Consumed - aja barber

What is the true cost of fast fashion? When a garment is dirt cheap, who is paying the real price? Aja Barber positions her readers to consider these questions, and more, in her first book Consumed. Consumed highlights the need for collective change on individual, community and – especially - industrial levels, in order to begin to resolve the current humanitarian and environmental crises caused by overconsumption.

Consumed is split into two halves: ‘learning’ and ‘unlearning’. The first half of the book is, naturally, dedicated to educating the reader on the injustices that are rife throughout the fashion and textile industry. The information shared here – statistics, data and testimonies thoroughly researched and verified by Barber – is at times difficult to swallow, and in fact is often downright scary. However, this is exactly the reason it must be shared with as many people as possible; so many of us fail to grasp the detrimental impact of our consumer habits. Part one of this text will teach you about the dire situation we find ourselves in in regard to over-consumption of cheaply made clothes, the unsustainability of fast fashion supply chains, and the unliveable hours and wages that the (mostly female) garment workers are subjected to.

The content matter is serious, so naturally Consumed, especially this first half, is a bit of a heavy read in some chapters and sections. Luckily, Barber’s witty interjections and frequent anecdotes from her own life in her teens and early adulthood (where her love of fashion grew and her lived experience of the industries she writes about in Consumed began) help buoy the tone of the book.  

Part two, ‘unlearning’, guides the reader to leave behind harmful consumerism habits and embrace new habits; namely, buying well, buying differently and ultimately buying less. Barber also debunks a range of myths that you and I may use to justify purchasing fast fashion; for example, for most of us who will read this book, ‘poverty’ is not an excuse to buy cheaply, poorly made garments. As Barber explains in Consumed, being ‘broke’ in a wealthy country is not an excuse to participate in the purchasing of fast fashion, particularly when, as Barber writes in the book, over 50% of the world live on $5.50 a day or less, in true poverty.

The book ends on a hopeful and empowering note, reminding readers that it is what they do, not what they wear, that ultimately matters. Barber writes: “Stop wanting more when you have enough. You are enough.”