Fashionopolis (Young Readers Edition): The Secrets Behind the Clothes We Wear

Gr 6 Up–Paris-based journalist Thomas adapts her 2019 erudite exposé for younger audiences, and also (again) narrates. For a writer careful enough to include phonetic guidelines—”Maria Cornejo (pronounced “Cor-nay-ho”),” for example—her inconsistencies surprise: Ikeda is not “ai-kee-dah”; “Iris (pronounced “EEE-reece”)” is followed by Iris, like the flower. Missteps aside, her delivery carefully balances between objective and impassioned. Her content, however, might provoke polarizing reactions. Within the three-part fashion pyramid—haute couture (for women)/bespoke (for men), ready-to-wear, fast-fashion—her readers here are majority fast-fashion consumers (Zara, H&M, Gap). Fast-fashion, she irrefutably proves, sabotages the planet while rapaciously abusing desperate workers. And yet most sustainable options—which get detailed origin stories—are impossible for her target audience: $400 sweatpants; $1500 sweaters; $2,000 jeans, waitlist notwithstanding! Additional sustainability suggestions feel glossed over: trade, buy used, rent. And never wash your jeans?