Now Available — Sundressed: Natural Fabrics and the Future of Clothing

SUNDRESSED is an exploration of a revolution taking place in fashion and a love letter to clothing that embodies beauty and value from farm to closet.

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, January 24, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- From fast fashion brands constantly pushing out new clothes to luxury brands engaging in greenwashing, the fashion industry has an outsized environmental impact. In a landscape glutted with garments, is it possible to be both a conscious consumer and well-dressed?

In SUNDRESSED: NATURAL FIBERS AND THE FUTURE OF CLOTHING (Publication Date: January 19, 2023), sustainable fashion consultant and journalist Lucianne Tonti² answers the question “can fashion ever be truly sustainable?” She explores the industry’s recent embrace of regenerative agriculture and reveals how beautiful clothes made from natural fibers could reverse fashion’s outsized carbon footprint.

By weaving stories from her career working in ateliers in Paris and London throughout the book, Tonti showcases how beautiful clothes made from natural fabrics such as cotton, wool, flax, and cashmere can reduce waste, support rural communities, and regenerate landscapes. She takes readers on a global journey into regenerative fashion, meeting producers and designers reforming the industry.

Visiting lush mulberry groves in Nanchong, China, Tonti meets with a local company pioneering regenerative silk farming to both support farmers and heal the land. On a regenerative hemp farm in New Mexico, she learns about America’s hemp renaissance, the value of hemp fiber for textiles, and challenges to scaling up production. And on the vast rangelands of Mongolia, Tonti explores how climate change and overgrazing are impacting both cashmere production and goat herders’ livelihoods as well as how the rangelands can be rewilded.

Further down the supply chain, Tonti shows how top designers are working with Indigenous communities to spin and weave heirloom fabrics. She also highlights how global brands are making strides towards sustainability, from Patagonia training cotton farmers in their supply chain about the principles of regenerative farming to Levi’s and The Ellen MacArthur Foundation developing a circular pair of jeans.

Tonti shows how the fashion industry can be reformed by embracing a love of clothes and nature. In this new paradigm, the industry can transform its relationships with the people and landscapes it has typically used and abused by restoring soil health, protecting biodiversity, and providing better livelihoods for communities. SUNDRESSED is an exploration of a revolution taking place in fashion and a love letter to clothing that embodies beauty and value from farm to closet.

Lucianne Tonti has worked in fashion in Melbourne, Sydney, London, and Paris since 2008. In 2020 she launched the sustainable fashion site Prelude, profiled in "Vogue." Lucianne holds a Bachelor of Communication, a Juris Doctorate, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Political Science. Her writing appears in "The Guardian" and she is the fashion editor of "The Saturday Paper."

PRAISE FOR SUNDRESSED:

"Each chapter deep dives into the history, present and possible future of a different natural fiber. Together they form a tapestry of possibilities for mending a broken industry. For those working in the rag trade it is essential reading; for everyone else, the book is a well-taught lesson in the true cost (and value) of clothing." — "The Guardian"

"Refreshingly, Tonti avoids the ideological, scolding tone often used by those concerned with sustainability issues. Even more, her love of fashion and good clothes shines through, injecting the narrative with an uplifting sense of optimism and purpose…. Tonti’s insightful book shines light into the darker corners of the fashion business and points to new ways forward." — "Kirkus Reviews"

"In prose as stylish as her fashion sense, Lucianne Tonti shows how a combination of love of clothes and love of nature can 'subvert the take-make-waste model that is driving fashion’s enormous environmental footprint'." — "The Sydney Morning Herald"

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SUNDRESSED: NATURAL FIBERS AND THE FUTURE OF CLOTHING
Island Press³ Hardcover | Publication Date: January 19, 2023
216 pages | 6x9 | Price: $29.00
ISBN: 9781642832716
Book Page: https://islandpress.org/books/sundressed
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For review copies, contact Jaime Jennings at press@islandpress.org

Founded in 1984, Island Press works to stimulate, shape, and communicate the information that is essential for solving environmental problems. Today, with more than 1,000 titles in print and some 30 new releases each year, it is the nation’s leading publisher of books on environmental issues. Island Press is driving change by moving ideas from the printed page to public discourse and practice. Island Press’s emphasis is, and will continue to be, on transforming objective information into understanding and action. For more information and further updates be sure to visit www.islandpress.org.
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Jaime Jennings
Island Press
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¹ https://islandpress.org/books/sundressed
² https://islandpress.org/author/lucianne-tonti
³ https://islandpress.org/