Book Review: The Nature of Fashion by Carry Somers*

[Ad-gifted] In a world where we appear to have lost touch with the roots of thread and fabric, where we’re made to think that a fabric containing 38 recycled plastic bottles is a feat for the environment and the future of sustainable fashion – Carry Somers – Founder of Fashion Revolution (which created a global network of fashion conscious revolutionaries) breaks our train of thought and brings us back to reality with her first book The Nature of Fashion : A Botanical Story of Our Material Lives.

Somers navigates her way through cultures and continents discussing the deep connection with people and fashion and how the creation of thread was once so significant and revered that its methods were passed down through generations.

Keep on reading to find out more about what I thought of this non-fiction book.

What Did I Think of the Book?

Published by Chelsea Green, the book is a fascinating read. With every turn of the page you explore the another culture/continent and how their connection to fabric is deeper than just its use in clothing, ropes and bags. It’s connected to the spirituality, earth and plants that grow in each of the respective areas and how they use what is around them to create unique textiles and cloth, through a range of techniques and methods.

Its obvious that in the writing the book, Somers allowed her inspiration to come from her past and her present research and discoveries – she is completely intertwined with the connection of how important the past of thread is to its future and how we mustn’t ignore the techniques and practices used previously that were so deeply connected to the land when we move forward into the future of sustainable manufacturing.

Somers weaves through the process and history of thread in an almost poetic way. You discover historical processes of creating fabric as well as exploring the types of fabrics created that are not limited to clothes. The book focuses on the deep connection between what we wear and the land it has come from and how fibres can be made with hands and very little tools. It makes it very clear, how we have lost touch with these methods and much like the idea of ultra-processed-foods, we have inadvertently begun to normalise ultra-processed-threads that are so far removed from the origins of thread that they are no longer it. This book has you thinking about the origins of fabric and explores a subject that we were once so connected to…

My only critique of the book The Nature of Fashion is how knowing that Somers’ expertise is in the America’s, to which she so often her references, are the main focus of the stories she tells. And although there is a small mention of Denmark, there is no real mentioning of Northern Europe or the very most north of Canada (home of the Innuk) or the ancient lands of Persia other than Turkey. I don’t suppose there were enough pages in the book, but I still would have liked to have explored some of their connections to the rest of the countries mentioned.

That being said, this book is beautifully written and considering its based on the research and findings of Somers, it feels like a story being told – a passing down of history, much like it would have happened in the cultures mentioned in the book, from tribe to tribe or through families. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about the birth of thread and wants to reconnect with how it once was and perhaps how it still should be. It would make a great gift or a treat to most lovers of curious fashionistas.

Where can you get your copy?

You can buy the book in varying formats from Amazon here.

How much is The Nature of Fashion?

The hardcover retails for £17.46 while the Kindle edition is available for £16.59. Do check Amazon for the latest price as this might change.

About the book

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Chelsea Green Publishing
Print length ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1915294791
Format ‏ : ‎ Hardback
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.08 x 2.64 x 23.6 cm

About the Author

Carry Somers made a significant mark in the fashion world when she founded Fashion Revolution back in 2013 in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh. From then the movement went Global with Fashion Revolutionaries around the world raising awareness of the where your clothes are made and the importance of fair pay and good treatment of workers in the fashion world.

Somers has gone on to speak in Parliament raising awareness around the negative impacts of fashion. She speaks at Fashion conferences around the world talking about Ethical fashion practices and sustainability. As well as carrying out research on microplastics and their impacts and fashion waste in our waterways.

She continues to be at the forefront of much needed research and raises awareness around the importance of conscious fashion practices and how they can be put in place by the masses of the fashion world.