Fibershed by Rebecca Burgess

Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy

Personal note from HERD Founder: I discovered the Fibreshed Movement whilst living in Northern California and I found it profoundly inspiring. Before that moment, I thought there would always have to be some compromise - a bit of polyester here, a blip in the transparency of a garment there, some details glossed over. This book is a blueprint for how fashion and clothes can be a force for good which is such a radical concept in the context of current industrial standards. If fashion is grown (not made from petrochemicals in a factory) then it can be grown in a way that helps enhance the ecosystem it grows in and if it is processed naturally then everyone who touches it is respected and it will compost beneficially at the end of it's life. This book was the soil from which HERD grew, and remains true to its' principles. Ruth  

Synopsis - A new "farm-to-closet" vision for the clothes we wear - by a leader in the movement for local textile economies

There is a major disconnect between what we wear and our knowledge of its impact on land, air, water, labour and human health. Even those who value access to safe, local, nutritious food have largely overlooked the production of fiber, dyes, and the chemistry that forms the backbone of modern textile production. While humans are 100 percent reliant on their second skin, it's common to think little about the biological and human cultural context from which our clothing derives.

Almost a decade ago, weaver and natural dyer Rebecca Burges developed a project focused on wearing clothes made from fiber grown, woven, and sewn within her bioregion of North Central California. As she began to network with ranchers, farmers, and artisans, she discovered that even in her home community there was ample raw material being grown to support a new regional textile economy with deep roots in climate change prevention and soil restoration. A vision for the future came into focus, combining right livelihoods and textile system based on economic justice and soil carbon enhancing practices. Burgess saw that we could create viable supply chains of clothing that could become the new standard in w world looking to solve the climate crisis.

In Fibershed readers will learn how natural plant dyes and fibers from wool, cotton, hemp and flax can be grown and processed as part of a scalable, restorative agricultural system.

About the Author - Rebecca Burgess is the executive director of Fibershed, chair of the board for Carbon Cycle Institute, and the author of Harvesting Color. She is a vocational weaver and natural dyer.

About the Book - Published by Chelsea Green Publishing, 2019