Stories of Fashion, Textiles, and Place: Evolving Sustainable Supply Chains

About the Author
Leslie Davis Burns is President and Founder of Responsible Global Fashion LLC and Professor Emerita of Apparel Design and Merchandising at Oregon State University. A scholar and educator around topics related to the international apparel industries, consumer behavior, and corporate social responsibility, Leslie is author of Sustainability and Social Change in Fashion (2019, Fairchild Books), Stories of Fashion, Textiles and Place (Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2021) co-author of The Business of Fashion (6th edition, 2020, Fairchild Books) and editor of Fashion Business Cases (2020, Fairchild Books). She is also the Emeritus Editor-in-Chief of the Bloomsbury Fashion Business Cases online resource.
Jeanne Carver and husband Dan, own and operate the historic Imperial Stock Ranch (est 1871) in Oregon's interior. The ranch has produced sheep, cattle and crops throughout its 150-year history and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1999 Jeanne led them out of traditional commodity markets, developing products from their wool and placing them directly into apparel and home fashion markets. They became the first ranch in the world certified under the international Responsible Wool Standard, as Jeanne continued her award-winning agricultural efforts. Recipient of numerous awards, she was named one of nine “Female Farmers Changing the Fashion Industry” by the Pratt Institute of New York.
Stories of Fashion, Textiles, and Place follows the journeys of five companies with evolving sustainable supply chains in the fashion and textile industry. Each of the profiled companies are committed to advancing cultural traditions of a particular place. They value, honor, and are all deeply rooted in the geography, culture, and people of a specific location and their success is attributable to their connection to that place. With this shared value, their unique stories highlight the conditions, risks, strategies, and successes in creating and maintaining sustainable supply chains for ready-to-wear and home fashions. The companies include:
-Imperial Stock Ranch and Shaniko Wool Company – Oregon, USA
-Angela Damman Yucatán – Yucatán, Mexico
-Tonlé – Phnom Penh, Cambodia
-Indigenous Designs – Highlands, Peru
-Harris Tweed® – Outer Hebrides, Scotland, UK
With a focus on economic, social, environmental, and cultural sustainability, and the connection between textiles and place, Burns and Carver offer personal and insightful narratives of companies addressing the challenges facing today's global fashion industry.