Time to slow down on fast fashion
Rose Chaplin reminds us that the true cost of fast fashion is much higher than the online price tag.
With social media dominating our way of life (especially for young people), online fast fashion has emerged as an essential way of shopping for many; the cheapness and accessibility of the fast fashion industry exacerbated by the use of Instagram influencers psychologically creates a subconscious need for consumerism in society.
Fast fashion is defined as ‘inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest fashion trends’. Thoughts of Love Island-style influencing, desperate Black Friday shopping scrums and the bombardment of subscription emails from Pretty Little Thing, Missguided and Topshop informing us of the latest sales and the perpetual adding of new items spring to mind with haunting reality. Behind the superficiality of the temporary nature of fast fashion is the desperate fact that the fashion industry is now the second most polluting industry on the planet. The industry’s emissions are predicted to rise by over 60% over the next 12 years and it will take those 12 years to recycle what the fast fashion industry creates in 48 hours. Over 20,000 litres of water are required to produce just a simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans, displaying just how energy-reliant the process is. In the UK alone, 2 million tonnes of clothing and textiles are thrown away each year and only 16% is reused.
The catastrophic impacts on society and the environment are hidden carefully by the big fashion brands mysteriously concealing the supply chain information on their products and instead many are using techniques to promote their products as ‘sustainable’ when in fact they are displaying what environmentalists term ‘green washing’. The false advertisement uses phrases like ‘eco-aware’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ and a recent example is H&M’s denim collection ‘Conscious’ that despite the label actually only uses 35% recycled materials. Not only that, in 2013 they promised to pay their 850,000 garment workers a living wage - but five years on this still hadn't materialised and the project to address wages remains a work in progress.
With the global pandemic absorbing our current society, studies have shown that children and forced labour has increased due to the high demand for fast fashion during lockdown. Looking back to the devastation of the 2013 Rana Plaza garment factory collapse, there was a death toll of 1,134 and 2,500 injured due to a lack of infrastructure and safety for the workers; across the world more needs to be done to establish social equality and decent working conditions for the workforce of this industry: only an estimated 2% of fashion workers around the globe are paid on a living wage.
What can be done to help this major societal challenge? Over-consumption is at the heart of the crisis with the western world consuming 400 times - 400 TIMES! - more than we did 20 years ago. At a large scale, the fashion industry and businesses need to become more transparent in their supply chains to where the garments are coming from so buyers are fully aware of what they are purchasing. Furthermore there needs to be more efficient use of water, energy and resources in the processes whilst also reducing the use of toxic chemicals and dyes that are so violently polluting to the environment. Lastly in the fast fashion industry, there needs to be more respectful and secure work environments as well as better treatment of garment workers.
From an individual perspective, our society needs to be more aware of the impacts fashion is having and need to change consumer habits; buying less, buying better quality garments to last longer, buying second hand (apps like ebay and depop, charity and vintage shops), reusing and re-purposing garments, trying to avoiding fast fashion where possible and educating ourselves and others on what is happening behind the exterior glamour of fast fashion.
By Rose Chaplin
With social media dominating our way of life (especially for young people), online fast fashion has emerged as an essential way of shopping for many; the cheapness and accessibility of the fast fashion industry exacerbated by the use of Instagram influencers psychologically creates a subconscious need for consumerism in society.
Fast fashion is defined as ‘inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest fashion trends’. Thoughts of Love Island-style influencing, desperate Black Friday shopping scrums and the bombardment of subscription emails from Pretty Little Thing, Missguided and Topshop informing us of the latest sales and the perpetual adding of new items spring to mind with haunting reality. Behind the superficiality of the temporary nature of fast fashion is the desperate fact that the fashion industry is now the second most polluting industry on the planet. The industry’s emissions are predicted to rise by over 60% over the next 12 years and it will take those 12 years to recycle what the fast fashion industry creates in 48 hours. Over 20,000 litres of water are required to produce just a simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans, displaying just how energy-reliant the process is. In the UK alone, 2 million tonnes of clothing and textiles are thrown away each year and only 16% is reused.
The catastrophic impacts on society and the environment are hidden carefully by the big fashion brands mysteriously concealing the supply chain information on their products and instead many are using techniques to promote their products as ‘sustainable’ when in fact they are displaying what environmentalists term ‘green washing’. The false advertisement uses phrases like ‘eco-aware’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ and a recent example is H&M’s denim collection ‘Conscious’ that despite the label actually only uses 35% recycled materials. Not only that, in 2013 they promised to pay their 850,000 garment workers a living wage - but five years on this still hadn't materialised and the project to address wages remains a work in progress.
With the global pandemic absorbing our current society, studies have shown that children and forced labour has increased due to the high demand for fast fashion during lockdown. Looking back to the devastation of the 2013 Rana Plaza garment factory collapse, there was a death toll of 1,134 and 2,500 injured due to a lack of infrastructure and safety for the workers; across the world more needs to be done to establish social equality and decent working conditions for the workforce of this industry: only an estimated 2% of fashion workers around the globe are paid on a living wage.
What can be done to help this major societal challenge? Over-consumption is at the heart of the crisis with the western world consuming 400 times - 400 TIMES! - more than we did 20 years ago. At a large scale, the fashion industry and businesses need to become more transparent in their supply chains to where the garments are coming from so buyers are fully aware of what they are purchasing. Furthermore there needs to be more efficient use of water, energy and resources in the processes whilst also reducing the use of toxic chemicals and dyes that are so violently polluting to the environment. Lastly in the fast fashion industry, there needs to be more respectful and secure work environments as well as better treatment of garment workers.
From an individual perspective, our society needs to be more aware of the impacts fashion is having and need to change consumer habits; buying less, buying better quality garments to last longer, buying second hand (apps like ebay and depop, charity and vintage shops), reusing and re-purposing garments, trying to avoiding fast fashion where possible and educating ourselves and others on what is happening behind the exterior glamour of fast fashion.
By Rose Chaplin