I wasn’t poor, but I was made to feel poor because my parents could never help me buy a house in northern Virginia in my twenties, while so many of my peers had help from generational wealth. I wasn’t poor, but I was made to feel poor because my dad brought me to TV sets as a teenager, and I soon found myself working every summer on them as a production assistant and camera assistant, instead of sitting at the pool with my peers. My dad knew that getting us in the door was important for our future survival. It just so happened that those TV jobs enabled us to travel outside of the country, which infinitely broadened my horizons and is arguably the reason I’m sitting here typing to you from my dining-room table in London.

This is a genuinely bad book, and I don’t say that lightly, but for a non fiction title covering such broad and significant topics, this is an awful attempt.

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Barber’s debut book Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change and Consumerism was published in 2021 and was received positively by Vogue. [5] After dismantling the corrupt, destructive system that the fashion industry perpetuates, Barber empowers the reader through practical, accessible advice on how we as consumers can make a real difference. She targets the systems and shows that this problem is fundamentally caused by fast-fashion brands, not individuals. But that doesn’t mean that individuals can’t help to solve the problem. From templates for writing to CEOs and politicians, to tips on how to break consumerist habits, Barber compassionately helps us to confront our own consumerism, empowering us to break the supply chain and use our voice for change. This was my favourite part of the book, particularly the final chapter titled “I believe In You”- rather than despairing about the state of the world, I left this book with a real sense of hope and purpose. I want to end on this quote: “The future looks both bright and bleak.” Can you talk about the brightness a little bit? Do you think we can fix the fashion industry? A hugely compelling exploration of a culture of exploitation and how, together, we can end it.' - Gina Martin

We need to stop thinking that new clothing is needed to have a better life. There are countless examples in the cult-classic films that we love— Clueless, Pretty Woman, The Devil Wears Prada, Funny Face—they all have a makeover scene where suddenly the person who is not accepted and not cool enough does a bunch of shopping, and now everybody’s looking at them differently and treating them differently. But in real life that’s not how it works. Moreover the “need” to get a new outfit for every single occasion, something that is very normalized in our society, is only adding to the problems of fast fashion. Change your habits and how you hang out with your friends, and adjust your social media. There’s a lot of peer pressure that happens surrounding this topic, but one thing we can do is adjust the temptation which leads us towards buying things we may not need. Normalising rewearing clothes a lot is one of the first things we have to do, and all of us can do it.

Overall, this is essential reading for those looking to learn a little bit more about such important issues as colonialism, climate change and consumerism. We are all part of this system, and we can all play a part in changing it. So read this book, feel your anger, direct it to those with power, and get inspired to make an impact. As Barber says: “You are so powerful. Every decision you make on this planet has an effect.” One example being the Bangladesh factory fires. I think it would have benefited with more details for people that didn't know that happened or forgot about it.Like a couple more sentences just explaining the impacts. Like how the doors were chained. Or that a lot of the survivors or families didn't get any compensation from the fund raising or government. Would have helped really shine a light on how shit these manufacturing conditions can be. This powerful, speaking-truth-to-power book is an essential read for everybody who wants to stop feeling clueless and helpless about the impacts of cosumerism, and start doing their part to help create a more sustainable world’– Layla Saad Zhou, Maggie (21 September 2021). "Colonialism & Fast Fashion Are Inextricably Linked — Aja Barber Explains How". Refinery 29.

Attwood, Naomi (23 September 2021). "How Consumerism, Climate Crisis and Colonialism Are Linked". AnOther Magazine.Economist Impact: What advice would you give to girls and women trying to break cycles of production/consumption/waste so they can embrace more circular, regenerative habits? The book vividly details waste: “Only 10-20 per cent of the clothing donated to charity shops is sold. Very often clothing which doesn’t make the cut gets shipped overseas.” One destination is Kantamanto Market in Accra, Ghana, which is “probably the world’s largest second-hand market, receiving 15 million garments a week; 40 per cent of which end up in landfill.” As a charity shop volunteer herself, Barber witnessed the “non-stop flow of clothing bags,” which triggered feelings of unease and started her journey into environmentalism. We live in a world of stuff. We dispose of most of it in as little as six months after we receive it. The byproducts of our quest to consume are creating an environmental crisis. Aja Barber wants to change this--and you can, too. Capitalism requires a certain amount of exploitation to be feasible and it's done this by tapping into existing structures of colonialism. Exploiting poorer countries with high populations of colour. These corporations spend more on advertising and marketing than they do on the wages of the people that make their exorbitant amount of clothing. They target countries with lax labour laws, with poor safety and where they can save as much money as possible to inflate their profit margins. It's disgusting. Fast fashion is deeply rooted in racism. And that's not to say what happens to the environment around these production centres, it is horrific exploitation on every level. The people. The community. The environment. The resources. She has written articles for The Guardian, [11] CNN, [3] and Selfridges [12] and featured in interviews conducted by The New York Times, [13] Refinery 29 [14] and BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour. [15] She also appeared in Al Jazeera’s TV show Studio B: Unscripted alongside Asad Rehman, Executive Director of The War on Want, where they discussed the fashion industry, green washing and colonialism. [16]

This powerful, speaking-truth-to-power book is an essential read for everybody who wants to stop feeling clueless and helpless about the impacts of cosumerism, and start doing their part to help create a more sustainable world' - Layla SaadIf you enjoy shopping and care about the environment, I think this book will change how you think about shopping--both why we do it and how it impacts the world. Even if you're not a huge shopper, this book will probably make you rethink where you shop and how you rewear and reuse stuff. In July 2022 Barber was named a Contributing Editor to Elle (magazine) UK following the appointment of Kenya Hunt as Editor-In-Chief. [17]