FAST FASHION AND ITS IMPACT ON SOCIETY

Written by Kiersten Aurelia

    If you’ve been on social media lately you must've seen the surge of fashion influencers as they call themselves lately. Now imagine this, you’re mindlessly scrolling on social media and you stumble across a post on how to dress like Sophia Richie. You’re looking at it and you find yourself trying to buy the particular article of clothing. So naturally, you go online and look at shops that are more or less in your price range like H&M, Zara, or Shein because let’s be honest vintage chanel in this economy? you’ve got to be kidding. 

    However, do you know that those shops are classified as “fast fashion”? Now, what is fast fashion? Well, fast fashion is essentially a business model where companies produce cheap and trendy clothing to keep up with trends or microtrends. While fast fashion has made fashion trends more accessible to a wide range of people, it regularly raises ethical and environmental concerns. Today I'm going to delve into the deep darks of fast fashion and its impact on society. 

    If you’ve been on the internet lately then you’ve probably seen videos of the working conditions of fast fashion factory workers in Asia. These workers work in factories where conditions lay below the minimum safety requirements. Additionally, for those of you wondering why Asia? It’s because it’s way cheaper for companies to produce their garments here in comparison to countries like America or France. There’s nothing wrong with companies trying to cut down their production cost, however it is wrong for companies to exploit their workers. The exploitation of clothing factory workers in Asia has gotten so bad the European Union is using the term “Slave Labour” to describe the working conditions of these factory workers. These workers are paid below the minimum wage and are made to work 14 - 16 hours a day with no ventilation. Along with that, some countries' labor laws are so poor that companies are able to hire children. 

    Aside from the questionable ethics fast fashion companies pose on society, there’s also the concern of mass consumerism. Consumerism in fashion is impulsively and excessively consuming clothes to keep up with trends. Now, this shouldn’t be a problem right? After all if we look at the weather we should have a maximum of 4 trend cycles right? Wrong. These days trends last a minimum of weeks until a maximum of months. With trend cycles rapidly changing consumers will usually participate in rapid consumption and impulse buying. Rapid consumption usually leads to throwaway culture. With throwaway culture consumers wear it once and throw it away sometimes to make space for newer and trendier clothes. As for impulse buying, well I think it’s fair to say that most of us have fallen victim to the fear of missing out on the latest trends, I myself am guilty of it. \

    The fast fashion model that exists today is unsustainable and unethical. The need for a shift towards a more ethical and sustainable change in fashion is urgently needed. In response we as consumers should focus more on quality over quantity and consider the long term affects our clothes have. Always remember the best way to enjoy fashion is the sustainable way! 

Stay Fashionable!