Fashionopolis by Dana Thomas is an investigation into the fast fashion industry and its impacts, as well as how we can move towards a more sustainable future in the clothing industry. This book could be used as a source of information for units on fast fashion, natural resources, carbon and water, sustainability and globalization.
Whilst this book is aimed at an older audience than the majority of our students, there are parts of the book that are useful for both reading as a whole class or individually and for adapting into a range of activities. Warning – this part is long as there are so many links to topics that we study and so many interesting snippets to put into lessons!
This blog post will explore how part three of the book could be used in lessons.
We can work it out
Part 3 starts with a brilliant case study of Stella McCartney’s fashion business. Stella, “a lifelong vegetarian and ardent supporter of PETA” (p178), has clearly put huge thought into the sustainability and ethical sourcing of her clothing brand. There is lots to unpick here which could be turned into activities, from mapping the sourcing details on p178 to reading through the ‘Environmental Profit and Loss Report’ which measures the impact of her supply chain. At A Level this could make an interesting read, and this web page https://www.stellamccartney.com/fr/fr/sustainability/sustainability.html is incredibly detailed with lots of information about the fabrics, processes, and the journey that Stella and her workforce have been on to make their brand more sustainable and ethical. Note: the website photos contain a little nudity so the website is probably better suited to A Level students.
Students could assess the environmental impact of some fabrics and processes using a radial diagram scoring factors such as their water consumption, ethics in the country of production, air miles, and cost. These could then be compared to fabrics used by other brands. The ‘Environmental Profit and Loss Report’ analyses six major categories: greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, water pollution, water consumption, waste, and land use – these could also be used as categories for the radial diagram or as a table to complete with student comments. An example of the impact report can be found here https://www.stellamccartney.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-StellaMcCartneySharedLibrary/default/dwce449f0d/report/EcoImpact_2021_CM_FINAL.pdf
Page 182 introduces a criticism of Stella’s faux leather and this could become a discussion point for students, they can then be introduced to Stella’s response to this. Tanneries, which tan leather are heavy polluters, more about this can be found here https://www.collectivefashionjustice.org/tannery-workers which is really shocking but demonstrates more of the injustices within the fashion industry. Alongside the dye mentioned in Part 1 and Part 2, tanneries could also be investigated for their environmental impacts. The quote on page 182 about the destruction caused by the leather industry could be unpicked and annotated for students to understand the environmental cost of the leather industry, this could be further linked to climate change. Therefore a unit on climate change could also include parts of this book.
Page 184 makes links to plastic pollution as Stella McCartney also wanted to remove PVC from her line. Pages 184-185 could be made into a guided reading exercise about a material that is probably quite familiar to students as many will own clothing or shoes made out of PVC. Students could draw comparisons between PVC and its alternatives.
Page 187 provides details on the McCartney-Canopy initiative which ensured that rayon was not being sourced from ancient forests. This sounds fantastic, and more details can be found here https://canopyplanet.org/stella-mccartney-joins-canopys-fashion-loved-by-forest/ . This also put pressure on rayon suppliers, and nine of those suppliers announced they would stop logging in rainforests. Students could design campaigns to put further pressure on companies who carry out logging in rainforests, based on what they have read within this book.
Page 188 makes some interesting links between fashion and desertification. This page would also make an interesting guided reading or comprehension activity. This time the material in question is cashmere combed from goats in Mongolia. A hook into this could be ‘What is the link between this goat and desertification’. Students could make predictions on the link between the two. https://www.climatechangenews.com/2013/09/09/mongolian-steppe-munched-into-desert-by-goats-and-sheep/#:~:text=Hungry%20goats%20are%20the%20latest,the%20area%20over%20recent%20years. This could also be linked to climate change. At GCSE for the Eduqas specification, desertification is a topic in Theme 3. This would make an unusual and memorable case study for students.
Page 189 mentions the CottonForLife project https://theindexproject.org/award/nominees/2316 , as we have previously read, cotton has huge environmental costs associated with its growth and production. Again, this could be an interesting case study for students looking at natural resources.
Page 190 describes some of the locations associated with McCartney’s clothing line, these could also be mapped. Page 191 looks to the future of clothing production with some unique alternatives to leather and suede. I found this video from the Future Fabrics Expo fascinating https://youtu.be/CtK6ZLZoyEM?si=oS9eWVTrxw41tEq9 and I’m sure your students would too! Who knows what our clothes will be made out of in the future, but this gives us some ideas. Would your students wear them?
Page 192 could be slotted into an Amazon Rainforest case study, as rubber derived from the Amazon is mentioned. Warning, the word tribe is used, and better vocabulary should be used instead, such as indigenous community. We should be decolonising our vocabulary, and the removal of the word tribe is a good place to start. The rubber generates income, and this could be discussed as a use of the rainforest at both KS3 and KS4.
Page 193 introduces the concept of ‘Greenwashing’ something I am sure we have all seen before. Students may not realise that many claims made by companies are just greenwashing and may fall for some of those claims. A discussion could be had around what students think greenwashing is and they could be exposed to several adverts from companies accused of greenwashing such as H&M and Primark. Students could also be asked why they think companies say they are going green. Do they arrive at the same answer found at the end of Page 193?
Page 194 introduces the Higgs Index https://apparelcoalition.org/tools-programs/higg-index-tools/ and students could look into this as a tool to measure sustainability. Students could offer their criticism of this, more information can be found here https://qz.com/2180322/the-controversial-higg-sustainability-index-is-being-suspended which discusses some of the controversies around the Higgs Index. Will students find this index controversial?
Page 194-195 also discusses the criticisms around H&M and the Better Cotton Initiative because it uses genetically modified seeds. Students at A Level could offer their thoughts here, particularly if studying farming or resources as GM crops are often heralded as a saviour in areas where crop growth is difficult.
Page 196 onwards introduces ‘Modern Meadow’ an American biofabrication company https://youtu.be/BbyXwUP7hdc?si=zooAuLmWJ-71kYqV this offers another alternative to the fabrics which have a huge environmental cost. This chapter of the book provides such a wide range of alternative fabric choices that independent study into one of the options or student presentations would be a great way to find out more about what the future of fabrics might be and whether they will have the same environmental costs. Likewise with page 202 and spiders spinning silk in an office would make such a fascinating discussion (unless you’re scared of spiders!)
Stella, if you would like to invite some Geography students to see what you would do, I know a brilliant group of them who would love to know more!
Around and around, we go
Page 209 brings in one of the R’s – recycling, but not in a way we would conventionally think in clothing. This time it’s taking old clothing and turning them into new fibres. Students could be presented with the quote “We can’t keep making so many clothes – at our current pace, the amount is expected to increase 63 percent, to 102 million tons a year, by 2030 – or discarding them at the rate we do now” Images of clothing piles in the Atacama could accompany this. What solutions do students have? Do they mention recycling? Students could then go on to look at the circular economy using the example of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/ .
Page 218 makes further links to oil, plastic and plastic pollution with the example of polyester. Students could look around their classrooms and at their clothing to see what is made of polyester. What do they believe the life cycle of their clothing is? How often will it be worn? Will it be passed onto someone else or has it been handed down to them? It might be an idea to contact the Fashion for Good Museum https://fashionforgood.com/education_programme/secondary-education/?lang=en whilst not in the UK, and based in Amsterdam, they may have some interesting resources to share to get your students thinking more about the sustainability journey with their clothing.
Within this chapter, there were so many examples of alternative materials or production methods, any of which could provide students with hope for the future when it comes to their clothing. From 3D printing to creating fibres from leftover orange juice, there are so many interesting examples and the possibilities of activities linked to these processes are infinite.
Page 289-291 could make a final guided reading activity for students to summarise the journey through Fashionopolis and to get students thinking about what might happen next and how they can reduce their environmental impact on the planet by changing the way they approach purchasing clothing.
Overall, this was a great book and gave a lot of food for thought which could be applied to a range of topics across KS3-KS5, whether it’s just small snippets of chapters, guided reading, or activities focused on a whole chapter.
