Apparel, garment and textile industries Books

Book SynopsisWhen the future of his family's rope business in Liverpool was threatened at the end of the 1920s Eric Rigby-Jones had to leave his wife and young family behind to risk everything on establishing a new factory in the Irish Free State. He was still an officer in the Territorial Army when he leased a former British cavalry barracks in co. Kildare from the Irish government in 1933. It had lain derelict since the departure of British troops in 1922. Within four years his company, Irish Ropes, was supplying nearly all of Ireland's rope. When war came in 1939 Ireland remained staunchly neutral and faced both German invasion and a British trade embargo. With the government determined to make the country self-sufficient Eric had to resort to increasingly desperate measures to ensure that Irish farmers never ran out of twine to gather the harvest. Tintawn and Binder Twine is the untold story of the foundation and eventual demise of an iconic Irish business, known around the world for its Red Setter twine and Tintawn sisal carpets; of the pioneering Englishman who founded it and introduced new concepts in industrial relations to Ireland; of a family separated in peace and war; and of the regeneration of an Irish town. It is also the story of sisal, the vegetable fibre that became the mainstay of East Africa's colonial economy, and of the first fifty years of an independent Irish state. A member of Eric's wider family, Thomas Jones, was secretary to the British delegation that negotiated the Anglo-Irish treaty in 1921 and his son, Michael, was killed in the Staines air disaster in 1972 while travelling to Brussels with an Irish delegation for talks about the country's imminent membership of the European Union. Well-illustrated and drawing heavily on unpublished family letters, documents, and photographs as well as new research in British and Irish archives, the book reveals intriguing but little-known sides to Anglo-Irish relations during the Second World War. It has particular relevance in today's world of Brexit, borders, tariffs, and the bullying of small nations by large.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements; 1 Ormskirk, 1919-1930; 2 Ireland, 1919-1933; 3 The Founding of Irish Ropes, 1930-1934; 4 Sisal; 5 Newbridge, 1935-1939; 6 Knuckling Down, 1939; 7 Preparing to Fight, 1940; 8 Feeling the Pinch, 1941; 9 Facing Disaster, 1942; 10 A Family at War, 1942-1943; 11 Pulling Through, 1943-1945; 12 A Family at War, 1944-1945; 13 A Problem of Succession; 14 The Lifting of the Clouds, 1945-1948; 15 A Triumph of Brain and Effort, 1949-1952; 16 Michael, 1952-1972; 17 The End of the Ropes; Appendix: The Twelve Irish Business Leaders who died in the Staines Air Crash, 18 June 1972; Endnotes; Bibliography.

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Book Synopsis'A gripping blockbuster... Thomas researches meticulously and writes with simmering even-handed anger' TELEGRAPH. Fashionopolis is the definitive book on the cost of fast fashion, and a blueprint for how we get to a more sustainable future. Fashion has blighted our planet. Today, one out of six people on earth work in fashion, churning out 100 billion garments a year. Yet 98 percent of them do not earn a living wage, and 2.1 billion tonnes of clothing is thrown away annually. The clothing industry's exploitation of fellow humans and the environment has reached epic levels. What should we do? Bestselling author and veteran journalist Dana Thomas has travelled the globe to find the answers. In Fashionopolis, she details the damage wrought by fashion's behemoths, and celebrates the visionaries – including activists, artisans, designers, and tech entrepreneurs – fighting for change. We all have been casual about our clothes. It's time to get dressed with intention. Fashionopolis is the first comprehensive look at how to start. Reviews: 'Fascinating... Powerful... Thomas has succeeded in calling attention to the major problems of the fashion industry' New York Times 'Thomas takes a story most of us think we know, but tells it better and in compelling, readable detail' The Times 'Engaging and thorough... Fashionopolis has implications beyond cloth and thread' Financial Times 'Thomas is a conscientious reporter – as evidenced in her research, which is studded with statistics' Times Literary SupplementTrade ReviewThomas convincingly lays out multiple arguments against fast fashion... Thoroughly reported and persuasively written, Thomas's clarion call for more responsible practices in fashion will speak to both industry professionals and socially conscious consumers' * Publishers Weekly *Thomas, a Paris-based fashion journalist, takes a story most of us think we know, but tells it better and in compelling, readable detail... Thomas's focus on the big picture doesn't get in the way of her love of a quirky detail... Thomas's long view is thought-provoking... [Fashionopolis] also engagingly elucidates how we may change things' * The Times *A pleasurable read on the innovators trying to make clothes with less cruelty and harm... Engaging and thorough... Thomas's emphasis on upstart innovators and entrepreneurs is part of what makes the book such a pleasure to read' * Financial Times *Thomas offers a bracing, urgently important look at the ills fast fashion has wrought... This eye-opening book is a must-read not only for fashion junkies but for everyone who buys and wears clothes, enlightening us as to the garment industry's dark past, its embattled present, and – if we make the thoughtful choices Thomas presents – its bright future' -- Caroline Weber, author of Proust's DuchessAn eye-opening account of the true cost of "fast fashion"... Thomas circles the globe to profile innovators who are working to make the garment trade more sustainable and offers a vision of better, rather than, faster fashion... I, for one, will never open my closet and look at my choices in quite the same way again' -- Julia Flynn Siler, author of The White Devil's DaughtersThomas offers informed, fair-minded, passionate, and cautiously optimistic scrutiny of "fast fashion"... A distressing yet intriguing story... Engrossing... Convincing, responsible, and motivational fashion industry reportage' * Kirkus Reviews *Fast fashion and its long-term consequences are such crucial subjects that it's hard to believe that no one thought to write this book until now. And how lucky we are that it's Dana Thomas who finally did, bringing her encyclopedic knowledge and expertly trained eye to bear on the excesses of a system by which companies exploit people and the planet to produce clothes that we barely wear. Investigating the factory floor to runway in search of a better way forward, Thomas makes an unshakeable argument for a different way of getting dressed -- Lauren Collins, When In FrenchA great resource for learning about the effects of fast fashion' * Reader's Digest *Fashionopolis is blunt: We're all going to drown in a landfill piled high with cheap clothes if we don't stop shopping like maniacs. Thomas's thoughtful reporting explains how w -- Robin Givhan, author of The Battle of Versailles.Thomas's is one of those books you can't stop reading bits out from to whoever is around, and which winds up changing your entire perspective * Sydney Morning Herald. *A must-read for anyone in the industry * Boutique Magazine *Exposes fashion's toxic relationship with the environment in its pursuit of 'unbridled capitalism'. If anything can persuade you to change your habits, this will * Country & Town House *Thomas is a conscientious reporter – as evidenced in her research, which is studded with statistics... Fortunately, Thomas provides glimpses of change in the industry' * Times Literary Supplement *[A] well-researched and fascinating book... Her gift for scene-setting and her sharp assessments of many of the trendsetting entrepreneurs behind the scenes across the globe keeps Fashionopolis engaging throughout' * Irish Times *A raw and shocking account of the price of fast fashion, Fashionopolis is a magnificent resource for both the consumer and the industry * Sublime *Thomas details the damage wrought by fashion's behemoths, and celebrates the visionaries including activists, artisans and designers fighting for change * Irish Independent *A well-researched read about fast fashion and why we all need to change our habits * Wallpaper *A compelling and devastating argument for why we should all be making more thoughtful choices * Independent *

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Book SynopsisNumerous clothing industries face highly dynamic environments, and growth in this environment depends upon both external and internal factors. External factors are represented by aggressive competition and volatile product demand. Internally, the industry must face an increasingly shorter life cycle of the product and the need to innovate both product and organizational development. The competitive advantage of the industry lies in its ability to design a value-creating system based on the management of both external and internal relationships. The successful management of these relationships relies not only on successful customer relationship management but also on effective product supply and demand upkeep.Management and Inter/Intra Organizational Relationships in the Textile and Apparel Industry provides emerging research exploring relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research underlining the complexity of management applications within the textile industry. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as consumer relationships, cultural identity, and organizational culture, this book is ideally designed for researchers, academicians, professionals, and students working in various disciplines including management, industrial organization, organizational behavior, human resource management, decision science, design science, and information and communication. Moreover, the book will provide insights and support executives and managers of the textile and apparel industry concerned with the ethic design, contamination, and the management relationships with workers, customers, suppliers, the community, and organizational development.

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Book SynopsisFashion is a glamorous industry, one of beauty, money, fame, and huge profits. However, from the inside, it is clear the industry is suffering. An industry worth $3 Billion (USD), the fashion industry is characterized by products with a short shelf-life, wrong forecasts, low profits, and ever-increasing competition. On the periphery, technology is rapidly invading the fashion industry, with emerging forms such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Artificial Neural Networks, Human-Robot Interface, making their way into this industry in recent years. AI in Fashion Industry discusses recent developments in fashion forecasting, developing a 'framework of AI-based fashion forecasting' and validates the framework with a qualitative case study of the world's first fashion intelligence company based in Bengaluru, India. This book studies the relationship between fashion and social media engagement of consumers, before moving on to create a 'conceptual framework of fashion e-forecasting.' The case study addresses the forecasting-based business problem of a family-owned fashion retail business. This book is unique, suggesting a novel method of fashion product development in the light of data-driven intelligence; documenting some of the rapid developments in the field with the onset of technology and addressing some of the fundamental questions that are becoming more relevant in recent years.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Literature Review Chapter 3. Research Design and Methodology Chapter 4. Case Study – 1 'Stylumia': Artificial Intelligence in Fashion Chapter 5. Case Study – 2 'Nowcasting an Indian Kurti using Facebook Photographs of Consumers' Chapter 6. Concluding Notes

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Book SynopsisAmidst an increasingly conscious consumer market, the fashion industry now faces more external pressures than ever. Highlighting new advances that are responsive to societal concerns while still maintaining commerciality and innovation, Pioneering New Perspectives in the Fashion Industry: Disruption, Diversity and Sustainable Innovation examines critical new perspectives on the fashion marketplace that have been driven by both technological advances and widespread concerns over climate change. The editors bring together leading experts who employ empirical research and industry case studies to assess a wide range of issues and developments within the fashion industry, including: Climate activism Diversity, inclusivity and equality Online resale and e-commerce Collective action Fashion influencer brands Circularity Neurodiverse retail experiences Childrenswear Buyer-supplier relations Modest fashion Industry challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa Fashion and technology Vintage consumption Tailored for fashion student use and equally relevant for fashion professionals, Pioneering New Perspectives in the Fashion Industry: Disruption, Diversity and Sustainable Innovation presents a ground-breaking, comprehensive and cutting-edge analysis of the challenges and opportunities changing and reshaping the global fashion industry.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction; Elaine L Ritch, Catherine Canning, and Julie McColl Disruption Chapter 2. Sustainable Fashion Marketing and Value Creation: Moving Beyond the Cannibalisation of Fashion; Elaine L Ritch Chapter 3. Fashion, Sustainability, and the Free Market; Michelle Blair Gabriel Chapter 4. Change designers: Uprooting the Fashion System through Collective Action; Mairi Lowe and Elaine L Ritch Chapter 5. The ‘whatever’ Phenomenon: Investigating Indifference to Sustainability in the Fashion industry; Claudia E Henninger and Taylor Brydges Chapter 6. Craftivism: Hand Crafted Projects as a Means of Social and Political Expression; Catherine Canning and Julie McColl Chapter 7. The Power of the Climate Activist and Potential for Meaningful Change in the Fashion industry; Paula Hirschgänger, Catherine Canning, and Elaine L Ritch Diversity Chapter 8. The Economics of Exclusion: Why Inclusion Doesn’t Fit Fashion’s Business Model; Michelle Blair Gabriel Chapter 9. Diversity, Inclusivity and Equality in the Fashion Industry; Stephen A Doyle and Christopher M Moore Chapter 10. Expanding the Conversation on Inclusive Retailing: An Exploratory Look at the Servicescape-Related Fashion Retail Experience of Families with Autism; Joanne Shin and Bethan Alexander Chapter 11. Modesty as a Fashion Growth Opportunity? Exploring the potential of : Fashion; Sustainability; Production; Value; Marketing; Noreen Q Siddiqui and Ruth Marciniak Chapter 12. Children’s Clothing vs Children’s Fashion: The Construction of Childhood in Fashion Contextual and Design Approaches of the Childrenswear Apparel in the Global North; Aude Le Guennec Chapter 13. Imperatives of Inclusive Policies on Growth and Challenges of the Fashion Industry in Sub-Saharan Africa; Jane Owoloyi Obonyilo and Ruth Marciniak Sustainability and Circular Fashion Chapter 14. Re-sell-Re-wear: Examining Consumer Behaviour to Advance the Fashion Circular Economy; Elaine L Ritch, Catherine Canning, and Noreen Q Siddiqui Chapter 15. Exploring the Current and Future Potential of Fashion Rental and Resale in the UK -A Case Study on ACS Clothing; Karina McGowan and Eileen Conlan Chapter 16. “I thrifted this 'fit”: Indian Millennials’ Experiences of Online Thrifting; Anjali Iyer and Patsy Perry Chapter 17. Vintage Fashion Consumption as a Sustainable Choice; Julia Michalowska, Julie McColl, and Catherine Canning Chapter 18. Fashion and technology: A Concern over Wearables’ Environmental and Social Implications; Daria Morozova Sustainability, Retail and Marketing Chapter 19. Fashion Embraces Sustainability: An Analysis of Brands; Noelle Hatley Chapter 20. E-commerce is King: Creating Effective Fashion Retail Website Designs; Rosy Boardman and Courtney Chrimes Chapter 21. The Outlook of Luxury Fashion Retailers’ Multiple Channel Distribution Strategies; Huifeng Bai and Julie McColl Chapter 22. The Alchemy of Fashion Influencer Brands: Emergence, Social Identity and Follower-Based Influencer Brand Equity; Abhilash Sugunan Nair and Ruth Marciniak Chapter 23. There Are Three of Us in this Relationship - Sustainability and the Need to future-proof Buyer-Supplier Relations Post Covid-19; Julie Hodson Chapter 24. Conclusion and the Promise of Hope; Catherine Canning, Elaine L Ritch, and Julie McColl

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Book SynopsisA clear and accessibly written guide to the medieval cloth-making trade in England. Cloth-making became England's leading industry in the late Middle Ages; clothiers co-ordinated its different stages, in some cases carrying out the processes themselves, and found markets for their finished cloth, selling to merchants, drapers and other traders. While many clothiers were of only modest status or "jacks of all trades", a handful of individuals amassed huge fortunes through the trade, becoming the multi-millionaires of their day. This book offers the first recent survey of this hugely important and significant trade and its practitioners, examining the whole range of clothiers across different areas of England, and exploring their impact within the industry andin their wider communities. Alongside the mechanics of the trade, it considers clothiers as entrepreneurs and early capitalists, employing workers and even establishing early factories; it also looks at their family backgrounds and their roles as patrons of church rebuilding and charitable activities. It is completed with extracts from clothiers' wills and a gazetteer of places to visit, making the book invaluable to academics, students, and local historians alike.Trade ReviewThe amount of evidence presented in this book is staggering. Almost every page contains lucid examples drawn from an array of sources. The book is also immaculately written, with a richness of narrative sure to be appreciated by historians as well as the precision of argument valued by the more economically inclined. What it offers is a one-stop shop for a trade central to the medieval economy. * ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW *[A] very welcome...informed, informative and up-to-date study...This is an excellent book, not only for those interested in clothiers, but also for anyone interested in the broad development of English textile history. * TEXTILE HISTORY *The book is accessible to a wide range of readers. A glossary is provided for those less familiar with cloth making, while detailed appendices will interest experts. A gazetteer of surviving buildings can be used by local historians. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *Not only eminently readable but also well-researched. * THE RICARDIAN *[E]minently accessible . . . The work is a valuable read for any historian of material culture, or anyone looking to see how one industry functioned during the politically turbulent times of the Hundred Years War, the War of the Roses, and the reigns of the early Tudors. * COMITATUS *Anyone seeking a wide-ranging and well-informed historical account of late medieval English cloth-making will find it here. * MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY *An excellent start to this new series on medieval workers [and] a very worthwhile project.that will be of particular interest to economic and social historians and students, as well as those interested in regional and local history. * JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIES *It is surprising that we have had to wait so long for someone to tackle the clothiers . . . but it was worth the wait. John Lee has soaked up all the relevant literature, plus added his own discoveries from wills, chancery documents, and regional archives, to produce a readable, thorough, and wide-ranging survey. * MEDIEVAL CLOTHING & TEXTILES *The Medieval Clothier is an excellent first volume in Boydell's new series Working in the Middle Ages. . . . [It] is a highly successful book that provides an interesting, compelling and at all times authoritative survey of one of the most important trades in late medieval England, making it a must read for students and scholars alike. * EH.NET *The book may be aimed primarily at medievalists with interests in economic history, particularly in trade and taxation, and at those who study the history of entrepreneurship and social history, but the general reader will also be delighted by this appealing, beautifully organized book. * BUSINESS HISTORY REVIEW *Lee's book is an excellent example of clear and accessible research and synthesis and informs a key aspect of the debate on the role of small towns in early modern Europe. * URBAN HISTORY *Provides an interesting, accessible and well-referenced survey. * ESSEX JOURNAL *A very useful account...[It] can be recommended as an up to date introduction to the cloth trade in mediaeval England and is another impressive addition to the Boydell catalogue. * EAST YORKSHIRE LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY *Lee's careful and thorough analysis based upon contemporary sources reveals the lasting impact a single profession can exert over national and related regional economies. Illustrations and useful definitions clarify terms for those unfamiliar with textiles and their processing. This volume represents a significant contribution to late medieval economic, industrial, social, and material culture studies. -- Karin J. Bohleke * SIXTEENTH CENTURY JOURNAL *Table of ContentsIntroduction Making cloth Marketing cloth Identifying Clothiers Clothiers and government Clothiers in society Famous clothiers Conclusion Appendix 1: Cloths taxed by county Appendix 2: Cloths taxed by locality Appendix 3: Cloth types, as defined by statute in 1552 Appendix 4: Will of Thomas Paycocke of Coggeshall Appendix 5: Will of Thomas Spring III of Lavenham Appendix 6: Will of John Smallwood the elder alias John Winchecombe I of Newbury Appendix 7: Will of William Stumpe of Malmesbury Gazetteer of surviving buildings Glossary Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe wide range of topics that the book covers are organised into sections reflecting a cradle to grave view of how entrepreneurial, innovative, and tech-savvy approaches can advance environmental sustainability in the fashion sector. These sections include: sustainable materials; innovation in design, range planning and product development; sustainable innovations in fashion supply chains; sustainable innovations in fashion retail and marketing; sustainable alternatives for end-of-life and circular economy initiatives; and more sustainable alternative fashion business models.

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