ed: April 09 Even the most humble consumer product is a triumph of cooperation and coordination. Economist Milton Friedman marveled at the difficulty one MAN WOULD have making a graphite pencil, an item that businesses churn out in huge numbers with ease. The story of a garment is no different — from its origins in the fields and textile warehouses to its final destination in a retail store, hundreds of people have a hand in its production. In fact, a simple cotton t-shirt travels thousands of miles along the fashion supply chain before it ends up in a store (or in your closet). Here’s the roadmap of the fashion supply chain, from seed to store. Fashion Supply Chain Step 1: Planting and Harvesting the Raw Materials Cotton The cotton t-shirt starts its journey as a tiny cotton seed. Cotton is the most commonly used raw material for fabric in the world — 60% of women’s clothing and 75% of men’s clothing contains some cotton. First cultivated about 7,000 years ago in both Mesopotamia and MEXICO, the English name for cotton comes from the Arabic word kutun, which was used to describe any fine textile. Today, about 110 million bales of cotton are produced each year, and cotton cultivation accounts for 2.5% of the Earth’s arable land. And it doesn’t just come in white — there are natural variants of cotton that are green, red, and various shades of brown, but fear of contaminating the more popular white cotton has inspired bans on the colored varieties throughout history. Today, these naturally colored cottons are available on the specialty market. Even with such a DISTINGUISHED pedigree, cotton is a fickle crop. It needs long a long frost-free period along with moderate rain and near-constant sunshine to survive. Cotton also requires a great deal of water, so much so that countries that have been irresponsible with their irrigation practices in the past are starting to feel the consequences. Cotton is also the perfect feast for a variety of pests, so bringing in a crop can require HEAVY pesticide use. These issues have raised a number of ecological and sustainability concerns about the widespread cultivation of cotton.