Emma does a whole lot of different things, but they all feed into her goal of collective liberation.

Emma Hakansson is the founding director of Collective Fashion Justice, a not-for-profit dedicated to creating a total ethics fashion system which prioritises the wellbeing of people, our fellow animals and the planet, before profit.

Her latest book, Total Ethics Fashion, explores the namesake term that she coined to guide the fashion industry forward.

Through Collective Fashion Justice, she has worked with the United Nations Environment Programme, Good On You, Fashion Revolution, the Center for Biological Diversity, World Animal Protection, and other leading organisations. Emma has consulted on passed progressive fashion legislation in New York City, spoken at the European Parliament, been invited to provide expertise in Parliament inquiries in Australia, and offered her expertise to global brands and fashion councils seeking to improve their ethics and sustainability.

Emma has lectured, spoken and run workshops around the world, in schools including London College of Fashion, Institut Français de la Mode, Swinburne University, Accademia Costume e Moda, GCNYC, and many more. She has reviewed and helped to transform the entire fashion course at LCI College, aligning with total ethics fashion values.

Her writing work explores sustainability and ethics in fashion and broader society. Her first book, How Veganism Can Save Us, was published by Hardie Grant in 2022, and her writing, research and projects have featured across The Guardian, Business of Fashion, Vogue Business, WWD, and many more. She is also a regular contributor to Nourish Magazine.

Emma has also spoken on a number of podcasts, including Clare Press’ renowned Wardrobe Crisis and the Plant Based News podcast.

Her first short-film, Willow and Claude, has won multiple international awards, including Best Documentary at the Amsterdam Fashion Film Festival, and seven other awards, selections and nominations. This project also won a Gold Good Design Award in 2022. Meanwhile, SLAY, in which she was a line producer, researcher and interviewee, has been watched hundreds of thousands of time on Waterbear.

Emma’s work with the Australian Childhood Foundation is rooted in the belief that those with lived experience of child sexual abuse are most knowledgeable on how we can protect children from abuse today. Emma’s Project launched in 2022, and invited fellow survivors of child sexual abuse to share their wisdom on how adults could have better protected them. With nearly 360 respondents, this project offers important insights and knowledge used to produce better resources, programs and campaigns to protect children from abuse: by putting the weight of this burden onto adults, not children themselves.

The first report from this project, co-authored by Emma, is launching in late 2023, alongside its first call to action for community change. Her work with the Foundation has been covered by Triple J’s Hack program, ABC, The Australian, Mama Mia, and many others. She is also the Chair of the project’s Lived Experience Advisory Committee, and has contributed her knowledge to the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse.

Viewing oppression as a structure manifesting in different forms, Emma believes that the exploitation of children, other people, our fellow animals and the planet can be broken down and moved beyond when we prioritise autonomy and respect ahead of domination and extraction.

In 2023, Emma was awarded the Animal Justice Foundation’s Voiceless Award for Youth Advocacy, and in 2021, she received an International Women’s Day Award from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Previously, Emma worked producing campaigns for Animal Liberation Victoria. Releasing global first footage of blunt force trauma killing of male kids in the dairy industry, launching ALV’s first fashion campaigns, and producing research and written work. She also worked for She’s A Crowd, which works to prevent gender based violence.

Emma currently also runs communications for progressive Animal Justice Party MP, Georgie Purcell.