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DANA THOMAS AND THE FUTURE OF CLOTHES
Fashion journalist Dana Thomas looks at many of the questions we all want answers to right now in her book Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes. We caught up with her to find out about the future of clothes and how we all can turn the tide.
Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes by Dana Thomas is a must-read for anyone with an interest in fashion and sustainability.
What was your motivation to write Fashionopolis?
Most people do not know how their clothes are made, or why they cost so little, or what sort of impact those purchases have on the planet and humanity. I decided it was time they know, and maybe it would change consumer behaviour for the better.
We wear our garments an average of seven times before throwing them away, and more than 90 percent end in landfill. Do we need so many clothes? And shouldn’t we want to wear them more, longer? Shouldn’t we have Clothes love?
Dana Thomas
Fast Fashion Is Destroying The Planet, What In Your Opinion Is The Best Way To Try And Make A Difference As A Consumer?
Well, first off, buy less, buy better. We wear our garments an average of seven times before throwing them away, and more than 90 percent end in landfill. Do we need so many clothes? And shouldn’t we want to wear them more, longer? Shouldn’t we have Clothes Love? In addition, give the clothes you have a longer life by doing things like washing them less often—especially jeans; jeans do not like to be washed! And wash with cold water on the short cycle. You are saving water, electricity both in length of time and heating water, the clothes would get so worn out by washing and spinning, yet they will get just as clean. Something as simple as that makes an enormous difference.
What can fashion history teach us to do better in the future?
We should respect workers better. When you understand why your clothes are so cheap—because someone on the other side of the planet is paid half a living wage to sew them, and that someone doesn’t have basic benefits like healthcare and overtime and vacation and maternity leave, and may be working in dangerous conditions and subjected to verbal, physical, and sexual abuse—maybe you won’t flock to fast fashion stores and buy them by the sackful, thus supporting this horrific system. Charles Dickens wrote about it in Oliver Twist, and Friedrich Engels wrote about it in The Condition of the Working Class in England more than 150 years ago. And yet it still exists at home—there are sweatshops in LA, New York, Leicester, England, and Prato, Italy to name a few—as well as abroad, throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, the Subcontinent, and Africa. How can that be? We haven’t learned anything, except how to hide it better.
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis invented the first truly sustainable garment: the blue jeans, which were made of durable fabric, held together at the seams with rivets. In the 19th century, they were made of organic cotton and natural indigo. It's only in the last 40 years have jeans been turned into an unsustainable fashion item.
Dana Thomas
Do you have any examples of mavericks in the past who were creating what we would now call sustainable initiatives to better the fashion industry?
In terms of human rights, there was Florence Kelley, who, in the 19th century, lead the fight to eliminate sweatshops in America, and Frances Perkins, who was the Secretary of Labor during Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal era, and put in place many worker protections that we still have in the United States. As for early sustainability leaders, crazily, I’d say Levi Strauss. He and Jacob Davis invented the first truly sustainable garment: the blue jeans, which were made of durable fabric, held together at the seams with rivets. They were for miners, who spent the day crawling around in rubble, and were supposed to last a lifetime—even be handed down from miner to miner. And, in the 19th century, they were made of organic cotton and natural indigo. Only in the last 40 years have jeans been turned into an unsustainable fashion item.
Re/Done denim is a climate-conscious vintage denim brand that is dedicated to giving heritage denim from Levi’s a new life.
A look from Stella McCartney's AW/2020 collection.
Who do you think is leading the way in terms of making changes to the fashion industry for the better?
Stella McCartney is perhaps the most high-maverick, and she has turned a spotlight onto the problem globally. It makes sense: raised a vegetarian who doesn’t wear animal products, she has been a conscious consumer her whole life. She supports many start-ups who are mavericks too—like a fairy godmother, you could say—and I highlight many of them in the book.
Tell us about the entrepreneurs and innovators who are making change for the better right now?
There are some wonderful ones out there today, many of whom I profile in the book. Like sewbots: robots that do the crummy underpaid work, so garment workers can do safer, better paid jobs. Lots and lots of good folks doing good works to make the world a better place.
How has writing this book changed you and your shopping habits?
Already, I wasn’t a big shopper and I was a big keeper—my teen daughter is now wearing my old Levi 501s from the 1980s. But now I try to only shop from sustainable designers, be it a good suit from Stella McCartney, or a solid organic cotton T-shirt or sustainably-sourced sneakers. I am definitely buying less, buying better.
What tips would you offer a customer for shopping more sustainably?
Again, buy less, buy better. Don’t by ten $10 shirts; buy one good one for $75 or $80. It will look better, and last longer, and in the long run, you save money. And read the labels. If you have the choice between organic cotton and non-organic, go with organic, because then you can compost it when it wears out. Same with jeans dyed with natural indigo; synthetic indigo has chemicals like cyanide and formaldehyde in it. Do you really want that against your skin? Or seeping into the water table? Avoid polyester if you can: it’s plastic and never biodegrades. Plus, it emits plastic microfibers in water when washed. All in all, the bad dude of fabrics.
How to you think the current crisis will affect the fashion industry?
I’ve actually written an entire article on this for the September issue of British Vogue! It’s hard to sum up in a few sentences, but I’ll try: there will be a lot of change, a rethinking of fashion shows….SO many new ways of working.
What do you think is the best way to inspire change within the industry?
Through action. Do the right thing, show that it’s a smart way of doing business, and those with courage will follow.
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From one sustainable style guru to another, find out about this former Vogue Sustainability Editor in How to Rise and Resist with Clare Press.