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Fast fashion is often understood as a recent business model defined by speed, low cost, and disposability. Yet many of its challenges—labor exploitation, environmental harm, and the normalization of overconsumption—have much deeper historical roots. This talk traces the emergence of “fast fashion” through the lens of nineteenth- and twentieth-century shifts in media, merchandising, and consumer culture at large, showing how notions of “progress” and “prosperity” helped obscure the human and environmental costs of mass-produced clothing

Threads: Sustaining India’s Textile Traditions features four Indian designers and their collaborations with traditional textiles artisans that produce fashion collections for a contemporary market. Through in-depth interviews and visually stunning footage, this film demonstrates how these committed, creative collaborations innovate traditional textile techniques and reinvigorate the communities who produce them.

Katherine Sender, PhD is a Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Communication.  She is also a member of Feminist, Gender, and