Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion - Elizabeth L. Cline To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out the World? - Lucy Siegle We Are What We Wear: Unravelling fast fashion and the collapse of Rana Plaza - Lucy Siegle amazon.co If you’re going to read Overdressed, be prepared for it to leave a nasty taste in your mouth and a lump in your throat when you next open your wardrobe. This really is a pretty damning expose of the ‘fast fashion’ industry, which churns out clothes faster than we can wear them out, leading to massive waste and a wardrobe full of clothes that we wear only once or twice. Why? Because at $5 an item, we still think we’re getting our money’s worth even if we only wear it a couple of times and then it goes out of fashion. I wouldn’t say I’ve ever been excessively fashion conscious and certainly for the last 2-3 years, I tend to only buy something when I need it. Fast fashion is all about embracing trends but Overdressed points out that trends change so quickly that some stores are introducing hundreds of new lines each week. I was born in the eighties but years ago I was given a jacket from the seventies. Really, all I can say is read this book.
amazon Top seven books on sustainable fashion | Guardian Sustainable Business Whether you're a long time follower of sustainable fashion, new to the scene or just a little curious, these seven books offer insight into an industry often considered the enemy of sustainability. Naked Fashion: The New Sustainable Fashion Revolution by Safia Minney Founder and CEO of Fair Trade fashion label People Tree, Minney's book offers an overview of the most pressing challenges facing the fashion industry and shares a positive look at alternative business models with a list of eco-friendly fashion brands. Among the contributions from designers, photographers, models, actors and journalists on their efforts to create sustainable change within the fashion and media industry are actress Emma Watson, Daily Mail columnist Liz Jones, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, and model Summer Rayne Oakes. To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out the World? Published in 2011, the issues raised are increasingly relevant three years later. The Sustainable Fashion Handbook by Sandy Black
The hidden trade in our second-hand clothes given to charity | Guardian Sustainable Business Leaflets from charities and clothing recycling companies fall through the letterbox all the time asking for donations of old clothes. In supermarket carparks there are clothing banks for unwanted, wearable clothes, but where do all these clothes go? Torn clothes are recycled and used again as things like insulation materials, and soiled garments end up in landfill or incinerated. Globally the wholesale used clothing trade is valued at more than £2.8bn. It is actually a common misconception that organisations such as Oxfam and the Salvation Army distribute second-hand clothes freely in the developing world. Second-hand clothes from an array of developed countries dominate local market stalls in sub-Saharan Africa. In Xipamanine Market, Maputo, Mozambique, a used pair of jeans will typically cost £2.90 and a T-shirt £1.50. In a trade that Mario and other market traders call a totobola (or lottery), it is difficult to escape poverty. The fashion hub is funded by H&M.
How the fashion industry is helping the world's rubbish problem In our disposable culture, fast-changing trends and cheap manufacturing mean we can throw things away without a second thought. The result is a waste crisis – plastics clog the ocean, landfill sites expand. As waste continues to rise – each year we produce 3 per cent more than the year before – and as resources become ever-more scarce, the need to recycle existing materials is increasingly pertinent. Forty per cent of the world’s waste ends up in huge rubbish tips, which pose a serious threat to human health and the environment. Fashion and recycling have worked in tandem for decades through upcycling, vintage and charity shops, but now designers are becoming increasingly adventurous, creating stylish, beautiful designs from an array of waste products. “It takes materials and melts them down to re-extrude the polyester they are made from. Designers are also proving recycled materials make elegant outfits fit enough to grace the catwalk or red carpet.
How Fashion Can Empower Girls | VOICES Looking ahead to International Day of the Girl on October 11, BoF asks you to ponder ways our industry can better empower girls and harness their potential. Where and how should we focus our efforts? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. OXFORDSHIRE, United Kingdom — "Knowledge is power and it's empowering for young women," began Karlie Kloss, speaking with BoF founder and chief executive Imran Amed on stage at VOICES, BoF's annual gathering for big thinkers, in December last year. VOICES has been a catalyst for change since its inception in 2016. At VOICES 2017, guests and speakers were invited to take part in one of five salons with the goal of sparking debate and exploring resolutions for burning issues, such as the fashion industry's need to embrace the circular economy or build new retail models. The world's 1.1 billion girls are a source of power, energy and creativity, yet gender inequality is rampant across the globe. Education is key.
Fast fashion: Inside the fight to end the silence on waste Image copyright Dylan Maddux for Tonle At a time when our waste and our environmental impact is firmly under the spotlight, news in early July that fashion brand Burberry had burned almost £30m ($40m) of stock has caused outrage. The company admitted destroying the unsold clothes, accessories and perfume instead of selling it off cheaply, in order to protect the brand's exclusivity and value. It added that it had captured the energy from the burning to try and make the process more environmentally friendly. But how widespread is stock destruction at this level? Orsola de Castro is the co-founder and creative director of activist group Fashion Revolution, who lobby brands on production transparency. The BBC contacted 35 high-end designers and high-street retailers to ask about their practice. Only six replied with breakdowns or further information, and the rest said they could not help or did not respond at all. Image copyright Fashion Revolution So why is stock destruction even a thing?
Victoria's Secret sees plunge in sales over use of 'unrelatable' supermodels, experts claim LINGERIE brand Victoria’s Secret is losing sales because its insistence on using supermodels means it is “out of touch with today’s reality”, critics say. The brand, known for its supermodel Angels such as Stella Maxwell, 28, has seen sales at its parent firm plunge. Victoria's Secret The once hugely effective marketing strategy used a string of scantily-clad supermodels such as Heidi Klum, Gisele Bundchen and Gigi Hadid. Experts say women no longer relate to “flawless” models but do to those who appear more natural, like rival Aerie’s Iskra Lawrence, 27. Retail analyst Randal Konik, told the New York Post:“It’s had the same positioning for decades, associating sexy with super models, and it just doesn’t work anymore.” Retail consultant Gabriella Santaniello said: “The Angels are unrelatable, while the stores look too much like an outdated boudoir.” Aerie Getty Images - Getty Rare Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter 50p coin sells for £840 on eBay
Greenpeace Report Spotlights Fashion’s Progress on ‘Detoxing’ | News & Analysis, News Bites AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — The fashion industry has made progress toward purging its supply chain of hazardous chemicals, Greenpeace said in a new report. Luxury brands, however, are lagging behind. Greenpeace is pushing to end the use of hazardous chemicals in the fashion supply chain and its products by 2020, a process it calls “detoxing.” In its report, reflecting on the seven-year-old campaign, the organisation said it had seen a positive shift in the clothing industry's approach to the chemicals it uses. “We were really asking brands to take responsibility for the whole production, the whole supply chain, instead of just focusing on the finished products,” said Kirsten Brodde, co-author of the Detox Report. Dye Factory in Shaoxing | Source: Courtesy Almost all detox-committed brands have moved towards greater transparency by implementing regular water-waste testing and disclosing the results. Only two luxury houses — Burberry and Valentino — are among the detox-committed brands.