A look at fast fashion and its impact on the environment and social justice, perfect for middle grade classrooms

Did you ever think about where your jeans come from? How about the people who made your T-shirt, or what happens to the clothes you grow out of when you're done wearing them? The fabrics clothes are made of, the way they are designed and sewn and shipped around the world, and the way we consume them and get rid of them--every step in this process has a big impact on our environment, on the people who work in clothing factories, and on our cultures. This nonfiction book shows us how the clothes we wear--and throw away--every day are made, and what that means for our planet and for people around the world.

★ "The text stays conversational, never talking down to young readers, and instead equipping them with economicand manufacturing knowledge through personal anecdotes and company spotlights (and even occasional pronunciation help) . . . An immensely compelling and critical guide for young readers beginningto make their own fashion choices." —Booklist, starred review

"If readers have ever wondered where the inexpensive current fashion items come from, those questions will be answered . . . Socially conscious readers will appreciate this title." —School Library Connection

“Thomas travels the world to find innovators tackling the consequences of fast fashion . . . a compelling and devastating argument for why we should all be making more thoughtful choices.” —Daisy Lester, The Independent

Dana Thomas is the author of Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes, Fashionopolis Young Readers Edition, Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano and the New York Times bestseller Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster, all published by Penguin Press. She is the European Sustainability Editor for British Vogue, a regular contributor to the New York Times, and hosts “The Green Dream,” a weekly podcast on sustainability, produced by Wondercast.Studio. She wrote the screenplay for Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams, a feature documentary directed by Luca Guadagnino, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2020.
 
Thomas began her career writing for the Style section of The Washington Post, and for fifteen years she served as a cultural and fashion correspondent for Newsweek in Paris. Thomas has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, and Architectural Digest. In 1987, she received the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation’s Ellis Haller Award for Outstanding Achievement in Journalism. In 2016, the French Minister of Culture named Thomas a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters. And in 2017, she was a Logan Nonfiction Fellow at the Carey Institute for Global Good. She lives in Paris.