Worn Out: An Evening of Sustainable Fashion with Journalist Alyssa Hardy

"I don't check out men on the street. I check out women. I am always checking out women because I love stories, and women in clothes tell stories." —Women in Clothes, ed. Sheila Heti

Yes, women tell stories about their own lives via the clothing they wear (don’t we all use fashion to explore versions of ourselves?). But the clothing itself also has stories, which are important for us to know in order to make informed fashion choices. Accelerated by social media, trends whiz by at a dizzying pace, and the industry has responded with fast fashion options that are so inexpensive (and often poorly made) they might as well be disposable, as indeed they usually are. These clothes might be cheap to us, but they aren’t for the vulnerable populations who create them, much less for the environment. Our quick trends can be costly and directly negate important values we hold. What’s a fashionista to do?

Fashion journalist and author Alyssa Hardy has revealed the social and environmental impacts of “fast fashion” in Worn Out: How Our Clothes Cover Up Fashion’s Sins. For those of us who are fanatical about fashion, Hardy’s “scorching exposé” (Publishers Weekly) might be a real wake-up call—but Hardy also offers sustainable solutions that enable us to pursue our passion ethically and beautifully.

Please join Alyssa Hardy and fellow Women Lit members for an evening celebrating sustainable fashion at the Ruby SF, an arts & letters–focused work and gathering space in San Francisco’s Mission District. Alyssa will be interviewed by Saru Jayaraman of One Fair Wage, answer your questions, and sign books, which will be sold on site.

Evening’s schedule:

5:30pm Doors open for mingling with light refreshments

6:15pm Conversation with Alyssa Hardy and Saru Jayaraman

6:50pm Audience Q&A

7:00pm Book sale/signing

Admission is free for Women Lit members, but advance registration is required. Limited capacity—sign up now! Note that the Ruby SF requires proof of COVID vaccination for admission.

Alyssa Hardy is an author and fashion journalist living in New York City. She was formerly the Fashion News Editor at Teen Vogue and the Senior News Editor at InStyle. Hardy is an advocate for garment worker’s rights and has a deep passion for educating others about fashion’s environmental impact— ideas that are explored throughout her weekly newsletter “This Stuff.” Her work has also been featured in Vogue, Marie Claire, NYLON, Refinery29, Glossy, Ladygunn, Fashionista, and more.

Saru Jayaraman is an academic at UC Berkeley and the President of One Fair Wage, a national organization working to raise wages for service workers nationwide. She was named one of CNN’s “Top10 Visionary Women”, a White House Champion of Change, a James Beard Foundation Leadership Award winner, and the San Francisco Chronicle ‘Visionary of the Year’. Saru authored Behind the Kitchen Door (Cornell University Press), and Forked: A New Standard for American Dining (Oxford University Press), and has appeared on MSNBC, HBO, PBS, CBS, and CNN.

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