10 Things I Learned from Fashionopolis by Dana Thomas

These 10 Quotes from Fashionopolis Will Make You Think About The Brands & Materials You Shop!

Purchase the book here: Fashionopolis by Dana Thomas

Fashionopolis by Dana Thomas is one of those books that has so much information in it, it’s hard to know where to begin. This book is definitely responsible for getting me more involved in shopping ethically, though, and, despite the amount of info packed into 265 pages, it’s so well-researched and easy to read that you won’t even realize how much you’re learning! Here, I picked out (with great difficulty in narrowing it down), 10 things I learned from this informative and intriguing book on sustainable fashion and apparel production.

10 Things I Learned from Dana Thomas’ Fashionopolis:

1. “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. [pg. 2]

I think the reason this can be so surprising is because cotton, as a natural fiber, at least in my opinion, is usually presented as one of the better options for buying apparel. And while it breaks down easier than synthetics, the amount of environmental damage caused by production of traditional cotton is crazy.  This shows why it’s important to pay attention to the type of cotton you’re buying and choose better options like organic or recycled cotton.

2. “Fashion employs one out of six people on the globe, making it the most labor-intensive industry out there—more than agriculture, more than defense. Fewer than 2 percent of them earn a living wage” [pg. 6]

I think it’s important to point out, here, that this isn’t just “fashion” in the way that people sometimes think of fashion as things you see on magazines or influencers wearing, but it encompasses the entire apparel industry.  So, even if you’re someone (or trying to explain this to someone) who doesn’t consider themselves to be interested in “fashion,” note that ALL clothing production needs a production processes and therefore has an effect on garment worker labor conditions.  Paying attention to brands that share if they pay a living wage to their employees throughout their whole supply chain is a great way to help combat this problem.

3. Speaking about the estimated 45,000 apparel production workers in Los Angeles in 2017, the president of the California Fashion Association shared, “About half were on the books and paid at least the California minimum wage, which was then $10.50 an hour. The other half were undocumented, sewing garments for US-based brands in clandestine factories for as little as $4 an hour. No overtime. No health benefits. Horrendous conditions. Yet the large, middle-market brands who source from these sweatshops herald that their apparel is ‘Made in the USA,’ as if such a statement automatically confers authenticity and integrity…” [pg. 40-41]

I picked this statement out to emphasize that, even when garments are made in the US, it definitely doesn’t mean workers are treated in fair and respectable ways. (There’s also a lot more on this in the book.)

4. A worker present for the Tazreen factory fire shared, “…‘a man came up and shouted that there was a fire.’ Her manager and supervisor assured everyone that nothing was amiss. ‘There is no fire, just go back and keep working,’ they told the workers and locked the door.” [pg. 55]

Again, there’s much more you can read on this in the book, but it’s important to note that these garment workers were locked into their workplace, and this is just the tip of the iceberg of horrid conditions in factories like Tazreen and Rana Plaza.

5. “Conventional cotton is also extremely thirsty: to grow one kilo requires, on average, 2,600 gallons (or 10,000 liters) of water. Processing it swallows even more: approximately 5,000 gallons for one T-shirt and a pair of jeans.” [pg. 71]

Getting back to the cotton issue, it’s really just a natural fabric that’s not great for the environment - but there is an upside. More and more companies are making conscious efforts to produce cotton-made items responsibly through altered processes that required less water or sourcing only organic or recycled cotton. Look for brands or items that point out the average gallons/liters they’re saving, to easily pick out better cotton items when you’re shopping.

6. “Slow fashion champions localization and regionalism rather than massification. It honors craftsmanship and respects tradition while embracing modern technology to make production cleaner and more efficient. It’s about treating workers well… and ‘buying from the person down the street whose face you know and love.’” [pg. 93]

This quote is great to sum up just what slow fashion is. The emphasis on buying local is something that’s been really on my mind lately. Personally, when I get something that can only be found in a specific location, and isn’t mass produced to be shipped around the world, I have a much greater appreciation for it and feel more connected to the place that I got it from. This is a fun solution for finding really great quality and unique items that are less damaging to the world and we’re likely not to toss or donate after a few wears.

7. “Almost all denim we wear—99.99 percent—is dyed with synthetic indigo. What is not publicized—what the apparel industry discreetly sidesteps—is that synthetic indigo is ‘made of ten chemicals—including petroleum, benzene, cyanide, formaldehyde—that are toxic or harmful to humans’” [pg. 136] and I have to include a part 2 to this one, “…for it they use a chemical called aniline. The EPA classifies aniline as a Group B2, probable human carcinogen, meaning it may cause cancer. And the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention has declared it ‘very toxic’ to aquatic life.” [pg. 138]

This was something that actually made me stop reading the book and just stare at what I had read, and I still think about it almost every time I put on any kind of denim. I couldn’t believe that so many denim products are knowingly being created with synthetic dyes that have such harmful health risks, including cancer for humans and death for aquatic life.

8. In a quote from Stella McCartney on leather production, “‘Livestock production is one of the major causes of … global warming, land degradation, air and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity,’ … with more than fifty million animals farmed and slaughtered each year just to make handbags and shoes.” [pg. 163]

Leather and faux leather are hard to think about in terms of ethics, because there’s this component of animal cruelty along with environmental damage with leather production, but a lot of the faux leathers currently used at mass production levels aren’t great either. But, this is also one of the reasons I became so interested in alternative materials like MYLO, a leather-like material made out of mycelium, which you can learn about more in the book.

9. And getting now to one of the fabrics that’s used for faux leather, here’s a bit on PVC, “PVC is one of the most pervasive plastics today. … In fashion, it is used for transparent shoe heels, vinyl raincoats, synthetic patent leather, and the flexible tubing inside handbag handles. But it is a known carcinogen, and when it biodegrades, it releases poisons into the soil and water table.” [pg. 165]

PVC is one of those fabrics that’s in a ton of faux leather items now, and this is another quote that was just shocking when I read it. So many items are being made throughout the apparel industry with materials that knowingly increase risks of cancer and there just has to be a better way.

10. Finally, another bit of good news to end with on biofabrics like MYLO,“With biofabrication there is no waste—you cultivate only what you need—and, as it is animal-free, it is vegan.” [pg. 177]

This really seems like one of the best ways for the apparel industry to move forward towards less harmful production processes to me, and, hopefully, it can be expanded to allow for more mainstream use in the near future.