Slave to Fashion by Safia Minney

Safia Minney is a social entrepreneur and particularly influential in sustainability and modern slavery issues. In Slave to Fashion, she aims at giving a snapshot of the situation of the fast-fashion industry. This book is a good introduction to the topic and offers effective actions for the reader to take.

The book is structured in 10 parts tackling various pieces of this issue to give a complete and comprehensive understanding. Moving to different parts of the world, the author interviews protagonists of the industry as well as people lusting to make it more human mainly through charities and justice. The format of the book, with many interviews and photos, creates a sense of proximity to these people, which has a strong impact on making it real and getting more conscious of the situation. She also makes it very accessible by having it well structured and defining any concept. Even important notions that could seem quite basic are explained, showing the actual complexity of some of them, making it a great introduction for anyone who is starting their journey in sustainable fashion. 

The limits of this book, as she mentions herself in the introduction, is that it can only give a snapshot of this ever-changing industry. She does a great job at mentioning that while we see progress in this industry, it is not fast enough and there is still a lot to improve.

The book concludes with a toolbox: she gives useful, bulleted action points that you can start today without using a guilt inducing tone. She also shares her own experience on how to be an activist and especially how to start.

I found this book very interesting and would actively recommend it, especially to people who want to learn about fast fashion but are not sure where to start. I particularly liked the interviews of protagonists of this industry.