Fast Fashion

Syona Vashisth

March 2022

What is Fast Fashion?

Fast fashion is probably something you have been hearing about more often than before. It has come to light that many prominent clothing companies are using unethical ways to produce garments that a majority of people buy and wear. In totality, fast fashion is a design and marketing technique primarily focused on producing large quantities of clothing; specifically trendy ones that consumers want to own. This production centers around low-quality materials, because they are cheaper in order to make those popular styles on such short notice. Recently, there have been fast-changing fashion trends that put pressure on companies to produce huge masses, and they sell them for cheaper prices because they know the public will buy them. The results may have the people satisfied with their wardrobe, but the results of this method of clothing production have a huge impact on different communities, and our planet itself.

A Brief History of Fashion and How It Led to Fast Fashion

For a long time, in the early 20th century, fashion trends would change by seasons. The designers would work ahead to plan their designs for the future seasons. This was before fashion was available in huge quantities for the public. As the decades progressed, fashion became a more prominent role in society. People used clothes to showcase their personalities and personal styles. It became more customary for stores to always have unlimited quantities of clothing, so they needed a way to produce efficiently. According to the Sunday Style Times, “It particularly came to the fore during the vogue for ‘boho chic’ in the mid-2000s,” referring to fast fashion. If you want to go way back, fashion before the 1800s did not have the same concept as it does now. Manufacturers weren’t overproducing materials or wasting resources. People had to use what they had carefully, because there wasn’t an unlimited amount of supplies, unlike today where almost everything is mass-produced. During the Industrial Revolution, which ended in around 1840, the invention of the sewing machine came to be an advancement in the fashion industry. From then on out, making clothing was a lot easier, cheaper, and faster to make. Fast forward to the 1960s and on; this is when people started to use clothing as a way to express themselves and find their personal style. There was a huge range of clothing, and different styles were available to more and more people. This was when companies began mass-producing because there was an increasing demand for clothing in general. In the 2000s, online shopping became a contributor to the fast fashion problem we have today. More and more people became prone to buying clothes more often; new items were always coming out, and people loved to be on-trend. Without even knowing it, the majority of the population was contributing to fast fashion.

The Problems with Fast Fashion

Fabricating numerous clothes definitely has its downsides. Companies need people to work at the sewing machines and produce the clothing that so many people buy and wear. Even though they are so popular, the actual workers don’t get paid much at all. Because fast fashion refers to cheaper clothes so more people will purchase them, the brands need to keep their prices low; one way of doing this is by driving down the wages of the workers. Companies do this by locating the countries with the lowest labor standards so that the workers can be more easily exploited. Many of these workers undergo harsh conditions, and the factories where they work are not properly maintained either. In 2013, the Rana Square clothing manufacturing complex located in Bangladesh collapsed, which killed over 1000 people. This horrible event brought some awareness to the treatment of the people who made the clothes many wore.

Fast Fashion not only has an impact on people but also has one on our environment. Our planet undergoes horrible treatment such as having polluted water due to the use of cheap and toxic dyes. Polyester is one of the most popular materials used, especially in fast fashion, and is derived from fossil fuels, which ultimately leads to global warming. Other fabrics such as cotton need huge amounts of water and pesticides and are taken from developing countries. This can put stress on water basins and lead to environmental disasters such as droughts. The constant need for materials from fast fashion companies leads to land clearing, biodiversity loss, and soil quality problems which are all environmental impacts.

What are Fast Fashion Brands - What You Should Do

A majority of the stores and companies that people, especially teenagers buy from tend to be fast fashion. It’s incredibly hard to buy something completely sustainable all the time; it's unrealistic for many and also buying cheaper clothes is just what many people have to do. Buying from fast fashion brands doesn’t automatically make you a bad person. If you are someone who orders frequently from places like Shein, H&M, Forever 21, Boohoo, and more, and throws out “old” clothes frequently, you are a contributor to the growing fast fashion industry. Buying from those stores and keeping the items for longer periods of time is better because they are staying with you for longer and aren’t being thrown away.

Bibliography:

Stanton, Audrey. “What Does Fast Fashion Mean, Anyway?” The Good Trade, The Good Trade, 14 Oct. 2021, https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/what-is-fast-fashion.

“What Is Fast Fashion and Why Is It a Problem?” Ethical Consumer, 2 Nov. 2021, https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/fashion-clothing/what-fast-fashion-why-it-problem#:~:text=Fast%20fashion%20is%20%27fast%27%20in,few%20times%20before%20being%20discarded.

“What Is Fast Fashion?” Good On You, 25 Oct. 2021, https://goodonyou.eco/what-is-fast-fashion/.

“The History of Fast Fashion.” TUGI, https://www.theurbangardeninitiative.org/blog/the-history-of-fast-fashion.