Fashionopolis by Dana Thomas

FASHIONOPOLIS by Dana Thomas is subtitled “The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes” and it is clearly a topic of interest to millennials and their younger counterparts in Generation Z. In fact, I have two students who independently chose to explore fast fashion for Junior Theme so far this year. Thomas is a best-selling author and frequent contributor to a number of publications on topics related to style.  In this new non-fiction work, she begins by describing the problem and noting that “in the last twenty years, the volume of clothes Americans throw away has doubled – from 7 million to 14 million tons. That equals 80 pounds per person per year.” Thomas continues, offering numerous examples to illustrate the “creative thievery, indifference to others, corruption [and] pollution” which she argues categorizes the industry. Later in the book, Thomas shares interviews with innovative practitioners and points to more efforts towards sustainability, like exploring the use of organic cotton or more natural dyes.  She also outlines efforts by Amazon (now a major player in retail apparel) to manufacture clothing on demand – after it has been ordered.

Although less practical and action-oriented than The Conscious Closet, FASHIONOPOLIS is an intriguing blend of social issues (working conditions, NAFTA, environmental impact), fashion and technology (robots who sew, new bio-fabrics, and 3D-printing). Thomas has included almost thirty pages of notes, a selected bibliography and a helpful index for researchers. We will be purchasing and pairing FASHIONOPOLIS with other relevant titles like Inconspicuous Consumption or the much older The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy when we make book recommendations on this topic.

 

The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan

The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan is a powerful book with memorable characters. Two brothers, 15 year old Amadou and 8 year old Seydou, are forced to work harvesting pods of cocoa.  The dangerous conditions – long hours, poor food, no schooling – are sad and disturbing, yet Amadou somehow holds to an inner core of goodness and works hard to protect his younger brother.  

His ability to get to a quiet place and cope with the situation is shaken by the arrival of Khadija, a “wildcat” of a girl who tries to escape repeatedly.  Eventually, they form a connection strong enough to cope with a serious injury for Seydou and to ultimately defy the bosses. The Bitter Side of Sweet is emotionally difficult to read at times, but could work as a class read (like assigning A Long Way Gone a few years ago), especially if studying Africa or human rights and child labor. Sullivan has added to her success with Golden Boy: The Bitter Side of Sweet received nearly universal starred reviews.