The rivalry for trade in tea and textiles between the English and Dutch East India companies is very much a global history. This trade is strongly connected to emblematic events such as the opening of Western trade with China, the Boston Tea Party, the establishment of British Empire in Bengal and the Industrial Revolution.

The 18th-century French leather industry was a strategically important manufacturing sector, one vital to both civilian and military life. This study examines the production of leather in the Bordeaux trades during the 18th and 19th centuries, illuminating the realities of a craft economy and its relation to the wider French political economy.

This study provides an overview of how the Bangladeshi leather value chain is organised and governed. It analyses how the leather processing and leather goods/footwear subsectors are integrated into the global market and to what extent informal arrangements including illicit practices are conducive to global market entry. Power relations are dissected along the value chain, in order to analyse how local producers adapt to upholding competitiveness. The results of the work show the need to devise upgrading strategies which pay heed to the reality of informal dynamics in a global value chain (GVC) to improve the local producers' competitiveness. The GVC perspective was combined with considerations on upgrading, subcontracting, middlemen and informality to adequately analyse the complexity of the transactions in the chain. The data of this study are drawn from empirical field studies in Dhaka, Bangladesh and other sections of the international leather value chain during the time period of 2010 to 2014. A qualitative research approach was complemented with quantitative methods.

This book examines in detail key aspects of sustainability in the textile industry, especially environmental, social and economic sustainability in the textiles and clothing sector. It highlights the various faces and facets of sustainability and their implications for textiles and the clothing sector.

'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.

Exposed to powerful new economic forces, and undergoing dramatic ownership reforms and technological changes, China's industries are modernizing at a breakneck pace. In many industries, the outcomes have been chaotic and poorly aligned with societal objectives. This book analyses the transformation and modernization of China's industries through a detailed investigation of the wool and wool textile industries. The authors argue that to remain internationally competitive in the post WTO accession era, Chinese industries need to confront a critical new phase in the modernization process - that of improving management practices and industry co-ordination. Modernizing China's Industries is a comprehensive, integrated and in-depth investigation of industry transformation and modernization. The extensive first-hand research, across a range of industry segments and participants, spans almost two decades. The analysis reveals much about industry modernization and transition in China for a broad range of industries and therefore provides invaluable information for developing strategies and accessing opportunities within China. This book offers unique insights for academics and researchers in Asian studies, transition studies and industrial transformation, as well as policymakers and industry leaders interested in both the intricacies and mega-forces involved in China's industrial modernization. The comprehensive industry analysis also provides a valuable reference for professionals in the increasingly China-centric world of wool and wool textiles as well as offering insights for other textile industry professionals.

Using the findings from data analysis of fifty-one developing countries, this bookanalyses several national and international factors that have resulted in uneven development of the textiles and clothing industry inthe developing world. The findings are further substantiated by case studies of major players in this industry, such as India and China. While international trade rules have played a critical role in the growth of the textiles and clothing industry, country- and industry-specific policies and capacity building initiatives have also resulted in the present scenarioin several countries. There is no common recipe for all developing countries for sustaining market share in the domestic and international markets.Regional and local factors need to be taken into consideration while formulating policies for the industry.

Solar Thermal Conversion Technologies for Industrial Process Heating presents a comprehensive look at the use of solar thermal energy in industrial applications, such as textiles, chemical processing, and food. The successful projects implemented in a variety of industries are shown in case studies, alongside performance assessment methodologies. The book will be useful for researchers, graduate students, and industry professionals with an aim to promote mutual understanding between sectors dealing with solar thermal energy. The book includes various solar thermal energy conversion technologies and new techniques and applications of solar collectors in industrial sectors. Features: Covers the key designs and novel technologies employed in the processing industries. Discusses challenges in the incorporation of the solar thermal system in industrial applications. Explores the techno-economic, environmental impact, and life cycle analysis, with government policies for promoting the system. Includes real-world case studies. Presents chapters written by global experts in the field. The book will be useful for researchers, graduate students, and industry professionals with an aim to promote mutual understanding between sectors dealing with solar thermal energy.

First Published in 1966. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Like cotton, indigo has defied its humble origins. Left alone it might have been a regional plant with minimal reach, a localized way of dyeing textiles, paper, and other goods with a bit of blue. But when blue became the most popular color for the textiles that Britain turned out in large quantities in the eighteenth century, the South Carolina indigo that colored most of this cloth became a major component in transatlantic commodity chains. In "Red, White, and Black Make Blue," Andrea Feeser tells the stories of all the peoples who made indigo a key part of the colonial South Carolina experience as she explores indigo's relationships to land use, slave labor, textile production and use, sartorial expression, and fortune building.
In the eighteenth century, indigo played a central role in the development of South Carolina. The popularity of the color blue among the upper and lower classes ensured a high demand for indigo, and the climate in the region proved sound for its cultivation. Cheap labor by slaves--both black and Native American--made commoditization of indigo possible. And due to land grabs by colonists from the enslaved or expelled indigenous peoples, the expansion into the backcountry made plenty of land available on which to cultivate the crop. Feeser recounts specific histories--uncovered for the first time during her research--of how the Native Americans and African slaves made the success of indigo in South Carolina possible. She also emphasizes the material culture around particular objects, including maps, prints, paintings, and clothing. "Red, White, and Black Make Blue" is a fraught and compelling history of both exploitation and empowerment, revealing the legacy of a modest plant with an outsized impact.

While the topic of sustainability in textile manufacture has been the subject of considerable research, much of this is limited to a focus on materials and practices and their ecological impact. Padovani and Whittaker offer a unique exploration of the textile industry in Europe from the perspective of social sustainability, shifting the focus from the materiality of textile production to the industry's relationships with the communities from which the products originate. Featuring six in-depth case studies from design entrepreneurs, artisans and textile businesses around Europe, from Harris Tweed in Scotland to luxury woollen mills in Italy, Sustainability and the Social Fabric explores how new centres of textile manufacturing have emerged from the economic decline in 2008, responding creatively and producing socially inclusive approaches to textile production. Case studies each represent a different approach to social sustainability and are supported by interviews with industry leaders and comparisons to the global textile industry. Demonstrating how some companies are rebuilding the local social fabric to encourage consumer participation through education, enterprise, health and wellbeing, the book suggests innovative business models that are economically successful and also, in turn, support wider societal issues. Essential reading for students of textiles, fashion, design and related subjects, this book will demonstrate how a business ecosystem that focuses on inclusive growth and social innovation can lead to sustained mutual benefit for textile industries and their local communities.

This book of essays, which draws on the expertise of leading textile scholars in Britain and the United States, focuses on the problem of and responses to foreign competition in textiles from the late nineteenth century to the present day.
A short introductory essay by the editor is followed by a survey of the debates surrounding the British cotton industry, foreign competition and competitive advantage. The other essays consider various aspects of that competition, including textile machine-making, Lancashire perceptions of the rise of Japan during the inter-war period and responses to foreign competition in the British cotton industry since 1945, whilst others deal with the decline and rise of merchanting in UK textiles and European competition in woollen yarn and cloth from 1870 to 1914. A recurring theme in a number of the essays is Japanese competitive advantage in textiles.
The book is unique since although there are numerous books dealing with the problems of British staple industries, nonefocuses primarily on the issue of competition, its sources and responses, nor on textiles in general rather than a single industry. Moreover, since the scope is international rather than limited only to the UK, it follows recent trends in British busines history away from single company case studies towards a more thematic, comparative approach. In addition, the international authorship of these papers gives this book, first published in 1991, wide appeal.

'An interesting and important account.' Daily Telegraph Have you ever stopped and wondered where your jeans came from? Who made them and where? Ever wondered where they end up after you donate them for recycling? Following a pair of jeans, Clothing Poverty takes the reader on a vivid around-the-world tour to reveal how clothes are manufactured and retailed, bringing to light how fast fashion and clothing recycling are interconnected. Andrew Brooks shows how recycled clothes are traded across continents, uncovers how retailers and international charities are embroiled in commodity chains which perpetuate poverty, and exposes the hidden trade networks which transect the globe. Stitching together rich narratives, from Mozambican markets, Nigerian smugglers and Chinese factories to London's vintage clothing scene, TOMS shoes and Vivienne Westwood's ethical fashion lines, Brooks uncovers the many hidden sides of fashion.

This title explores the means through which the garment industry contributes to industrialisation, poverty reduction, empowerment of undereducated workers, in particular female labourers, and shared growth in contemporary low-income countries.

By the 1780s in the city of Barcelona alone, more than 150 factories shipped calicoes to every major city in Spain and across the Atlantic, from Veracruz to Montevideo. Catalan, Basque and Castilian families sent relatives throughout the Iberian Peninsula and Spanish America, hoping to enrich themselves from the trade in calicoes. "Clothing the Spanish Empire" narrates the lives of families on both sides of the Atlantic who profited from the craze for calicoes, and in doing so helped the Spanish empire to flourish in the eighteenth century.

This book explores the importance of the agriculturally-based fiber and textile industry, and how local, small-scale operations and markets, coupled with a connection to soil health, can lead the way to new transformative changes. It draws on a four-year research project on Norwegian wool, as well as similar studies in Poland and Portugal. It also explores the role of women and the Indigenous perspective: in Europe this will constitute Sami and Inuit, in Northern America the Inuit and First Nations in Canada, along with Native Americans. Born out of academic interest in the slow food movement, the importance of local raw materials has been put under the spotlight in recent years. Meanwhile, the havoc wreaked by the fast fashion industry has been drawing attention to the need for a new, sustainable approach to clothing and textile manufacture. This edited collection is unique in its scope, taking the conversation beyond traditional debates around fast fashion and agriculture, and examining how textile industry is rooted in the land, and within society and community. Featuring a diverse range of authors, the book will be valuable reading for academics interested in sustainable management, the study of consumption, the study of Indigenous perspectives, and the study of agricultural practices.

This book presents applications of blockchain technologies to foster sustainable development in the textile and clothing supply chain. The concept of Textiles and Fashion Sustainability has grown to a wider extent today. Among the list of items to achieve Sustainability in Textiles and Fashion, the key element is the traceability of supply chains in terms of mapping and tracing the entire supply chain to ensure sustainable supply chain management. Reliable and transparent, efficient data is one of the crucial requirements for Textiles and Fashion Sustainability in today's advanced industrial context and this is possible in this advanced era by various technological advancements such as Block chain technologies. These days one can see a widespread application of blockchain technology in the Textiles and Clothing sector. The core competencies of blockchain technology namely transparency, data auditability, privacy, value transfer, and process efficiency and automation are very much essential for achieving the multifold objectives under the theme Textiles and Fashion Sustainability.

Numerous 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.

This book examines the manufacturing, supply chain and product-level sustainability of leather and footwear products. This book deals with the environmental and chemical sustainability aspects pertaining to the tanning supply chain and the related mitigation measures. The book also explores interesting areas of leather and footwear sustainability, such as waste & the 3R's and their certification for sustainability. At the product level, the book covers advanced topics like the circular economy and blockchain technology for leather and footwear products and addresses innovation development and eco-material use in footwear by investigating environmental sustainability and the use of bacterial cellulose, a potential sustainable alternative for footwear and leather products.

Preston was no ordinary town during the nineteenth century. While king cotton reigned supreme throughout Lancashire, the underlying ills associated with this industry were very often highlighted particularly starkly there. Child labour, shocking working conditions with appallingly long hours and pitifully low wages, as well as the constant risk of suffering horrific accidents in the cotton mills, all fostered a deep sense of hostility among the operatives towards the employers. Overcrowded and insanitary housing, disease, poverty and awful wretchedness were often to be witnessed in the fast-growing working-class districts of Preston.Against this backdrop the nascent trade unions and political and social reformers began to challenge the unbridled mastery of the millowners. Trade disputes, confrontations, lockouts, strikes and tragic episodes of violence were the inevitable consequence of this lethal mix of hardship and employer intransigence, and dominated affairs in the town for many years. This book by local author J.S. Leigh is a powerful indictment of the industrial system that caused such suffering to Preston's cotton 'martyrs'.

In 1962, Masahiro Shima founded Shima Seiki, with the aim of developing a fully automated seamless glove-knitting machine. Following this success, the company expanded into flat knitting machines. However, the age of the computer brought a whole new era for Shima Seiki. By committing to computerization in its mainstream products, Shima Seiki gradually began to stand apart from its competitors. Shima Seiki's focus on computer-aided knit design and programming, in fact led to a revolution in the fashion industry. Written by the inventor himself, this book looks at how Masahiro Shima developed both the technology and philosophy to enable his company to be market leaders in industrial knitting machines - and fundamentally change the fashion industry. This culminated in the launch of the company's Wholegarment knitting machine in 1995, which altered forever the way knitted garments are produced, and which today is used by fashion manufacturers across the world.

This third of the three volume series highlights the intricate relationship in the handloom industry between its culture and the various areas of sustainability. While there have been major disruptions in this age old industry, this volume presents the design, development and environmental aspects to keep the industry moving ahead. The book contains seven chapters written by leading experts in the areas and discusses means to revive some of the cultures that are on the verge of closing/shutting down.