TCNJ

30 The College of New Jersey Magazine I n her first-year seminar, The True Cost of Fashion, Kathleen Nicholson Webber chronicles the catastrophic consequences of fast fashion with a round-the-world syllabus spotlighting mountainous landfills of cast-off clothing, waterways tainted with toxins, and brands chasing profits at human expense. But first, she captures her students' attention with a critical investigation into their own closets. Piece by piece, they catalogue, count, and critique the collections. Where did you get it? How long have you had it? What did it cost? Lists complete, they interview their parents and grandparents about what clothing they owned when they were young. As the answers emerge, the differences become clear. And so begins a semester-long discussion about how and why fast fashion has changed the world. Since joining TCNJ over a decade ago, Webber, professor of journalism and professional writing, has investigated and written about the thorny problems underpinning the fashion industry, from overproduction and labor exploitation to pollution. But she also spotlights solutions, including legislation to protect workers' rights, efforts to build sustainable local textile supply chains, and an ambitious new plan to relaunch the flax industry in the United States. Webber, who has written for Women's Wear Daily, W, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, is a member of Circular Philadelphia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing waste. She believes in shopping less, and more carefully. "If you ask me, 'What are you wearing?' and I bought it secondhand, I will always tell you." Here, she tells us much more than just what's in her closet. You joined TCNJ in 2012 after a career as a journalist writing about very different aspects of fashion. How did you choose this subject? I heard this report on NPR about a book called Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion (see sidebar, page 32). It was about the human costs of moving labor production to countries without much regulation. Right after that — in April of 2013 — there was a factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed 1,134 factory workers. It was fashion's single most horrific industrial accident. And it happened in a factory where fast fashion was being created. I walked into the office at TCNJ, and I said, "I want to write about this. The sustainability of the industry. The business of fashion." KATHLEEN WEBBER Fashion press Kathleen Webber

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