The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion

by Tansy E. Hoskins, Andreja Pejic (Foreword)

The award-winning classic on why we must revolutionise the fashion industry

*Selected by Emma Watson for her Ultimate Book List* Fashion is political. From the red carpets of the Met Gala to online fast fashion, clothes tell a story of inequality, racism, and climate crisis. In The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion , Tansy E. Hoskins unpicks the threads of capitalist industry to reveal the truth about our clothes.

Fashion brands entice us to consume more by manipulating us to feel ugly, poor and worthless, sentiments that line the pockets of billionaires exploiting colonial supply chains. Garment workers on poverty pay risk their lives in dangerous factories, animals are tortured, fossil fuels extracted and toxic chemicals spread just to keep this season's collections fresh.

We can do better than this. Moving between Karl Lagerfeld and Karl Marx, The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion goes beyond ethical fashion and consumer responsibility showing that if we want to feel comfortable in our clothes, we need to reshape the system and ensure this is not our last season.

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction, History, Politics, Economics, Environment, Philosophy

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

The Anti-Capitalist Book Of Fashion is out now.

This is a book about fashion and capitalism, destruction and resistance, billionaires, workers and revolution. Above all it is a book that reveals fashion as a performance of deeper social issues.

What started as an update of Stitched Up escalated when I found I couldn't stop writing. The book ended up being about 60% new text. I see it as the same skeleton with brand new flesh on its bones.

There is a lot of new material in the text, covering so many of the things that have happened in the past decade - social media & communicative capitalism, influencers and digital activism, the rise of slash fashion brands, and Covid to name just a few.

I also got to interview and collaborate with some exceptionally talented and interesting people. I seriously love the Foreword by Andreja Pejić. She is a fiery revolutionary as well as an actress & supermodel so it is a dream come true. I am also really pleased to have worked with Indigenous Fashion scholar Riley Kucheran who is a brilliant and inspiring thinker.

You can also check out my book 'Foot Work – What Your Shoes Are Doing To The World,' an exposé of the dark origins of the shoes on our feet. [The paperback launched March 2022!]

My first book 'Stitched Up' was selected by Emma Watson for her ‘Ultimate Book List’ with Emma saying “By the end of the book, she makes a strong case for nothing less than a revolution.”

In between books, I work as a journalist. This work has taken me to Bangladesh, Kenya, Macedonia, and the Topshop warehouses in Solihull. She also lecturers across Europe on the politics of the fashion industry.

I can also be found reading awesome Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction literature.

Reviews

[Aida dos Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esta reedición llega en un monetaria muy oportuno, en el que las marcas de fast fashion han inundando nuestras redes sociales y nuestros armarios. Hoskins en este contexto nos recuerda que la industria de la moda otorga mayor calor a la ropa que vende que a las vidas de las personas que las fabrican. Pero tampoco tiene ningún respeto por los derechos del consumidor, concretamente se vulneran sistemáticamente los derechos tanto de las trabajadoras como de las consumidoras, es un insulto a la inteligencia la impresión de camisetas con eslóganes feministas cosidas por niñas y vendidas por precarias.
Es el constante juicio al aspecto de las mujeres, siendo nuestro cuerpo, nuestro rostro, nuestro pelo el canal mediante el cual debemos proyectar pulcritud para obtener respeto, empleo y espacio, el que lleva a miles de mujeres a caer en el hiperconsumismo de moda, productos cosméticos u operaciones quirúrgicas. El manual que ha editado Capitán Swing en castellano es una reivindicación de que la moda es política, y que a través de la moda podemos hacer reivindicaciones políticas sin necesidad de comprar camisetas estampadas, sino apoyando a las organizaciones sindicales de todas las fases de producción desde el campo en el que se cultiva el algodón hasta la empresa que reparte a domicilio las compras que hicimos para aliviar nuestra desidia después de una jornada dura en el trabajo.

[Millie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very accessible read which is super important for this kind of discussion!

[Keertana · Rating 4 out of 5]

notes i took while i was reading and don’t want to rewrite now:

good seminal text, lots of sources to study and branch off of
not a critique of fashion, but should show how if you actually love fashion you cannot be capitalist

having a base framework for communism and colonialism is helpful to see how fashion applies it so i would hope having just the fashion basis first would help grasp the communist lens

i think the perspective on political consumerism is interesting and there are a lot of fashion points i agree with but i don’t know if i agree with all of the commentaries on revolutions and governments in other countries


i HIGHLY recommend reading it for people who are even a little interested in fashion/marxism/anti capitalism and especially for people who are maybe newer to marxism and i want to force everyone at my fashion school to read it

i consider it to be better as a fashion text than a political one because the nuances would be better explored by theory

[sleeplessdecember · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really loved this book. of course in some aspects it just scratches the surface, but there's a reason why books about anti-capitalist theory are usually hundreds and hundreds of pages long. This isn't but that's great in it's own, because it still achieves what it's meant to achieve: start a revolutionary thought process.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

bangers on bangers! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in deconstructing capitalism, the politics of fashion, or our relationship to what we put on our backs.

Hoskins takes a deep dive into the capitalist economics inherently tied up in the fashion industry and abusive western power over money and art. Because capitalism necessitates racism and classism, so does fashion as we know it today (for labels to hold value, they must be accessible only to a select few, for the western world to be creators and arbiters of artistic value, the global south must not).

From the role of consumers and corporations in making clothing what it is today, to appropriation and colonialism, and what a better world might mean (even the debate between reform and revolution!).

In discussing the fashion houses we celebrate most today, we learn just about all of them had Nazi/fascist ties and sympathies. Another example, Dior's New Look -a design I adore– was very specifically designed to emphasize femininity and a woman's role as child bearer (echoing Nazi ideals post-war). It was very explicitly designed to require lots fabric, to combat frugality and rationing during the war period, encourage people to spend money, and discriminate against those who couldn't afford the excess. Thinking about this and other bad things companies and corporations continue to perpetrate and perpetuate today, Hoskins quotes Lola Olufemi, "while it is possible to have a positive experience of art produced by an individual who has perpetrated harm, perhaps it is important to realize that art alone cannot repair harm."

[Nakedfartbarfer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book, and thorough. Runs down the greedy, violent, polluting sins of the industry, particularly against the people of southeastern Asia. The final chapter imagines a democratic industry and, necessarily, a democratic world-- if only we could shrug off the unskilled parasitic owner class who would rather destroy the habitat of the only known intelligent life in the universe than not be in power & control. They'll need more than their ecocidal petrodollars to acquire voguish asymmetrical leather armor in the Mad Max badlands and barter economies of our dieslpunk future! ⛽️🌵🎸

[Teddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good at illuminating the wide-ranging issues in the fashion industry. I thought the final chapter was too utopic to be realistic, and I didn't agree with a few other points within the rest of the text, but overall very good, especially if you haven't spent much time thinking about this topic before.

[Charleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Depressing but informative on the current state of fashion under capitalism, makes good points as to how all the oppression and environmental destruction and disregard for suffering and also the elitism and materialism are intertwined, and yet optimistic and perhaps utopian about how to move forward. If the title of the book didn't tell you the author is communist, the constant quotes from Marx and Marxists will let you know.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! “Karl Marx on Karl Lagerfeld”. I learned a lot and found it very interesting.

[sarah ❀]

very well written

[Fran Pitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t recommend this book enough, essential reading for anyone who feels something is very wrong with fashion and the direction everything is moving in

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly informational, extremely interesting. Since I read this as part of a reading challenge prompt about solutions to problems the world is facing, I would love to say the solutions section is just as nuanced and informative? But the answer is really just “tear down capitalism.” lol. And that’s not inaccurate or incorrect! And good for the author for saying it! But that is what the entire solutions/future section boils down to.

[Nosolochelo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Siempre me he considerado una consumidora de ropa bastante austera, suelo comprar solo lo que necesito pero si algo he aprendido en este libro es que también debo mirar bien donde se produce esa ropa y lo más importante en el último capítulo creer que una sociedad con una moda más justa es posible.
Este libro debería de leerlo prácticamente todo el mundo pero creo que solo se acercarán a él las personas que ya están concienciadas de alguna manera del daño que hace la industria de la moda al planeta.

[James Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly well-researched, well-written and fascinating book on fashion. Makes you see every aspect of the industry in a new light. And although the book is takes aim at the business of fashion, it is also a book of hope - looking ahead at what fashion could be like if it were reimagined. If you are interested in fashion, work in the industry, care about social justice, read this book!

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt some kind of way listening to this because it feels like in the overthrow of capitalism fashion will not be one of the primary drivers. And I'm torn - yes in systems individual responsibility is compromised. But it's not nothing. I want more books that are not on the far ends of where the responsibility lies. I don't know if there's real incentive to write that. But there's a LOT of information uncovered in here that I would like to be more widespread. And it was a good time for me to read it as I was thinking about going back to buying some pieces firsthand. Won't do that.

“The essence of ideology is its ability to legitimate the power of a social class that is in charge.”

“Essentially the new look replaced ease of movement and physical strength with an ultra conservative view of femininity complete with corsets. The look matched the political agenda of returning women to home and hearth.” Dior’s new look after war

“The power to influence the industry is not the same as the power to control the industry.”

“What was lacking on that June day and what continues to be absent from so much of the debate around fashion consumption was the ability to criticize capitalism as a system of oppression rather than to attack the people it oppresses. In particular fashion must be seen as a corporate drive for profit and not the fault of people in queues.”

“The freedom to wear and enjoy fashionable clothes must also be accompanied by the freedom not to do so.”

“The fashion industry is pivoting every further away from production or creativity and more toward financial speculation.”

“Young people in Britain taking on debt to buy clothes is mirrored by people in the global south being forced into debt in order to produce fashion.”

“Yet proffered solutions currently include trusting corporations to do the right thing, trying to get people to buy fewer clothes, recycling, renting, developing a circular economy, and the invention of wonder fabrics. All solutions that appear more concerned with keeping capitalism intact than with saving the planet.”

“The idea that this fur is ethical or sustainable is a lie. The production of a farmed fur coat uses 20x the amount of energy used to make a faux fur coat.”

“Those wanting the overthrow of capitalism are often accused of being dreamers. Yet there is no greater illusion than that of utopian reformism which believes you can fundamentally change a system without touching its power relations.”

“While the mutual fusing of cultures can in part be celebrated as exchange, for the most part it is the outcome of domination. The cultures of the world have not spread and merged through an organic process of cross-cultural harmony. Instead colonialism and neocolonialism have resulted in the supplanting and harnessing of those cultures they have encountered.”

“It has the power to be bold, embodied, defiant. Its significance regarding changing the structures of society however depends on whether there is a movement behind it. In this way fashion and clothing are a form of simmering dissent rather than a decisive and final revolutionary act.”

“The dialectical relationship between the fashion industry and resistance fashion means that resistance is simply absorbed, repackaged, and sold back to us.”

“For something to be able to be sustainable it has to be able to be done forever. Sustainability is a process. It is not a fixed moment and definitely not an individual object. You can’t have a sustainable pair of jeans because to jeans is not a thing that you do. It’s not a verb. You can’t jeans.” - Kate Harper, Fashion researcher in Norfolk

“Being an environmentalist does not mean aiming for a society of scarcity… While it is essential to free ourselves from scarcity through production, there is no reason for life to be segmented and compartmentalized.”

“Fashion has the ability to sum up an epoch, to evoke the spirit of the times. Which is why Vavara Stepanova wrote ‘It would be a mistake to think that fashion can be abolished or that it is haphazard or unnecessary. Fashion gives us the lines and shapes to suit a particular time’.”

[Dave Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, good and bad
I'm in complete agreement with a lot of this book.
But that doesn't blind me to the fact that this book uses some slippery logic and moves the goal posts to suit itself.
#1. This book is a great source of outstanding quotes like: "Seeing a poor person asking for money is not as objectionable as seeing a rich person asking for more". I love that one. Another good one is: “If you have come to help me you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” I'd never hear that one.
There is a bit of stuff I'd never heard before reading this. I know most of what I buy at the store comes from sweat shops and exploited workers. How corporations use 3rd party cut outs to avoid all legal liability is also fairly well known, Yet there were a few details that add more light. So yeah, over all this is a pretty good book that tells you a lot, and it doesn't even get preachy until the end.
And that's were any objections creep in, at the later half. That's where the author starts to say that inclusion is an act of violence, when previously exclusion was an act of violence. And that's not the only example of double think in the last quarter of the book.
Still, I never knew that Coco Chanel was such a scummy human and actual Nazi collaborator. so that was definitely a bonus.

[Syirah · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a lot of ways, this book just scratches the surface of all one could uncover about capitalism and fashion. But it's still deserving of a good review, as I believe accessible texts are necessary to advance class consciousness and provide a method of communication amongst the working class. What I truly enjoyed about the book was its nuance regarding the argument of personal vs. systemic change. Unlike a lot of online leftist media, the book doesn't completely shun the idea of personal actions to bring about wider change, as long as it centers on the workers in question. For example, boycotts informed by the needs of workers and buying from "sustainable" brands are both technically personal consumer choices, but one revolves around workers' rights while the other is to fulfill corporate agendas. I think this difference is ignored in a lot of texts, as many leftists focus solely on larger, radical change. Radical change is important, but it requires a lot of grassroots work; it is important to look at all methods as complementary to each other. The end goal is a world without capitalism, and I believe this book brings together a range of ideas to achieve that.

From discussions about radical acts of change to questions about race and gender, this is an excellent whistlestop tour of all things fashion & anti-capitalism.

[Vanya Prodanova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Досега не ми беше попадала книга, която да говори за модата от икономическа гледна точка и определено беше доста интересно. Някои неща ги знаех и съм ги мислела също, други - ми бяха доста нови и не се бях замисляла, че са така. В това отношение - книгата беше любопитна и интересна.

Авторката чудесно обяснява защо капитализмът е в основата на всичко най-лошо и не мога да не се съглася. Постара се да обхване всяка гледна точка. Това, което ми дойде в повече, беше, че на много места така се задълбаваше в детайли и търсене на теле под вола, че се дразнех. Както и ми хареса колко е оптимистична във виждането си, че можем да постигнем общество, в което всички да сме равни и модата да не е просто правене на пари, но описаните идеи ми звучаха много като социализъм и комунизъм и знам, че не работят, така че... не съм така оптимистична като нея за бъдещето на човечеството. :)

Истината е, че винаги ще има хора, които искат да имат повече и да бъдат отгоре. От това спасение няма. Така че това общество, което си представя - все някой ще се намери как да експлоатира ситуацията за своя печалба и да развали утопията. И нейните идеи се базират на концепцията, че всеки е хуманист по душа и иска да мисли за бъдещето на следващите поколения. Е, това също не е много реалистично. :)

[Kenzie Pratt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched. Most of the book details the monstrosities done by the invisible hand of capitalism. The thing is, the hand isn’t invisible, it’s all of us. We are all culpable. This was nothing new to me, but I do think it could be eye opening for many who are not familiar with anti-capitalist theory. This would be a great college text for fashion or marketing students.

I noticed a few contradictions in Hoskin’s thinking, but I think this is a well meaning text that comes from the desire to actually help people. She is asking for revolution, which is understandable, but I wish there were more suggestions for what to do in the meantime. Unfortunately, I’m deeply embedded in the Capitalist society we live in. I don’t have the time to make my own clothes, and I don’t plan on moving to a commune anytime soon. I’m thinking of only buying thrifted clothes, but I’m not entirely sure how removed that is from exploitation. I really wish we didn’t live in a world in which some profit at the expense of others.

[Edy Gies · Rating 1 out of 5]

I questioned how many stars to give this book but I finally decided on one because I so thoroughly disagreed with the premise of the author. She assumes that humans are basically good and that if Capitalism could be removed as a system all would be right with the world. I don't get how her system would work because according to her oversight and governments are currently corrupt but under communism would not be corrupt. She seems to extol the virtues of a non-capitalist society yet also focuses on the abuses of the Chinese. I strongly disagree with so much of what she said but I also see her reporting as important when it relates to the abuses of the factories and manufacturers of our clothing. I will say that this book gave me a great deal to think about and consider as I shop or attempt to reduce my shopping.

[Jette · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very broad and accessible overview and explanation of anticapitalist/Marxist theory in relation to the fashion industry

I’d very much recommend it for anyone who isn’t too familiar with the topics and is looking for an easy to read, thoroughly explained starting point

as someone who has read their fair share of books on anticapitalism/ marxism and continually binge-watches every YouTube video on fashion (especially prostest fashion), this unfortunately didn’t really give me much new information that I hadn’t already heard elsewhere.

But I still very much appreciate what this book is doing for everyone who is new to these topics.
I believe accessibility to be incredibly important, especially in this sort of discussion.

Plus I really loved the chapter “resisting fashion”!!

[Ryan Desiderio · Rating 4 out of 5]

As somebody who is obsessed with fashion and the arts, this book was a necessary reminder that all art becomes commodity in a capitalist system.

The ending chapter on the revolution of fashion in a post-capitalist society was largely hypothetical, which I believe to have been a good choice. The future is not procedurally accessible, there is no playbook to history. The future is fluid, it is created by the minds and actions of now. “The Anti-capitalist Book of Fashion” excels in exploring the tandem (or the sameness, rather) between revolutionary and reform thought in the movement for liberation. Insisting upon the truth that we cannot continue under this system, Hoskins keeps the reader focused on the challenge at hand.

[Jonah Barlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Advertisements also act collectively to pump out the same message. The message is that we should shop - we should shop for clothes that make us richer even though we’ve just spent all our money. Real choice has been eroded and replaced by consumption choices. While a consumer cannot choose whether their taxes go towards cancer treatments or F-16 fighter jets, or whether the firm they work for builds social housing or speculates on the cost of wheat causing famine in Africa, they can choose between ‘island Bohemia’ or ‘polo lounge’ trends for their summer wardrobe.”

[Azahara Palomeque · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro está bien en cuanto que analiza las condiciones en que se produce la moda, sus cadenas de explotación y degradación medioambiental, y su valor simbólico. Dicho esto, la traducción es mejorable. Por ej., en español nadie vive "de cheque en cheque" si nos referimos a la precariedad (from paycheck to paycheck). Se lee el inglés por debajo, y eso confunde y perjudica el sentido original de la obra.

[Gintare · Rating 4 out of 5]

The end chapters were definitely ripe with Russian Revolution and collective work glorification that I cannot take seriously as a Lithuanian. Though I must admit I know little of what was happening in Russia between WW1 and WW2. Do I need to read more about it? Perhaps but I'm reluctant to.

More thoughts on the book overall to come.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knowing mostly nothing about how the fashion industry actually works I felt this book was a great source of information. A lot of it was shocking. The last part about revolutionising the industry, well, I think the ideas were maybe still a bit too raw. Very hard to imagine much of it ever being doable.

[Grace Jeffery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so interesting!

Slowly been picking up and putting back down but so insightful and learnt so much more about the fashion industry.

Definitely be using towards my dissertation found so many good points and new references to go and research more into!

Definitely think everyone should read this so people can realise how much of an impact fashion has on the world! 🌎

[Emily English · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who loves fashion. Will certainly make you think and hopefully we will all start changing our ways for the better. In depth and fascinating. A clear and readable style even though the subject matter wasn't always light. I appreciated the positive ending - we can do this !

[Keone Nakakura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book beautifully lays out the ailments of fashion under the capitalist eye. We know that fashion has these deeply imbedded issues but this book compiles what we all know and hear into a well-organized discussion.

[Zue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like a really long Twitter thread… with very surface-level understanding of issues, especially from intersectional standpoint. I should’ve known the book was going to be like this when it was endorsed by Emma Watson, founder of the hilarious #HeForShe movement… So maybe it’s on me!