The True Price
Fast Fashion: The Environmental and Social Harm of "More for Less"
Greta McEvoy
What is fast fashion?
"Fast fashion is the business model of replicating recent catwalk trends and high-fashion designs, mass-producing them at a low cost, and bringing them to retail stores quickly, while demand is at its highest."
Why is it a problem?
Although we may not acknowledge it, there is an injustice we carry on our backs every day: clothes. Fashion, as we know it, applies to the way we dress and present ourselves. In this age of rapid production and consumption, however, fashion has become more than its definition. It has become a business model for clothing companies to use new trends as a means of contributing to the culture of corrupt labor practices and careless waste disposal. I myself am a contributor to fast fashion. I have found myself ordering clothes at extremely low prices simply because it is convenient and cheap. Hearing the term “fast fashion”, however, prompted me to dive deeper into the consequences of buying “more for less.” I feel a responsibility to hold myself accountable for taking part in the fast fashion industry, and my research has inspired me to relay this message to others.
To recognize the fast fashion industry as a social justice issue, it is necessary to understand the connection between its environmental and social harm. The fashion industry is the second greatest industrial polluter, and is “responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions, largely due to the increase in production and consumption.” Clothing has a direct link to our climate and its well-being. It is important to acknowledge the fashion industry’s effect on the environment, as harm to the environment is the same as harm to its people, making fast fashion a social justice issue. Not only is fast fashion a social issue in its relation to the physical world, but this is also true in the industry’s violation of labor rights. Many of the factory workers who produce this cheap clothing work in toxic environments for extremely low pay. Some even work for what would be the U.S.’s equivalent of $38 per month – a clear violation of human dignity. The social harm of fast fashion is often overlooked in comparison to the environmental harm of the clothing industry, making it a social justice issue.
Why We Need to Slow Fast Fashion
Reconsider our Ideologies
Fast fashion is a direct violation of human and environmental rights, and it is necessary for us consumers to weigh the worth of lives over clothing. In order for real change to occur, however, we must re-examine how we view shopping. When purchasing a new item of clothing, we must think about the lives of fast fashion workers. We also must consider the detrimental effects on our environment, and how eventually, we too will be affected by fast fashion.
