Making "Fast Fashion" a Past Fashion

With the increasingly dire threat of global warming, many have made changes in their lifestyle in order to reduce their carbon footprint. However, one aspect of their lifestyle is often overlooked despite being one of the top five contributing factors to pollution: their clothes. This may seem counterintuitive at first; after all, how can something as simple as a t-shirt cause that much pollution? Yet the fact remains that the fashion industry is responsible for as much as 10% of carbon emissions and 20% of wastewater worldwide. To understand this, it is important to understand the manufacturing process of clothing, and how this process has rapidly evolved over the past few years. 

The process and the environmental impacts: 

Most clothing is either made of cotton or polyester, both of which are damaging to the environment. Growing cotton requires an enormous amount of water (around 20,000 liters per kg), and contributes to soil erosion and deforestation. Additionally, cotton uses up 16% of the world’s pesticides despite only taking up 3% of agricultural land, which further contributes to water pollution. Polyester, unlike cotton, is a manufactured synthetic fiber made of plastic that is usually derived from petroleum. While polyester does not require as much water to produce, it causes much more air pollution, on average releasing 5.5 kg of CO2 per t-shirt. Polyester also sheds microplastics, further damaging the environment. Moreover, dyes used in the process of manufacturing clothing are often toxic, and any excess is dumped in nearby water sources, polluting them. After the dyeing process, even more chemicals are used on the cloth to give it the desired texture and appearance, further increasing the environmental footprint. Finally, due to the short lifespan of trends, 92 million tons of clothes are thrown away each year, taking up 7% of global landfill space. 

The origins of fast fashion:

While the process of creating clothing itself is environmentally harmful, this is magnified by the appearance of fast fashion, the overproduction of clothing in order to keep up with rapidly changing trends. In the beginning, fashion trends were largely controlled by luxury brands, and the general public looked to fashion shows to figure out what was trending. These pieces of clothing would take a long time to appear on the market, consequently taking longer to die down. Previous trends were also focused more on a general style rather than specific pieces of clothing. With the influx of social media, the rate at which ideas are exchanged became faster, leading to what is now called microtrends. Microtrends are influenced by specific pieces of clothing that are seen on influencers, which results in an overconsumption of a specific piece rather than a shift in style of clothing; consequently, these trends have a short lifespan of a few months rather than a few years, leading to cheap quality clothing being made and disposed of at a rapid pace. 

The psychology behind fast fashion:

There are several psychological reasons why many are so susceptible to buying trendy clothes. According to Carolyn Mair in her book The Psychology of Fashion, when consumers buy a trending piece of clothing for the first time, they feel happiness and excitement; however, over time, this excitement fades, leading them to buy more and more to hope to regain these feelings.  Moreover, humans are social creatures, meaning that they get a sense of safety when following a group. Following a group is also known to increase the intensity of a feeling, further increasing a trend’s prevalence. Many are also willing to follow trends due to indecisiveness, as they are more willing to take less time and effort to follow what others do rather than make a decision of their own. Finally, the fashion industry uses marketing techniques, one example being their use of nostalgia to reuse old fashion trends. Nostalgia is a powerful tool, especially in troubling times, making the public view the past through rose-tinted glasses. Fast fashion brands fuel this loop and increase production drastically in order to keep up with demand while also decreasing quality because of the short lifespan of these trends.

Human rights impacts:

Not only is fast fashion detrimental to the environment, it also contributes to many human rights violations, as companies exploit workers in countries with poor labor laws, paying them low wages and forcing them to work long hours in unsafe conditions. Clothing companies also use children to operate their factories, depriving them of their education and trapping them in a cycle of poverty. These methods of exploitation are what allow fast fashion companies such as Shein to draw in consumers with their low prices. 

How can you help?

It is important to remember that fast fashion is primarily driven by us, the consumers; therefore, it is also up to us to solve the problem of fast fashion. Although we cannot directly confront large corporations responsible for waste and human rights violations, we can make changes to our lifestyle that reduce demand for cheap, disposable clothing and prompt clothing companies to create more sustainable fashion. Firstly, you can reduce the amount of clothing we purchase by choosing high-quality clothing that lasts longer. Additionally, instead of throwing out clothes when you get tired of them, you can organize clothing swaps with your friends or donate them. You can also support companies that use more sustainable methods to produce clothing, such as ones that use organic cotton or renewable energy. Finally, spreading awareness about the harms of fast fashion is also important, as the more people know about it, the easier it is to start a trend of sustainable fashion rather than fast fashion.

Works Cited

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