why we say f*@£ fast fashion

The fashion industry is one that is constantly evolving. Aside from the seasonal drops that have characterised brands for decades, it relies on fresh ideas and creativity to keep a brand staying current. Whilst this is one of the exciting aspects that keeps many of us so invested in the industry, the desire to stay ‘on trend’ can lead to an obscene amount of waste, a topic that hasn’t really been fully acknowledged until the last decade or so.

For clarity, ‘fast fashion’ is known as designs that move quickly from manufacture to retail, often mimicking ‘high-fashion’ designs with low quality materials, and for a fraction of the cost. But the reality is that these low quality, mass produced and often one-use items, end up costing the planet. Materials are moretime dyed with toxic chemicals in factories with ridiculously high carbon emissions, with the textiles and garment industry accounting for an estimated range of 8-10% of global carbon emissions, the equivalent of 1.7 billion tonnes.

The products often lack durability, and their existence in a market that relies on constantly buying more means that the majority of these items end up in landfill. The toxicity of the chemicals that run off the dye has contributed to the fashion industry becoming one of the planet's largest polluters. According to ClothesAid’s data from 2020, 350,000 tonnes of wearable clothes from the UK ended up in landfill. A staggering value of 10,000 items of clothing are sent to landfill every 5 minutes- the equivalent of £140 million in value.

Mountains of clothes discarded in Chile's Atacama desert

And that’s not even taking into account the human cost of fast fashion. I think it’s fair to say that the consumer's eyes were opened to the real cost of a £5 skirt when the 2013 Rana Plaza manufacturing complex collapsed. This horrific tragedy placed a spotlight on the working conditions within a factory whose collapse killed 1,132 workers. People started to question why these multi-million pound companies’ core foundations relied on exploitation and cutting corners. But in the culture of sweatshop production, this is not a stand alone disaster- far from it. The first significant garment factory disaster was in 1911, when a fire broke out in New York’s Triangle Shirtwaist factory that claimed the lives of 146 garment workers, many of whom were young female immigrants who came to the USA in search of the ‘American Dream’.

Fast-fashion's prominence in the contemporary market relied on a significant cultural shift that took place towards the end of the 20th century. Coming from the advantages of the industrial revolution, machinery like sewing machines were much more easily accessible, making clothing and textiles significantly easier to produce. Instead of the craftsman-ship that took extended periods to produce materials, clothing could be produced quickly and for a fraction of the cost. With this came the cost of durability; gone are the days when you’d ‘darn’ your socks, because you could buy a pack at Primark for £1.50. Individuals who had dedicated their livelihoods to a trade were soon replaced with corporations placing profit over people. With items reduced in quality, consumers would soon turn to replacing rather than repairing.

Now, fast fashion brands and other global chains that dominate our high streets and online stores rely on a waste culture where we buy cheap, and throw away early. It’s a symptom of capitalism's commodity culture, that creates a spending incentive where we seek validation from ‘on trend items’, only to lose interest when the next popular fit comes around. It’s created a culture of overproduction and overconsumption that is toxic to the planet, our bank accounts, and our sense of well-being too. All the while channelling high profit margins to a few individuals who continue to exploit those that work within their factories.

To sum up, fast fashion is quite simply f*^$£@ up. It exploits workers who are underpaid and overworked in inhumane and unsafe working conditions. It manipulates consumers to spend their hard working cash on garments made to be replaced. It profits off of the destruction of the planet, polluting our ecosystems and suffocating our land with materials and toxic waste. It’s beyond due time we stepped out the fast land, and took on a slower and more sustainable approach to shopping instead.