The clothing industry employs 25 million people globally contributing to many livelihoods and the prosperity of communities, to women's independence, and the establishment of significant infrastructures in poorer countries. Yet the fashion industry is also a significant contributor to the degradation of natural systems, with the associated environmental footprint of clothing high in comparison with other products.

Routledge Handbook of Sustainability and Fashion recognizes the complexity of aligning fashion with sustainability. It explores fashion and sustainability at the levels of products, processes, and paradigms and takes a truly multi-disciplinary approach to critically question and suggest creative responses to issues of:
* Fashion in a post-growth society
* Fashion, diversity and equity
* Fashion, fluidity and balance across natural, social and economic systems

This handbook is a unique resource for a wide range of scholars and students in the social sciences, arts and humanities interested in sustainability and fashion.

About the Author
Kate Fletcher is Professor of Sustainability, Design, Fashion at the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, University of the Arts London, UK. Mathilda Tham is Professor of Design at Linnaeus University, Sweden, and metadesign researcher at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.

Reviews

'Containing the work of leading thinkers and activists, this Handbook is a much-needed volume, which broadens and deepens our understanding of the complexities of the conjoining of sustainability and fashion. A truly collaborative initiative, in its content and method it provides guidance, challenges, but also a positive way forward for sustainability and fashion to co-exist, despite what sometimes seem to be overwhelming odds.' -Hazel Clark, Parsons The New School for Design, USA

'Many books document, describe and perhaps even explain fashion. What this book adds is the desire to change it. No-one reading the extraordinarily diverse content is left with any doubt as to the complexity, but also the urgency, of that ambition. Starting with a movement from the study of systems to a concern with consequences.' -Daniel Miller, University College London, UK

'Fletcher and Tham have gathered together a stellar cast of academics, researchers, practitioners and activists who offer their perspectives on sustainability viewed through the lens of fashion. Through concise essays and case study snapshots the reader is challenged and guided to think more deeply about sustainability as a matter of personal, local and globally interconnected agency.'-Sandy Black, University of the Arts London, UK

'Fashion and sustainability can be hard to grasp due to its complexity. This seminal handbook offers a wide range of good suggestions and perspectives; from very hands on propositions to highly abstract theoretical inquiries, each and every chapter provide good examples for action and exploration of issues relevant for both scholars, students, and industry.'-Vibeke Riisberg, Kolding School of Design, Denmark

'Sustainable Fashion has in the past often seemed gestural, borrowing from the discourse of Sustainable Design to only ever slightly lessen a massive problem. This selection proves that Sustainable Fashion Design is now a conceptually mature field with much to teach other disciplines of design.' -Cameron Tonkinwise, Carnegie Mellon University, USA

'Throughout, this handbook strives to present an objective, future-oriented approach to sustainability in the fashion industry that takes into account the experiences of designers, manufacturers, the labor force, consumers, and the environment. This important and unique resource will appeal to a wide range of scholars, students, practitioners, and activists. Summing Up: Highly recommended.' - C. B. Cannon, Brand Library and Art Center, CHOICE April 2015

Book Information
ISBN 9780415828598
Author Kate Fletcher
Format Hardback
Page Count 324
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 703g