Book review - Fashionopolis by Dana Thomas - An insight into the fashion industry

A truly eye-opening, up to date, read on the impact the fashion and textile industry is having on our world and our people

(Please note that I have not been paid to write this review, I just wanted to share our resources and provide you with a genuine review. We do however make a small amount of commission with any affiliate links you may use )

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Who is this book for?

With a combination of history, politics, ethics, technology, and nature, Dana Thomas unravels the story behind the fashion industries' past, present and future role in the world and its people. Fashionopolois includes page-turning stories about Levis, Stella McCartney, Zara, and more so you don't have to be a hardcore fashionista to read and understand this book.

Normally I am a little sceptical of books like this as it's hard to know what's true and what's exaggerated to sell. However, Dana Thomas has travelled all over to do her research first hand building up her research throughout her career. This is also the third book she has written so she's very acclaimed in this area already.

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Why is this book so good and informative?

With a book full of cold hard facts and interviews with people whose worlds have been turned upside down by the effects the fashion industry has had and is having, some parts can be truly heartbreaking to read. However, with technological advances and people's understanding and awareness of the fashion and textile industry's impact, things are changing, Dana Thomas shows us that there is hope that can really change how fashion is made and consumed. 

The amount of research, time, effort and collaboration that has gone into this book is incredible and this is what makes it such an amazing and eye-opening read. Despite the world changing at a rapid rate, Fashionopolis was only published in September 2019 so it is very relevant and provides a digestible read for the everyday person. It gives readers a chance to learn about projects and initiatives which are normally only accessible to those heavily entrenched in the fashion industry, thus allowing us to open our minds and think of the evolution of fashion in multiple new and exciting ways.

The simple truth of it is that if we demand ethical, clean fashion and demand quality, not quantity this is what we will be supplied with. If we educate the masses to understand the issues behind their consumption as well as provide better alternatives then habits can be changed for the better of everyone and everything around us.

Where can I buy Fashionopolis?

If you have an iPad/tablet then you can buy Fashionopolis for your iPad by clicking here or for other tablets from Kindle here.

Otherwise, Fashionopolois is available from Amazon by clicking here. It's also available in various other languages and sometimes the cover does differ.

I would also recommend watching 'S02 E02 · Neri Oxman: Bio-Architecture' episode of the Abstract Series on Netflix. The work Neri Oxman and her team are doing at MIT is just so advanced that it's impossible to imagine what's going to happen next but it gives us an insight into what could be possible.

It's really important to understand what is really going on behind closed doors in every industry and this is a great book to start understanding what the fashion industry is really like and how we can change our way of thinking and our impact.

If you know of any other books about the fashion industry then leave them in a comment below so we can all understand more about the fashion industry.

Thank you,

Sarah x