LOS ANGELES — At first glance, Samata Pattinson’s job seems like a whirlwind of glamorous events — hosting sustainable fashion galas, rubbing shoulders with industry icons and curating events headlined by Miss Universe.
Beyond the dazzling lights and red carpets lies the heart of her work: stacks of donation boxes, grassroots initiatives and a relentless drive to change how we think about fashion.
As the CEO of Black Pearl, an organization dedicated to cultural sustainability across fashion, music and entertainment, Pattinson is on a mission to show that sustainability isn’t just a buzzword. It’s a lifeline, especially in the wake of disaster.
“One of the main purposes of what we do is to help people find themselves in the conversation about sustainability,” Pattinson explained. “A lot of the time people think, ‘Oh, it’s something that’s for people who have this disposable income or who live in this area or who can access these things.’ And what we try and do through education and projects is show people that whoever you are, there is a way that you can engage with this subject.”
In the aftermath of the devastating wildfires that swept through communities, Pattinson and her team at Black Pearl shifted into action, organizing donations, coordinating relief efforts and challenging the fashion industry to step up.
“A lot of people don’t necessarily connect fashion and the clothes that they wear with this idea of kind of creating a climate impact or just having an impact on our natural ecosystems,” Pattinson said. “But it absolutely does.”
According to Business Insider, fashion production is responsible for 10% of total global carbon emissions, and a staggering 85% of all textiles end up in landfills each year indicating that the issue isn’t just about what we wear, it’s about how the industry operates from the ground up. That’s why Black Pearl didn’t stop at secondhand donations, they’ve taken the step of engaging brands directly.
“The estimate is between five to 10 billion excess items of inventory were produced in 2023 alone,” Pattinson noted. “So we stepped forward and spoke to brands and retailers and said, ‘Look, do you have any excess inventory or stock that can be redirected towards people who’ve basically lost everything in these fires?'”
And she says they’ve had success.
“We’ve had brands coming forward, small brands, established brands, made in LA brands, sustainable brands,” she said.
Black Pearl partnered with the Collidescope Foundation, an organization dedicated to empowering social impact organizations and their leaders, and LA Climate Week to make their most recent initiative happen. For JC Arce, the orgs’ co-founder and co-executive director, the wildfires are more than just natural disasters. They’re a harsh reminder of the urgent need for corporate accountability.
“A lot of people in our community, people who have lost homes, lost their livelihoods, wanted to find a way to engage everyone else in the reality of what is going on here in LA,” Arce said. He believes that as communities rebuild, sustainability will no longer be optional, it will be essential.
“Now, because of the wildfires, people are thinking about how can the community find safety and trust in these institutions, the local government, and the companies working together to rebuild the city in a way that is, again, sustainable and ethical,” Arce said.
For the fashion industry, this means reimagining everything from supply chains to production models. Pattinson emphasizes that while individual choices matter, the real impact comes from systemic change.
“The main communication is: what can citizens do differently, right?” she said. “And as much as that’s part of the conversation, I feel like the bigger conversation is how do we embed a responsible production model into how we’re producing our clothes?”
And she is clear that this approach doesn’t mean the fashion industry should shrink into the shadows.
“That’s not saying we shouldn’t be making new clothes, because I love the fashion industry, I love designers, I love creators, I love the retailers. This is an important industry that’s full of really talented people, but it’s how are we measuring the amount that we’re producing,” Pattinson said.
She suggests several solutions, one being that brands considering their take back mechanisms.
“The idea is that citizens should be able to return to the brands they bought their clothing from when they no longer have a desire for it, and know that there’s a responsible mechanism in place to take that item and make it something else for someone else.”
The second is better fashion forecasting.
“I think one of the ways that we can encourage more responsible forecasting is through kind of technology – better methods to kind of forecast exactly how much will be needed and how much will be bought. You know, there are brands who only do kind of, manufacture on demand. And I think we have to adapt some of these models in there so we don’t have so much excess at the end of the season,” Pattinson said.
For Pattinson, fire relief lies not just in putting clothes on people’s backs. It’s about reshaping an industry to be part of the solution rather than the problem.
