumers love the company mission, love that the products are made of recycled materials and want to better understand the problem I am working to solve. Over 13 billion tons of textile waste goes into US landfills every year and they are entirely up-cyclable, recyclable, and wasted raw materials.

Roboro pinpoints where textile waste is produced and collaborates with businesses, recyclers and non-profits to provide comprehensive and easily implemented solutions.
Roboro has positioned itself between the textile’s end of life and the landfill.
Roboro is closing the loop on fashion

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In 2019 I completely rebranded and restructured the company due to an aggressive trademark battle. From 2017-2019 the company was called MeWe Clothing Brand, and we created one-of-a-kind upcycled products, made entirely from textile waste. Then in 2019, in the height of ‘fake news’ America, we were sent a cease & desist by a far right, conservative social media platform with a similar name. What felt like an insurmountable roadblock of starting over from the beginning, quickly became the best thing that could have ever happened to the company. I now describe those first two years with the company as the most in-depth research and development time I could have possible hoped for. I learned what sold and what didn’t. Questions consumers had and what they were interested in learning more about. I watched my customers in 2017 not understand what ‘textile waste’ was, become customers in 2023 who have learned to mend their own jeans. But ultimately, I learned that to have the biggest impact possible on the textile waste crisis, I could rely on selling one-of-a-kind clothing garments at weekend markets. I needed to be part of the global waste reduction movement.
So in 2019, I enlisted the help of strategists and marketers to come up with Roboro. Not only the name, but the new business model, mission statement, brand voice and philosophy. When I started MeWe, I got the name from a mural in Venice, CA and just started sewing. I’m a big advocate for ‘just starting’ and I’ll forever be grateful that I jumped into the deep end head first. But I’m also grateful to have been grated the opportunity to take what I learned and start over. Because I didn’t start over from the beginning, I started over with knowledge and experience!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In addition to Roboro, my main source of income is my work as a costume designer in Hollywood. Well, until very recently at least. On May 2, 2023 the Writer’s Guild of American went on strike, shortly followed by SAG-AFTRA. This meant all work in Hollywood came to a screeching halt and I found myself out of work, overnight. There have been countless times over the past 7 years that I’ve wanted to give Roboro up, to quit and find a path of less resistance. But I believe in our company’s mission and humanity’s ingenuity enough to keep trying. When faced with the decision to remain in LA, wait out the strike and turn the company lights off, or be resourceful and find another way. I chose the latter. Like so many, I moved home. Somewhere far away from the preverbal rat race, with a lower cost of living and less pressure to be productive 25 hours a day. I created the physical and mental space I needed to focus on growing Roboro, without the ever present fear of not being able to pay next month’s exorbitant LA rent prices. Six months into this huge paradigm shift and Roboro has gain more global traction, presence and partnerships than ever before. We are currently organizing a fundraising event in LA, to raise money for out of work filmmakers who have been impacted by the ongoing strikes.
It took me moving to the east coast, to have the capacity to have the positive impact on Hollywood I initially moved there, with stars in my eyes, to have.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.roboro6.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roboro_official/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roboro.official/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mewe-clothing-brand/?viewAsMember=true
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@roboro_official

Image Credits
Sean George