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Fashionopolis
Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes | Dana Thomas
12 posts | 7 read | 10 to read
An investigation into the damage wrought by the colossal clothing industry and the grassroots, high-tech, international movement fighting to reform it What should I wear? Its one of the fundamental questions we ask ourselves every day. More than ever, we are told it should be something new. Today, the clothing industry churns out 80 billion garments a year and employs every sixth person on Earth. Historically, the apparel trade has exploited labor, the environment, and intellectual propertyand in the last three decades, with the simultaneous unfurling of fast fashion, globalization, and the tech revolution, those abuses have multiplied exponentially, primarily out of view. We are in dire need of an entirely new human-scale model. Bestselling journalist Dana Thomas has traveled the globe to discover the visionary designers and companies who are propelling the industry toward that more positive future by reclaiming traditional craft and launching cutting-edge sustainable technologies to produce better fashion. In Fashionopolis, Thomas sees renewal in a host of developments, including printing 3-D clothes, clean denim processing, smart manufacturing, hyperlocalism, fabric recyclingeven lab-grown materials. From small-town makers and Silicon Valley whizzes to such household names as Stella McCartney, Levis, and Rent the Runway, Thomas highlights the companies big and small that are leading the crusade. We all have been casual about our clothes. It's time to get dressed with intention. Fashionopolis is the first comprehensive look at how to start.
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Balibee146
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Currently reading on #kindle

33 likes1 stack add
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GatheringBooks
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#FallFinds Day 16: So I delivered a keynote speech this morning via webinar to a group of early childhood educators from Bandung Indonesia, and I truly wanted to be #Fashionable but well... those screen caps had other ideas. 🤣😭😳🤪 I think it went well, though. My talk was on: “Using multicultural and global picturebooks to enhance practices in early childhood education.”

Eggs 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 4y
45 likes1 comment
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IuliaC
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Despite 3-D printed fashion in flexible materials, metamaterial material, nano-drone knitting, Sewbots, "we have a primal urge-an instinct-to craft things by hand, and a compulsion to swathe ourselves in things made by members of our species. Anthropologists have long held forth that there are a few conditions that separate man from animals. Storytelling. Bipedalism. And the fact that we cloth ourselves. Sewing clothes touches the human spirit."

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IuliaC
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"If we lengthen the life of just one in five garments in Europe by 10 percent, we could cut 3 million tons of CO2, save 150 million liters of water, and divert 6.4 million tons of clothing from landfill. Less frequent and shorter-cycle washing will dramatically reduce the number of microfibers flushed into our waterways."

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IuliaC
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"Conventionally grown cotton is one of agriculture's most polluting crops. Almost one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of hazardous pesticides is required to grow one hectare-or two and a half acres-of the fluff. [...] The creation of one cotton T-shirt requires a third of a pound of lab-concocted fertilizers and 25.3 kilowatts of electricity, and the WWF has stated it can take up to 2,700 liters of water to grow the cotton."

katy4peas 😮😢 4y
23 likes1 comment
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Lindy
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Pickpick

Dana Thomas is a creditable and engaging guide as she reveals the extent of worker abuse, environmental degradation and waste of resources happening in the clothing industry, an industry that employs one out of every 6 people on the planet. Hope is presented in the form of many solutions currently underway. We all wear clothes & socially conscious consumers can make a difference; this #audiobook is a great way to get informed.

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Lindy
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Aimeesue The feet! 😂 5y
Lindy @Aimeesue So cute, right? 5y
47 likes2 comments
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Lindy
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At any given moment, anthropologists believe, half the world‘s population is sporting jeans. Six billion pairs are produced annually. The average American owns seven.

vivastory I own zero 😂 I have all cargo pants 5y
LibrarianRyan I might have more than seven. ... and I just ordered 2 more. 5y
Leftcoastzen I have jeans , I thought everybody was going to yoga/workout pants . 5y
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Lindy @vivastory @LibrarianRyan @Leftcoastzen I have two pairs: one blue, one black. 👖 5y
arubabookwoman I can't stand the feel of jeans, and I own none. Even ones that are supposed to be soft, seem to grate against my skin. 5y
LibrarianRyan @Leftcoastzen maybe but for many they can wear jeans to work and not leggings and yoga pants. 5y
Leftcoastzen I wear yoga pants to go to yoga or walking .This was a good one but the one you read is probably more current. 5y
Lindy @arubabookwoman The environmental impact of softening denim fabric is quite shocking. 5y
audraelizabeth I own quite a few. I always buy darker jeans because i will wear them until they dont fit or fall apart. I have one pair for 15 years. 5y
Hooked_on_books I‘m a bad American—I own none. I‘m a skirts or shorts gal. Pants don‘t seem to fit my body properly. They either fit my waist or my hips but not both and they‘re never the right length. 5y
45 likes1 stack add11 comments
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Weaponxgirl
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Pickpick

Climate change has been on my mind a lot recently and a huge contributor to this is our consumption habits in society so of course I had to read this. If you don‘t know much about how damaging clothes production is both environmentally and for the people in the industry them this is a great overview. I learnt some things for this but it‘s not really a how to guide would be my only real complaint. it could possibly leave you feeling a bit helpless

Weaponxgirl Especially when she is interviewing people who are inspiring like Stella McCartney 5y
Weaponxgirl Yes I love what‘s she‘s doing but hell no will I ever be able to afford sustainable clothes at those prices. There is another book coming out this year called how to break up with fast fashion that I‘m really excited to read 5y
Weaponxgirl This is on deal on kindle on amazon uk atm for 99p and I would definitely recommend but tbh if you are like me and have watched documentaries on fashion then not too much of this will be new to you. 5y
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Weaponxgirl I also always get slightly annoyed with people who talk about hiring clothes. Yes that‘s a designer well made dress you are renting for (e8 instead of buying but then it forgets people like me who do not spend (e8 on a dress a month as we don‘t have the money. I can‘t afford a subscription plan like that. Not everyone who uses fast fashion occasionally is doing so because they are frivolous but because we are poor. She wasn‘t being judgmental 5y
Weaponxgirl But I do think it‘s a genuine problem with sustainability for everyone in the process from maker and consumers. It‘s something I think about a lot as someone who wants to do the least amount of harm I can whilst living on this planet when there are no easy answers involved 5y
Weaponxgirl Also I just finished a night shift and think I‘m rambling so no idea if my thoughts make any sense whatsoever 5y
NeedsMoreBooks @Weaponxgirl recently wrote an article on fast fashion and the environment. This book sounds interesting. I have been trying to buy clothes that are reused/recycled/repurposed. The US has some options and a good market for clothes that can be worn again. 5y
Weaponxgirl @NeedsMoreBooks most of my clothes are secondhand too I‘m just finding the hardest bit to find affordably and ethically is stupidly enough underwear and socks. Those I‘m not gonna get secondhand and I‘d like for them to be made with more sustainable materials too. It‘s a hard balance to get right. I also think about the fact that lots of my secondhand stuff will release micro plastics when washed, it‘s literally a minefield out there! 5y
danimgill I just finished reading The Conscious Closet by Elizabeth Cline which had a lot of practical information along with all the scary statistical information about the fashion industry, maybe that would be another good read for you if you‘re doing a deep dive on the topic! You‘re right, it‘s such a minefield out there, it can be so hard to navigate. 5y
NeedsMoreBooks @Weaponxgirl I agree. Undergarments is one thing I will not buy secondhand. Micro plastics is another problem. It is hard to be conscious but I think every little bit helps. 5y
Weaponxgirl @danimgill I‘ve had my eye on that book and have just ordered it from my library 😊 5y
Weaponxgirl @NeedsMoreBooks yes I agree and I‘m trying not to let perfection get in the way of good and better 5y
Suet624 The majority of clothes that I own are secondhand and I have to say I always feel much more comfortable in them. I‘m not sure why. 5y
60 likes13 comments
review
anneofgreentables
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Pickpick

Everyone who wears clothes should read this book. Thomas provides an insightful perspective on how our clothes are designed, made, sold, and disposed of; the toll it takes on society and the planet, and potential for change.

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Pruzy
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A tragedy! I had to return Fashionopolis before I could finish it. Even tried self returning it and checking it out again to see if that could override the hold 😈 (unfortunately, it didn‘t work).

However, I turned right back around and placed another hold on the book, so hopefully in a week‘s time it will be mine again.

I‘m putting this here so I remember I was on page 178!

#librarywoes #holds #returns

ValerieAndBooks The Litsy blurb is fascinating. How far back does it go? The industrial revolution? events like theTriangle Shirtwaist fire tragedy? Stacking, nevertheless! 5y
Godpants I hate when that happens! 5y
Pruzy @ValerieAndBooks Yes, it does mention the industrial revolution at multiple points throughout the book, but the triangle shirtwaist fire has not come up yet! 5y
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Pruzy @Godpants Haha, thanks for the sympathy. Now I feel like I‘m in a spy vs spy battle for the book! 5y
Godpants @Pruzy I feel like I‘m constantly juggling my library books with middling success, so I‘m definitely very sympathetic. LOL 5y
Pruzy @Godpants Haha, perfect! 5y
Curiouser_and_curiouser Haha, you sound like me, I go through the library like it has a revolving door! 5y
45 likes1 stack add7 comments
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Pruzy
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It doesn‘t get much more university than sitting in a university lab waiting for a time point while reading Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes that you borrowed from the university library in less than a week because someone else has a hold on it...maybe if I was wearing a blazer with the university logo.

LogiKitty Sounds like an amazing book! Can't wait to see your review (: 5y
Pruzy @LogiKitty Hopefully I‘ll finish the book without having to return it and place a hold on it again!! 5y
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