From the Fashion Library - Fashionopolis The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes

February 18, 2020 Danielle Brown

Dana Thomas, author of Deluxe How Luxury Lost Its Luster and Gods and Kings The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano has recently penned a new exposé about over consumption and the business of apparel. Cleverly named Fashionopolis (a reference to the Industrial Revolution and a German silent film) it examines the history of fast fashion, the over production and over consumption of cheaply made garments. The facts are that we are consuming clothing at an alarming rate that is devastating the environment and exploiting communities around the world. The current fashion industry is dated and unsustainable. This is a cost we can not afford.

Fashionopolis The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes includes extensive interviews with Stella McCartney, probably the most well known eco friendly luxury designer in the world, and Iris Van Herpen, a Dutch designer pushing boundaries with technology. More topics covered include worker’s rights and the dark truths of abuse and exploitation in the textile industry that runs as far back as the invention of the loom.

From the Fashion Library - The Conscious Closet The Revolutionary Guide to Looking Good While Doing Good

October 16, 2019 Danielle Brown

A few years ago I read Elizabeth L. Cline’s Overdressed The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion and it was one of the first books that enlightened me to some of the dark truths about fashion. Being a life long lover of fashion, it was difficult to come to terms that the industry hides the abuse behind the beauty, but learning and becoming an educated consumer was invaluable. Cline has now followed her efforts up with The Conscious Closet The Revolutionary Guide to Looking Good While Doing Good.

This book is a tuition free education where you learn real, practical methods like how to mend and patch clothing to extend its wear. Written in five parts, Cline provides a road map that will allow you to easily navigate options that best work for you whether that’s repairing, donating, or recycling. It includes interviews from industry professionals and even a few illustrations to help you on your sewing career.

From the Fashion Library - Dressed in Dreams A Black Girl's Love Letter to Fashion

August 28, 2019 Danielle Brown

Africa and the African diaspora have unarguably influenced a great deal of fashion and trends and yet, there is little written on its contribution to the art. Even with the current ongoing conversation around cultural appropriation, it seems the black voice is still wildly unrepresented in the fashion community. The black voice is simply not being heard. You can imagine my delight when I learned about Tanisha C. Ford’s new book Dressed in Dreams A Black Girl’s Love Letter to Fashion.

As a black women who loves fashion, reading this book felt like I was reminiscing with an old friend. Even though I’ve never met Ford, I know her. So many of her stories are my stories and the stories of my family and friends. For so many of us, our memories are often linked to what we were wearing and how that made us feel. Clothing can make us feel included, excluded, safe, and sometimes targeted. Ford also touches on current social issues of dress, such as the infamous hoodie, and how it affects our lives and society today.

It is so important that books like this are written so that all stories may be heard. Getting dressed in the morning is a universal concept that we all participate in. Thank you, Tanisha for writing this book and telling our stories and letting the world know that black girls love fashion too.

SPECIAL THANKS TO ST. MARTIN’S PRESS
PHOTO BY ADC