Fast Fashion

What is fast fashion (according to Rowland Hall students)?

“Any sort of fashion that usually has prices that are attained by exploiting and taking advantage of workers in less developed countries. It hurts the environment because more pollution is produced by factories.” - Ruchi Agarwal 10th grade

“Fast fashion is where trends go in and out of style very quickly. It is very bad for the environment because there is a lot of waste because as trends go in and out of style, people throw things away.” - Evan Jahn 10th grade

What fast-fashion actually is:

The fashion industry, a seemingly meaningless enterprise, is one of the most lucrative industries, bringing in almost 2.4 trillion dollars annually. This large profit stems from the creation of fast fashion. The term “fast fashion” has slowly become more popular and integrated itself into conversations. However, many people use this term without understanding what it is or how it came to be. Fast fashion is a strategy created by retail companies to rapidly produce large amounts of clothes. It has boosted the sense of consumerism within the fashion industry and led to new trends being introduced weekly. While new clothes and new ideas sound like great ideas, fast fashion has detrimental effects on the environment.

The concept of fashion has adapted as consumerism has increased. Before 1960, fashion was considered more of a luxury and was normally more appreciated by the upper class due to the high prices and low accessibility. However, with fast fashion, prices have significantly dropped as mass production has taken over, leading to more accessibility. In the mid-nineteenth century, when fashion first became a booming industry, there were only four launches per year which were referred to as “seasons.” However, this has changed. As sophomore Ruchi Agarwal says, “every time I shop online or in person, there are always new releases.” This is because fast fashion has been adopted by many companies, and they have created about 52 seasons, meaning that new lines are being released every week. This change has increased companies’ profit, as they make more money on mass production rather than quality goods, and simultaneously lowered retail prices and created the allure of fast fashion.

While fast fashion has many negative effects, it has also revolutionized the fashion industry by making it accessible and more popular. By mass-producing clothes, companies are able to create products that are much cheaper than they historically were, which has made the fashion industry much more popular. The United States spends approximately 340 million dollars per year on clothing and creates over 50 million tons. This increase in both profit and production stems from the fashion industry’s ability to adapt and create new trends. Because companies now release new clothing weekly, they are able to shift trends very quickly, making consumers purchase clothes more frequently in order to stay “trendy.” Additionally, because of lower prices, the intended consumer pool has drastically increased, now including both middle- and lower-class people. This strategy is continuing to enhance the need for faster production as the amount of clothing produced is supposed to double by 2050. However, as production increases, the effects on the environment will only become more dramatic.

Fast fashion leads to many devastating effects on the environment. With trends changing rapidly, consumers throw their clothing away frequently. Last year, the average person threw away over 70 pounds of clothing, and in the United States 11 million tons were thrown away. Additionally, because fast fashion leads to weekly clothing releases, many companies cannot safely keep up with production, which leads to them using harmful chemicals in their clothing. With accelerated production, the companies do not have time to get sustainable products, so they turn to easily accessible but harmful chemicals. These toxic chemicals are then released into the environment through the discarded clothing. Furthermore, the factories themselves release these chemicals into the towns around them, causing many fatalities and other medical conditions to occur. This waste cannot decompose because, in addition to toxic chemicals, manufacturers also use plastic fibers in their clothing. While this is a cheap and quick way to make clothing, it makes it so the clothing will last for thousands of years. With the increase of fast fashion, environmental effects are becoming irreversible.

So, how can we shop environmentally friendly but also have the same positive effects of fast fashion? Well, many companies are beginning to release clothing that can be rented. This not only allows many people to get new clothing frequently and for low prices, but it also prevents people from throwing away clothes. The next way is thrift shopping. A sophomore, Maile Fukushima, says, “I try to shop at thrift stores or donate my clothes to limit the environmental effect I have.” The saying “one man’s trash is another’s man’s treasure” is especially true within clothing. Thrift shops are a great place to buy clothing for cheap prices. However, they are also a great place to give clothing rather than discarding it where it can’t decompose. Both of these options allow people to have the same positive effects of fast fashion but do so while being environmentally friendly.