Cotton: Companies, Fashion & The Fabric of Our Lives

This book brings together contributors from a wide range of disciplines to explore the importance of cotton as a major resource for US fashion businesses. It is rooted in a lengthy investigative research project that deployed undergraduate and graduate students and faculty researchers to US fashion businesses that rely on cotton to make their garments – with the goal of better understanding how such a key resource is sourced, priced, transported, manipulated and, ultimately, sold on to the consumer as a stylish garment. The contributors focus in particular on the role of brands in the marketing of cotton goods, and the way that brand marketing creates distinctions, valuable in the marketplace, between various versions of what are at base similar items of clothing, like t-shirts and underclothes. The book also explores the importance of the 'Made in the USA' campaign, with its appeal to consumers concerned about local manufacturing employment, reduced resource use and social responsibility.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Intellect Books
• Release date: Nov 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781783206872

Book preview

Acknowledgements

Joseph H. Hancock, II

Nioka N. Wyatt

Tasha L. Lewis

Well they said it couldn’t be done… There is no way you can produce a book using just undergraduate and graduate students that would be academically sound and make a significant contribution to the fashion, clothing, textiles and business disciplines body of academic research. But with the generous help of Cotton University, funding for Cotton: Companies, Fashion and the Fabric of Our Lives was awarded in whole through a competitive grant presented to Joseph H. Hancock, II, Nioka N. Wyatt and Tasha L. Lewis by the Importer Support Program of the Cotton Board and Cotton Incorporated; and through their generosity and by being a proud supporter of our grant we were able to produce this wonderfully illustrated book. We did it!

This was a great team of scholars, students and editors who rolled-up their sleeves and got to work in order to create a top-notch publication, demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature of our disciplines and the teamwork that can be created when three major universities decide to work together in order to do high quality experiential research for academe. We had a great time with a few bumps in the road, and we have managed to create a book that demonstrates the integrity of the cotton industry, the evolution of fashion design, and recalls the importance of manufacturing high quality products that can be enjoyed by consumers for years… instead of just a few months.

We hope that you enjoy this book and that it motivates many readers to continue investigations into the world of cotton and how it became the fabric of our lives .

Joseph H. Hancock, II

This book would not have existed without the support of many individuals who helped to make it possible. First, I would like to thank Cotton University for their funding and substantial support of this project. I hope they continue their educational programming that serves many of our students around the globe. Next, I want to personally thank Intellect who produced this wonderful book, especially Jessica Mitchell, James Campbell, Bethan Ball and Emily Dann. A special thank you for all your time goes to Matthew Floyd, who was very patient with this team in the production of the book. He deserves a raise! In addition, thanks are deserved for the book’s copy-editors Nissa Lee and Emma Rhys. I would like to thank Drexel University, Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, the Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection, the Drexel University Custom-Design Major and the Department of Design for all their support. A special thank you goes to my two students Virginia Theerman from Design & Merchandising and Stevie Guarino from the Custom-Design Major for their thorough investigations and chapters in this book… I hope they are pleased with the outcome, as they should be! I would also like to personally thank Raleigh Denim and the Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection that opened their doors to allow my students to conduct their research projects and write such lovely chapters.

I would like to recognize my co-editors Nioka N. Wyatt and Tasha L. Lewis who did a fantastic job with this book and who put up with me through the entire process. They are very special to me and I consider them very good friends. Philadelphia University and Cornell University are very lucky to have two such wonderful educators and scholars. To my very special friends and colleagues, Patricia Cunningham, Joy Sperling, Patricia Giannelli, Clare Sauro, Kevin Egan, Alphonso McClendon, Anne Cecil, Beth Phillips, Nick Cassway, Kristen Ainscoe, Jill Lusen, Marie Graham, Danny and Kathy Bailey, Bill and Marianne Doyle, Gordon and Pam Comrie, Lee Halper, Reuben Wouch, Anthony Maitoza, Roberta Gruber and Allen Sabinson… I appreciate you putting up with my ramblings about fashion scholarship. Most importantly, thanks go to the three most important people in my life who live with me day-in and day-out, my life partner Edward A. Augustyn, my mother Margaret ‘Peggy’ Miller and our dog Ruby. These three really endure all the rigours of writing and publishing along with me and I love them for it!

Nioka N. Wyatt

It was a great opportunity to work with an ensemble of people who believed in the value of this book, evoked the spirit of collaboration and creative storytelling, while having fun along the way. I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to the companies that supported the book project, conducted tours and were extremely gracious with sharing information. The time you shared with the team to discuss your holistic experiences throughout the supply chain of fashion enhanced my methods of teaching and creative thinking. To the team below and the people who continue to support my dreams. Many thanks to Philip Spector, Stephanie Nawrocki, Claire Hach and Mary Murphy at Fashions Unlimited; Linda Iem, Senior Technical Designer at Lilly Pulitzer and Ashley Silbernagel, Product Development and Production Supervisor at Lilly Pulitzer; Alicia Pinckney, alumna of Philadelphia University; Mark Sunderland, Teri Loftus, Robert Skomorucha and Keri Rapp at Philadelphia University; Boqian Wang and Brooke Wimberley for editing the images – students at Philadelphia University; and the Henry Cotton Retail Establishment in Venice, Italy. And my deepest gratitude goes to the team at Cotton Incorporated for supporting faculty development and allowing us to use their platform to extend our knowledge in all things cotton.

Tasha L. Lewis

The experience of working on this project was rewarding and truly an opportunity to showcase the talents of all of those involved. The evolving nature of the domestic fashion industry, particularly manufacturing, is a story that has many facets.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Cotton Incorporated for enabling us to present a compelling profile of the current state of domestic manufacturing. I am impressed with the outcome of this collaboration and exceedingly thankful for the opportunity to work with colleagues, students and industry innovators. I would like to thank my dream-team of students – Autumn, Helen and Sarah – for their outstanding contributions and commitment to this project. I am also extremely grateful to the people and companies that shared their stories and spaces with us: Grace Gouin and Mariano DeGuzman at Appalatch; Susan Barton, Megan Meikeljohn, Shona Barton Quinn and Claire Whitecomb at Eileen Fisher; and Tara St James at STUDY NY.

Cotton Incorporated

Nioka N. Wyatt

Cotton Incorporated is a research and promotion organization representing America’s cotton producers and importers. The company’s mission is to increase the demand and profitability of cotton through a range of research and marketing activities focused on the entire supply chain, from the farm all the way to the end consumer. The company likes to say that the consumer is engaged ‘from dirt to shirt’. Cotton Incorporated has research programmes in agriculture, sustainability and textiles as well as marketing programmes targeted to mills, brands, retailers and consumers. Through all of these programmes, it supports the industry by communicating the value proposition of cotton and cotton products through an extensive range of services and product development opportunities.

At the farm level, Cotton Incorporated helps growers increase yield while decreasing inputs and lowering production costs. Through agricultural research, it promotes technology that leads to improved profitability and decreased impact on the environment. Many of the company’s efforts target improvements in fibre quality, keeping cotton both a competitive fibre and one that is responsibly produced.

Cotton Incorporated focuses the majority of its research and development on apparel, home products and nonwovens. The organization develops new and improved products to advance cotton’s position in the retail marketplace. Decisions about which products to explore are determined by