What Is Fast Fashion
Over the last 100 years the fashion industry has seen dramatic changes. We shifted away from the slower pace of changing trends into a rapidly evolving fashion landscape. With new styles emerging every month and people spending a lot more money on fashion than ever before. Which is a huge boon for the fashion industry. But, perhaps, not for the planet.
Fast fashion is the term used to describe the constant output of cheaper clothing. Spurred on by shopping malls and highstreet retailers. And boosted by the ever expanding wealth of online clothing stores. Fast fashion prays on peoples fashion insecurities. The idea that you constantly need to be updating your wardrobe with the latest looks.
Social media and our growing celebrity culture that popped up in the 1900’s has definitely helped fast fashion to flourish. If you look back to the 1800’s you will see that fashion used to be more deliberate. People would only change their wardrobes as the seasons changed. And buying clothes was more of an occasion as opposed to a regular occurrence.
On paper it might not sound like fast fashion is a bad thing. It means we have a greater variety of fashion items to choose from. And items are less likely to sell out. It also keeps prices down making fashion more accessible. But the truth is quite to the contrary.
The Impact Of Fast Fashion
The BBC recently did a study on the environmental impact of fast fashion. And their results were worrying to say the least. They concluded that the fast fashion industry was responsible for nearly 10% of the global carbon emissions and roughly 20% of waste water. That is a staggering feat! Especially when you consider that airplanes only constitute 2.5% of global carbon emissions.
And there is no sign of the fast fashion industry slowing down. If anything, it is likely to increase as social media is showing no signs of decreasing in popularity. The link between fast fashion and social media is also a point of contention. As we said above, the fast fashion industry works because people are afraid of being unfashionable. And these clothing companies will use influencers and social media content creators to their advantage. Sending them the latest fashion items to convince their followers to buy.
But this has been proven to have a serious impact on the mental health of social media users. They will become anxious or feel inferior if they can’t afford to keep up with trends. And the pressure young people are under to stay socially relevant is extremely damaging.
The fast fashion industry is also one of the most exploitative on the planet. One of the main ways that these companies can afford to keep their clothes so cheap is by paying their workers very little. The conditions in which these people have to work are often dangerous and unsanitary. Sweatshops are sadly still in full force around the world. And the fast fashion industry is one of the main perpetrators for using them.
Are There Benefits?
The fast fashion industry isn’t without some merit. It would be negligent to ignore the positives. The primary one is accessibility. Fast fashion has created a new wave of cheaper clothing retailers like Primark or H and M. Retailers like this have been extremely useful for lower income families who would have previously struggled to afford clothing for their family.
Fast fashion has also propped up a lot of other industries as well. There are hundreds of laundry services in every major US city that have seen their business slowly increase as the fast fashion industry booms. And a lot of these low price clothing retailers are providing jobs for younger people and those who have been out of work for a long time.
But these positives are often completely outweighed by the negatives. Ideally we need to get the fashion industry to a place where we can still keep all of these benefits but without the massive environmental impact or the exploitation of workers.
How Do We Change The Industry?
One of the first things that needs to happen is more restrictions should be placed on fashion companies in regards to their pollution allowance. There needs to be serious financial consequences for these companies. To the point that the cost of producing massive quantities of clothing would be too high for them to make any profits. Encouraging them to focus instead on producing quality products.
We also need to change the social landscape. To make people realize that they don’t need to be buying new clothes every week. Or even every month. Supply and demand is the cornerstone of any industry. So, if we want to really slow down the fast fashion industry we first need to lower the demand.