Watch and Read: The Impact of the Fashion Industry

Want to understand more about the impact of the fashion industry on both people and the planet? Here we share our Top 6 covering both the harrowing reality and how you can be part the change.

WATCH: The True Cost (2016)

The True Cost is a 2015 documentary film directed by Andrew Morgan that focuses on fast fashion. It discusses several aspects of the garment industry from production—mainly exploring the life of low-wage workers in developing countries—to its after-effects such as river and soil pollution, pesticide contamination, disease and death. Using an approach that looks at environmental, social and psychological aspects, it also examines consumerism and mass media, ultimately linking them to global capitalism. The documentary is a collage of several interviews with environmentalists, garment workers, factory owners, and people organizing fair trade companies or promoting sustainable clothing production.

 

WATCH: The Next Black

The Next Black is a documentary that brings together designers, innovators and leaders from around the globe for an open discussion on the concept of clothing. It probes beyond what we are wearing to explore how we produce clothes, how we interact with them and how we care for them. Each person we interviewed has a fresh perspective on the future of the clothing industry - and all of them are using their passions to fuel change. Available to watch in full on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCsGLWrfE4Y  

WATCH: River Blue (2016)

Internationally renowned river advocate Mark Angelo, who has paddled more rivers than perhaps anyone on Earth, journeys through some of the world's most pristine waterways to some of its most polluted in an unprecedented global adventure. This quest originally set out to film the worlds great rivers in an effort to protect them, but in the process, uncovered the dark underside of the global fashion industry. Through harsh chemical manufacturing processes and the irresponsible disposal of toxic chemical waste, one of our favorite iconic products, blue jeans, is destroying rivers globally. Available to watch in full on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqNk-loy-xc  

READ: HOW TO BREAK UP FAST FASHION (2020)

By Lauren Bravo

Journalist Lauren Bravo loves clothes more than anything, but she's called time on her affair with fast fashion in search of a slower, saner way of dressing. In this book, she'll help you do the same.

How To Break Up With Fast Fashion will help you to change your mindset, fall back in love with your wardrobe and embrace more sustainable ways of shopping - from the clothes swap to the charity shop. Full of refreshing honesty and realistic advice, Lauren will inspire you to repair, recycle and give your unloved items a new lease of life without sacrificing your style.

READ: SLAVE TO FASHION (2017)

by Safia Minney

Slave to Fashion is made up of interviews and micro-documentaries with the men, women and children caught in slavery, making the clothes sold in the malls and outlets across the USA and the world. It uses photos, visuals and graphics to bring the subject to life and give consumers the facts, stories and actions needed to eradicate modern slavery.

READ: LOVED CLOTHES LAST

By Fashion Revolution

Explores the issue of waste and mass-consumption in the fashion industry, and hopes to inspire you to buy less, care more, and know how to make the clothes you love last for longer.

Read more about Fashion Revolution here.

Have you watched or read the above or do you have any recommendations for further study? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.