Cotton

This book explores the importance of cotton as a major resource for US fashion businesses. It is rooted in an investigative research project that deployed undergraduate and graduate students and faculty researchers to US fashion businesses that rely on cotton to understand how the resource is sourced, priced, transported, manipulated and sold. 

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.

Acknowledgements
Joseph H. Hancock, II, Nioka N. Wyatt & Tasha L. Lewis

Cotton Incorporated
Nioka N. Wyatt

The Historical Thread of Cotton
Virginia Theerman

Appalatch: Democratically Disrupting Domestic Production through Innovation
Sarah Portway

Made in the USA: Spotlight on Fashions Unlimited
Shahida Hasan

Study NY’s Domestic Organic Cotton Farm-to-Fashion Supply Chain
Helen Trejo

Raleigh Denim: Curating Each Detail to Create the Perfect Jeans
Stephen Guarino & Joseph H. Hancock, II

How the Oranges Allowed Lilly to Blossom from Juices to Dresses
Shahida Hasan & Nioka N. Wyatt

Eileen Fisher: Timeless Visionary
Autumn S. Newell

Trend Forecasting
Nioka N. Wyatt