Selected by Emma Watson for her Ultimate Book List
Fashion is political. From the red carpets of the Met Gala to online fast fashion,clothes tell a story of inequality,racism and climate crisis. In The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion,Tansy E. Hoskins unpicks the threads of capitalist industry to reveal the truth about our clothes.
Fashion brands entice us to consume more by manipulating us to feel ugly,poor and worthless,sentiments that line the pockets of billionaires exploiting colonial supply chains. Garment workers on poverty pay risk their lives in dangerous factories,animals are tortured,fossil fuels extracted and toxic chemicals spread just to keep this season's collections fresh.
We can do better than this. Moving between Karl Lagerfeld and Karl Marx,The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion goes beyond ethical fashion and consumer responsibility showing that if we want to feel comfortable in our clothes,we need to reshape the system and ensure this is not our last season.
Publisher: Pluto PressISBN: 9780745346618Number of pages: 368Weight: 321 gDimensions: 198 x 129 x 26 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Makes a strong case for nothing less than a revolution'
'An incredible accomplishment'
'Interrogates today's fashion landscape with rigour - will make you view your wardrobe through a different lens'
'A masterclass in unpicking the threads of injustice,exploitation and oppression woveninto our clothing. By joining the dots between fashion and capitalism,this is a route map to weave a different story for our clothing,our planet and its people'
'Thoroughly researched with a reach extending both globally and historically,the book is packed with interesting examples,and Hoskins'engaging style makes it eminently readable'
'A staple of contemporary fashion literature'
'A classic read for all fashion students,and of course those interested in the politics of fashion. I will refer to my copy for a long time to come'
'A book that hangs like a garment on a coat-hanger. A garment with many pockets. In the pockets numberless notes and remarks about clothes and history. Take it off the hanger and put it on. By which I mean - read it and walk through history'
'A controlled demolition,Hoskins uses facts to strip away the apparel trade's decorative exterior and then dynamites the foundations'
'Once you see the fashion industry through Hoskins'anti-capitalist lens what lies behind cannot be unseen'
'A failure to imagine the end of capitalism goes hand-in-hand with a failure to imagine the end of fashion as a commodified sphere in which countless exploited workers labour so that the powerful can wear power-affirming garments. Hoskins'book does wonders to help its readers overcome both failures'
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