Immigrant Labor & the Politics of Fast Fashion - Part 1

This talk investigates the use of fast fashion -- cheap chic pedaled by behemoths such as Zara and H&M -- by a group of undocumented immigrant women who wear the clothes to labor in New York City's nail salons. In the wake of Rana Plaza, how can we move forward with a critique of fast fashion that accounts for the diversity of users and uses? Jessamyn Hatcher teaches fashion studies and the humanities in the Global Liberal Studies program at New York University. She is working on a book about the politics of fast fashion. She is the co-editor, with Cathy N. Davidson, of No More Separate Spheres!: A Next Wave American Studies Reader (Duke University Press). Learn more at http://sites.fhi.duke.edu/phdlab/!