Paul is a really engaging advocate for rewilding - but perhaps surprisingly spent more than a decade working as a solicitor specialising in employment law before becoming heavily involved in Wildwood. Encouragingly he is more optimistic than he has been in years for the future of wildlife and genuine progress on climate change - feeling that we have reached a tipping point in public opinion that means politicians can no longer ignore these issues and still get elected. The recent COP15 pledge for 30% of the planet to be protected for nature by 2030 stands as one significant example - as well as the huge quantity of column inches expended over COP27 on climate change. There is a long way to go - but at least its on the agenda.

We recorded our conversation on the 19th December 2022 in a shed that Paul has been forced to use as a temporary office - while his usual space undergoes a major rewiring project, after mice attacked the cables. One of the hazards of working in an environment where wild animals are actively encouraged... It was bucketing down with rain, so you may hear a bit of that in the background from time to time.

If you want to find out more about the great work that Wildwood do - www.wildwoodtrust.org is the place to go.

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We also talked about fashion, obviously, and sustainability and ethics in the industry. We also talked about his personal journey from being a working class lad from the midlands to his current success – overcoming prejudice and confidence issues along the way.

Our conversation took place in his extraordinary apartment in a Napoleonic Fort in Rochester, with gun emplacement windows that overlook the river and the castle and cathedral, a space stuffed with all manner of objects collected over the years - peacocks and Buddhas, crowns and chandeliers, even a full size leopard! Its somewhere exotic and creative and very much what you might expect of someone embedded in high fashion - but maybe unexpected in the Medway Towns. He is fierce advocate of Medway and its creative potential, and vocal about the need to protect and promote its further and higher education opportunities - he studied at KIAD which famously also counts Zandra Rhodes as an alumnus.

A dazzling character, even if he habitually dresses all in black, Jatin is also about to launch a new project to bring his designs to the wider public. I find him to be really stimulating and energising - and I hope you enjoy our conversation too.

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Its an extensive ramble of a conversation, starting with the fact that global leaders are gathering for COP27 in Egypt to talk about climate change amid concerns that it may already be too late for the world to reduce CO2 emissions enough to meet the 1.5c target by 2050. We talk about Wilding and Rewilding and the difference between the two, and the release of wild bison into the Blean woodland near Canterbury.

Evan talks about the need for government regulation and public subsidy to help landowners and farmers engage in good countryside management as well as food production, so that marginal land isn't needlessly ploughed up or set to pasture for little if any gain to humanity, but with serious consequences for wildlife.

He was inspired to become a conservationist after watching David Attenborough's Life on Earth as a child, and talks about being fortunate enough to have spoken with him on several occasions. Despite the huge concerns over the current state of the environment, Evan remains optimistic for the future, and hopeful that with enough efforts now Kent, and indeed the UK, will have significantly more wildlife in it in 50 years time than we have today - which I find to be really heartening.

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The conversation ranges through some very heavy name dropping ( Muhammad Ali, Stephen Fry, Salman Rushdie, John Cleese...) dealing with loss, starting a business, and career advice for teenagers. Love is all you need.

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But he has a really interesting backstory – academically awful at school, he couldn’t read when he was 11, and failed his English GCSE four times – before being eventually diagnosed with dyslexia aged 18. After a spell sheep wrangling in Australia and then several years in the police – he started working alongside his dad Bob Russell in building up Beams International – a firm that make all sorts of bespoke packaging, mainly for food and drinks manufacturers – from Heinz to Guinness to Lanson and Glenfiddich

He’s a really engaging and entertaining chap – who is living proof that there is no one right way of building a successful career or business.

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