Fast Fashion, Slow Death

Fast fashion can be described as the mass production of inexpensive clothing in order to quickly fulfill the latest fashion trends. Fast fashion is responsible for the exploitation of garment workers and the deteriorating health of our planet. Although there are a plethora of solutions to this predicament, without the help of a willful society little to nothing can be accomplished. 

WHAT: The rise of fast fashion derives from the demand for trendy clothes, often marketed through the expanding and instantaneous world of social media. In the past, brands would release one collection per season annually. This equates to two collections per year due to the fact that Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter are the two seasons in the fashion industry. However, brands now release 52 micro-collections every year. This enormous escalation in production defines fast fashion. Moreover, identifying some unethical brands is harder than others. Some of the obvious ones include Shein, Zaful, Forever21, H&M, Asos, Zara, and Uniqlo.  On the other hand, brands such as Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and Free People may be more difficult to automatically identify as unsustainable. However, all of these companies have been associated with disregarding ethical, environmental, and human rights issues. 

HUMAN EXPLOITATION: The fashion industry is the most labor intensive industry in the world. Companies blatantly take advantage of people living in low income countries. China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and India are the four largest apparel exporting nations. Women and children make up the majority of the garment labor industry, 80% of which being women of color. These people are forced to work 14-16 hours a day for seven days a week. After all of this, only 2% of garment workers make a living wage. This means that the other 98% are not making nearly enough to afford a normal standard of living. Not to mention the occurrences where companies refuse to pay their workers, leaving them to fend for themselves. In addition to not being compensated sufficiently for their hard work, garment workers are often forced to work in poor and even often dangerous conditions. In 2013, garment workers in Bangladesh complained to their supervisors regarding the conditions of the building they had been working in. The assertions were immediately dismissed and nothing was inspected. Shortly after, the Dhaka garment factory collapsed killing 1,100 innocent garment workers and injuring thousands more. The complete disregard for the health and human safety of these people caused a catastrophic event that still does not receive the notoriety that it deserves.

ENVIRONMENTAL DEVASTATION: Fast fashion is responsible for the deterioration of the world’s health. To begin with, the fashion industry is the second largest polluter, after the oil industry. This industry negatively affects every aspect of our global ecosystem, from the oceans, to the atmosphere, and even our land. With fast fashion comes mass production resulting in mass consumption, once people believe their clothing is no longer “trendy” they are quick to discard their garments. Sixty percent (60%) of all clothing made is landfilled or incinerated within 1 year of its purchase. Most landfills are located in impoverished countries due to the fact that their land is cheap and their people are vulnerable to major corporations. Companies take advantage of the financial needs of low income nations by offering compensation for the dumping of discarded clothing in their landfills. This results in an overwhelming amount of trash which builds up overtime and pollutes the local environments. When this waste eventually decomposes it produces harmful gases which contribute to global warming. The emission of these gases and others produced by the fashion industry make up 10% of all carbon emissions in the world. Moreover, the fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of the world’s water supply. This water is used to manufacture textiles and dye fabrics. Dying and washing synthetic fabric pollutes our oceans with chemical effluent and millions of microplastics. All of these actions have effects, and all of these effects have detrimental consequences that are contributing to the degradation of our Earth. 

SOLUTION: By now, I hope that this information has made you somewhat uncomfortable with your current purchasing habits and has opened you up to accept change. After all, we need change and we need it now.  The first step is to educate ourselves on the situation. Reading informative articles is always helpful, but I find documentaries to be truly captivating and educational all at once. I recommend watching “The True Cost” on Netflix, “Luxury: Behind the Mirror of High-end Fashion” on Youtube, “The Next Black” on Youtube, and “Riverblue” on Amazon Prime Video. All of these documentaries highlight the “behind the scenes” aspect of the fashion industry that consumers never truly see, but should. The second step is to alter your buying behaviors. It should ultimately be a goal to support and purchase from fast fashion brands less frequently, if at all. Instead, support sustainable companies whose mission is to make a difference within the industry. Apps such as Good On You and Eco-Age can be downloaded on your phone and assist you on your next shopping trip! These applications evaluate and score brands on how ethical they are. Once you know this information, the decision is yours whether or not you would like to support their business. Thrifting is another great sustainable method of shopping. Some people argue that shopping at thrift stores takes away from people in need, and it should not be promoted to everyone. However, more than half of the articles of clothing that are donated to thrift stores do not even make it to the showroom. These second-hand stores have an abundance of clothes that ultimately end up in landfills. In short, read an article, watch a documentary, or download an app to guide you through the fashion industry.

In order to initiate change every aspect of the fashion industry needs to be altered, from production to purchasing. As consumers, we need to modify the way in which we purchase. We need to normalize NOT keeping up with “trends” which fuel fast fashion. In the end, these trends come with costs that not enough people are aware of and willing to change. For the health of our environment and the safety of our garment workers across the world, kill fast fashion or face a slow death.

-Lj