In the world of fashion and design, it’s becoming increasingly common to hear about businesses that are sustainable in their use of material; using biofabricated textiles, measuring their water usage, etc. Or we see companies who have a strong ethos towards sustainable production and paying employees a “livable” wage, but rarely do we ever see both. For example, a recent report put out by Stand.Earth lauded Nike, Levis, and Puma for “shifting their supply chain away from fossil fuels,” however we know that these fashion companies are also responsible for exploiting workers across the globe through cheap labor. In this week’s episode, we explore the limitations of transformation when it comes to an inherently exploitative system, specifically looking at the ways in which brands use the term sustainable in very finite dimensions, with guest Sha’Mira Covington.   

Guiding us through the fashion industrial complex, Sha’Mira shares how sustainability has become a marketing ploy, how the industry exploits activist agendas, the material make-up of the fashion industry, and a brief overview of the history of cotton in the United States. Through this conversation we are reminded that the fashion industrial complex cannot simply be discussed in terms of environmental impact alone, it must be acknowledged as a loud echo of colonial conquest; not just in terms of extraction of labor and resources, or the outsourcing of pollutants and illness, but also in terms of culture and appropriation.

Sha’Mira Covington is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors and the Institute of African American Studies at the University of Georgia. Her research explores fashion as a cultural, historical, social, and political phenomenon involved in and affected by histories of colonial domination, anti-colonial resistance, and processes of decolonization and globalization. Her dissertation, "The Revolution will be Embodied," uses archival sources to argue that despite the fashion industry's exploitation of Black activism, Black people have always used embodied practices such as dress, yoga, and dance to liberate themselves from hegemonic forces.

♫ The music in this episode is “Earth Hair” by Itasca, “Respiração” and “En Busca Del Agua” by Ley Line, and “Communitas” by Rajna Swaminathan. 

Episode References

History of Cotton: Slow Factory

“The Legacy of the U.S. Cotton Economy” by Sha’Mira Covington 

“Understanding Sustainability Means Talking About Colonialism” by Celine Semaan

Take Action

The Fashion Connection

Off the Mat Into the World

We aim to be a gathering place for ideas and solutions ensuring that the growing body of work that we steward remains accessible to the public. If you want to see us continue, or perhaps are especially moved by the episode you are listening to today, please become a monthly sustaining member through our Patreon or consider making a one-time donation directly to us through our website. To stay up-to-date on our work, sign up for our newsletter.