5 Must Read Sustainable Fashion Books

Make space on the bookshelf!

Go into any well-stocked bookshop and they will probably have a selection of sustainable fashion books. I like to leave them lying around my house, guests inevitably pick them up and it gets the sustainable fashion conversation going. However, I do read them too! I find them particularly helpful for looking at sustainable fashion in new and different ways. This list constitutes my favourite sustainable fashion books at the moment. They are all quite different and yet are all thought-provoking. Whether you want to update your wardrobe, refine it or just learn more about the industry. 

This is a Good Guide for a Sustainable Lifestyle – Marieke Eyeskoot

If you are at all interested in sustainability, this book is for you. This new edition is in English (previously it was only available in Dutch) and has been revised to include a more international audience. It is split into sections including fashion & accessories, beauty, food, home & work, leisure, and knowledge. The book is packed full of advice, interviews with industry experts, tips and information about everything you need to live more sustainably. Think of it as a practical guide but also fun and interesting to read. It also features a worldwide list of great eco stores, super helpful for traveling. Marieke strikes just the right tone and manages to sound kind and helpful without being judgemental.

The Curated Closet – Anuschka Rees

If you have been thinking of starting a capsule wardrobe then this is the book for you. It is a step by step guide to curating your perfect capsule wardrobe. The capsule wardrobe isn’t a one size fits all, everybody will need different clothes depending on their lifestyle, personal style, work and climate. Anuschka takes all this account and helps to work through finding the perfect wardrobe for you. Full of pieces you love, that fit well and you actually want to wear. (Excuse the cover, it is well used!)

Slave to Fashion – Safia Minney

If you want to find out more about slave labour in the fashion industry, this book is for you. The book is a chance for garment workers in the fashion industry to tell their story. It also explains what is being done to help and how we can move forward to change the industry for the future.  Slave to Fashion also contains a practical toolkit that we can use to demand change from the companies that produce our clothes.

Women in Clothes – Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, Leanne Shapton & 639 others

If you are at all interested in clothes and the personal story everyone has with their wardrobe – this book is for you. It looks like a novel but is, in fact, more of a coffee table book. The book is not strictly about sustainable fashion however it is all about considering the clothes we are wearing. Which in itself is a big part of sustainability. It is full of conversations about clothes and the people wearing them, from people of all different ages and backgrounds. There are illustrations and a few photos throughout. A quote that stuck with me is “I feel like the biggest part of style is making do with what you have.” Heidi Howard

Fashion Made Fair – Ellen Köhrer and Magdalena Schaffrin

If you love a good coffee table book, this one is for you. The book features sustainable fashion brands who are steaming ahead with their ideas for a more ethical fashion industry. Some of them you might have heard before – People Tree, Patagonia, and Reformation are all big players, but many I had never heard of until this book. It is a lovely way to find out the history of the brands and what their plans are to make their brands even more sustainable in the future. The book contains images of the brand’s collections, however, it was printed in 2016.

If you like sustainable fashion books, why not try watching documentaries on the subject too, click here for recommendations. 

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