2U, Inc. is the parent company of edX.
Early in her modeling career, Arizona Muse was named the โnew face of American fashionโ by Vogue. Today, sheโs also one of the faces behind SKIIM Paris: a consciously sourced leather and suede brand that launched its latest collection last week.
Not only is Arizona modeling for SKIIM Parisโbut sheโs also serving as the brandโs newly appointed sustainability consultant. And according to an interview published in Forbes last week, Arizonaโs enrollment in a University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) short course on Business Sustainability Management was what helped prepare her for the shift from fashion model to fashion activist.
Read on to learn how Arizona made the switch to sustainability consulting with the help of the 2U, inc.’s CISL Business Sustainability Management short course.
โI Had No Idea How Clothes Were Madeโ
Arizonaโs sustainability journey started with a single thought.
“About six years ago, I had the uncomfortable realization that although I was at the core of the fashion industry, I had no idea how clothes were made,โ she told Forbes.
Eager to change that, Arizona started researching the ins and outs of fashionโreading books, watching documentaries, and regularly falling down Google rabbit holes. After gaining a baseline understanding of supply chains, fashion pollution, and economic theories, she enrolled in the Business Sustainability Management short course from CISL to further her knowledge.
Geared towards working professionals who seek to drive social, economic, and environmental sustainability within their organization, this eight-week online program was the perfect opportunity for Arizona to advance her education without putting her career on pause.
โI started modeling as a teenager so I didnโt go to university, and taking this course from Cambridgeโwhich is undeniably rigorousโwas an amazing validation for me on my own learning journey, that I was going in the right direction,โ Arizona told Forbes.
Taking this course from Cambridgeโwhich is undeniably rigorousโwas an amazing validation for me on my own learning journey, that I was going in the right direction.
Arizona Muse, Model, Activist, and SKIIM Paris Sustainability Consultant
โThe Most Meaningful Endeavor Iโve Ever Embarked Onโ
Today, Arizona is using lessons learned in the classroom to help SKIMM Paris fulfill its mission of producing what she calls โrefined clothing with conscience.โ Of everything she has accomplished to date, Arizona told Forbes that this sustainability consulting work is โthe most meaningful endeavor Iโve ever embarked on.โ
In her free time, Arizona also uses her social media platforms to make an impactโpassionately educating her more than 284K Instagram followers about the world of sustainable fashion.
As she shared in one recent Instagram post, โImagine walking into a shop and knowing that whatever you needed to buy had a positive impact on the Earth. How good would that feel? Sustainability should not be an add-on, but a given every time. There should always be transparency about where each garment was made and the people who made it. This way brands would no longer have to hide the embarrassingly cruel lifecycle of their garments. We could remove the โsustainableโ and just call it โfashion.โโ
With activists like Arizona leading the charge, this future feels not only achievableโbut inevitable.
This article was originally published by 2U, Inc.
