Maxine Bédat’s new book Unraveled: The Life and Death of A Garmentis available for pre-order now with an official release date of June 1. Called a “groundbreaking chronicle of the birth and death of a pair of jeans” the book exposes the fractures in our global supply chains, and our relationships to each other, ourselves, and the planet.
Read an exclusive excerpt of the new book from Penguin Random House here.
“In the story that follows we will visit cotton farms in Texas, which was and still is a significant source of global cotton production, meeting farmers navigating the trade-offs between the health of their land, their bank accounts, and themselves,” writes Bédat. “In China we will see how those raw fibers are spun into yarn, dyed, and woven into denim. And in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh we will meet the women responsible for cutting and sewing fabric into a final garment. Back in America, we will go inside an Amazon warehouse to see how our jeans are shipped and make their way to our closets. Finally we travel to Ghana, where quite a bit of our clothing lands after we’ve had our way with it, becoming our jeans’ final resting place.”
Maxine Bédat is the Founder & Director of The New Standard Institute, which brings the latest independent, science-backed analysis of sustainability claims and the stories of the people on the ground to drive fashion into a force for good. She is a former lawyer and the cofounder of ethical fashion brand Zady.
Bédat was a panelist on a recent Plastic Pollution Coalition webinar in partnership with Fashion Revolution on phasing plastic out of fashion. Bédat spoke with Lauren Ritchie, Founder of The Eco Justice Project and PPC Youth Ambassador; Imari Walker Karega, Science Communicator & Environmental Engineering PhD Candidate, Duke University; Tahirah Hairston, Fashion & Beauty Director, Teen Vogue; and moderator Andrea Arria-Devoe, Executive Producer, STRAWS film & Contributing Editor at goop.
Watch the webinar below, and order the book Unraveled: The Life and Death of a Garment here.
