Aja Barber is a writer, sustainability consultant, and activist who promotes

ethical consumerism Ethical consumerism (alternatively called ethical consumption, ethical purchasing, moral purchasing, ethical sourcing, or ethical shopping and also associated with sustainable and green consumerism) is a type of consumer activism based on the conc ...

and warns against the

environmental impact of fashion The fashion industry, particularly the manufacturing and use of apparel and footwear, is a significant driver of greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, water use, and textile waste. During the 19th century, industrialization meant a move towards t ...

, especially

fast fashion Fast fashion is the business model of replicating recent catwalk trends and High fashion, high-fashion designs, mass production, mass-producing them at a low cost, and bringing them to retail quickly while demand is at its highest. The term ''fast ...

. Barber advocates for ethical and sustainable fashion and fair treatment of garment workers within the fashion industry.

Life and work

Barber was born in

Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, and a principal city of both Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Rest ...

. As a child, she recalls wanting to either be a published author or a ballerina. As a young adult, Barber pursued internships in the

fashion industry Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

, in addition to blogging and writing about fashion. Barber is a critic of

, and admits to being a "fast fashion shopper" herself when she was younger. She cites both

peer pressure Peer pressure is a direct or indirect influence on peers, i.e., members of social groups with similar interests and experiences, or social statuses. Members of a peer group are more likely to influence a person's beliefs, values, religion and beh ...

and larger societal pressure into buying lots of clothes and accessories, even to the point of purchasing items she didn't actually like or appreciate. As Barber became more aware of both the environmental impacts of fashion and the impact on the workers producing the clothing, she reduced her consumption of new clothing items and primarily focused on purchasing second-hand clothes. Barber advocates for shopping at local consignment stores and other places where the consumer can talk directly to the seller about their business practices. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Barber became aware of larger pushback against fast fashion. In 2021, she published her first book: ''Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism'', which explores "the intersections of consumerism, racism and climate change". The book links clothing consumerism to historical forces of

colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

and

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

. ''Consumed'' was called a "powerful cry to opt out of consumption culture", and praised for its coverage of the

. The book cites environmental scientist Roland Geyer who quantifies how much CO2 would be reduced if industry started to pay garment workers a living wage. After publishing ''Consumed'', Barber cites the positive reaction she got from

non-white The term "person of color" (: people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is associated with, the United States. From th ...

women, and how they "felt seen within the work". Barber plans to publish her second book, ''Bad Vibes'', through Brazen, in July 2025.

Works

*''Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism'': Balance (2021). *''Bad Vibes'':

Octopus An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...

(2025).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Aja Living people 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century American novelists American women activists American women non-fiction writers Anti-consumerists Fashion writers People from Reston, Virginia Sustainability advocates Year of birth missing (living people)

Life and work

Works

See also

References