Fashionopolis

The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes

By: Dana Thomas

Narrated by: Dana Thomas

Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times Book Review Paperback Row Selection

An investigation into the damage wrought by the colossal clothing industry and the grassroots, high-tech, international movement fighting to reform it....

What should I wear? It’s one of the fundamental questions we ask ourselves every day. More than ever, we are told it should be something new. Today, the clothing industry churns out 80 billion garments a year and employs every sixth person on Earth. Historically, the apparel trade has exploited labor, the environment, and intellectual property - and in the last three decades, with the simultaneous unfurling of fast fashion, globalization, and the tech revolution, those abuses have multiplied exponentially, primarily out of view. We are in dire need of an entirely new human-scale model. Best-selling journalist Dana Thomas has traveled the globe to discover the visionary designers and companies who are propelling the industry toward that more positive future by reclaiming traditional craft and launching cutting-edge sustainable technologies to produce better fashion.

In Fashionopolis, Thomas sees renewal in a host of developments, including printing 3-D clothes, clean denim processing, smart manufacturing, hyperlocalism, fabric recycling - even lab-grown materials. From small-town makers and Silicon Valley whizzes to such household names as Stella McCartney, Levi’s, and Rent the Runway, Thomas highlights the companies big and small that are leading the crusade.

We all have been casual about our clothes. It's time to get dressed with intention. Fashionopolis is the first comprehensive look at how to start.

©2019 Dana Thomas (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A glimpse into how consumerism, slowed to a less ferocious pace, might be reconciled with sustainability.” (The New Yorker)

"[A] Marley's Ghost-style warning of the irrevocable destructions to come.... Thomas is engaging and vital." (New York Review of Books)

“If you’ve been paying any sort of attention, you know that fashion is a dirty business. Human rights abuses, environmental devastation, economic devastation - these are just the broad strokes of a deeply broken system. And Fashionopolis seeks to pull the curtain back on that system. But it also wants to show us a way out.” (Esquire)

Eye Opening Insight to Fashion

Love, love, love this audio book. So much information about the cycle of fashion. I've always wondered what happens to clothes that aren't bought from the stores and why we don't have Decades of fashion anymore. If you're into fashion this is a must read.

Everyone whp wears clothes must read

So insightful and well researched! The author really knows how to create a narritive while reporting facts.

Very informative and optimistic

Great book about the problems in the fashion industry. Highlights key players and what they are doing to make positive change. Super interesting information I had not heard before.

A must-read on sustainability for fashion!

Fabulous, well-rounded view of vital sustainability topics for fashion!!! I have been reading and researching sustainability in the apparel and textiles industry for a number of years now, but this book furthered my understanding of sustainability concepts, the current industry situation, what designers are currently doing, and future suggestions. I highly recommend this book!

Everyone who purchases clothes should read this book

Great, informative book. Well researched and compelling. A must read for clothing wearers, designers and clothing wearing humans!

Fantastic!

This text is a window into the world of how the clothing industry affects cultures, economies, and the social impact. I love this book!

Wonderful Book and eye opening

Learned a lot from this book, will re read again the future. Thank you for your work into the book and helping me focus on removing fast fashion

Brilliantly told, current and worth reading

This is a book everyone should read/listen to. The message is loud and clear, but not downcasting in all. It has a lot of great information and makes me want to be a better person, changing my buying habits to be more sustainable. I highly recommend it.

Enlightening, fascinating, hopeful despite current imperfections in the clothing biz

I know a lot about fast fashion snd its impact on the earth and humans in different regions. Yet: this informed me and kept me interested and informed. It gave me new areas to pursue knowledge.

I feel better/energized after this listen. Also, the author did a good job reading.

My only discomfort was that when French words are pronounced in French, I can get lost. It’s part of the history of fashion, but it’s hard on lay people who studied other languages (or perhaps only their own).

Great book!

This book was enlightening and will definitely make me more aware of how I purchase clothing in the future.