Short Synopsis
This book takes an everyday item and considers it in a way that listeners may not have previously thought possible. It tackles topics relevant to today, from fakes in the museums to farm-to-table eating, and answers questions about how we can anticipate and change our world in areas as far-reaching as the environment, politics, and the clash of civilizations occurring between countries.

Full Synopsis
We may not often think of our clothes as having a function beyond covering our naked bodies and keeping us a little safer from the elements. But to discount the enormous influence of clothing on anything from economic cycles to the future of water scarcity is to ignore the greater meaning of the garments we put on our backs. Disrobed vividly considers the role that clothing plays in everything from natural disasters to climate change to terrorism to geopolitics to agribusiness.

Chapter by chapter, Tang takes the listener on an unusual journey, telling stories and asking questions that most consumers have never considered about their clothing. Why do banker's wives sell off their clothes and how does that presage a recession? How is clothing linked to ethanol and starvation on the African continent? Could RFID in clothing save the lives of millions of people in earthquakes around the world?

This book takes an everyday item and considers it in a way that listeners may not have previously thought possible. It tackles topics relevant to today, from fakes in the museums to farm-to-table eating, and answers questions about how we can anticipate and change our world in areas as far-reaching as the environment, politics, and the clash of civilizations occurring between countries.

"A fresh perspective about how our individual choices can radically upend societies on the other side of the globe." ---Aki Peritz, former CIA analyst

"Syl Tang’s Disrobed is a powerful thought-starter that articulates the butterfly effect from the mundane to the crucial." ---Yann Marois, Chief Marketing Officer, Grey Goose

"Our clothes speak, consume, and even save the world in Syl Tang's fascinating and insightful research about fashion and how its much more than just threads." ---Jonathan Woetzel, director and senior partner, McKinsey Global Institute, McKinsey and Co.

"Disrobed provides a gateway for the reader to recognize the value of ethical and sustainable clothing which can also address the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and thus help our common humanity." ---Amir A. Dossal, president, Global Partnerships Forum