Recently, French comedian Marie Benoliel, while wearing a Chanel inspired suit, crashed a runway in Paris Fashion Week. A video has gone viral on social media showing Benoliel walking and then being stopped by American model Gigi Hadid. In an interview conducted by Brutamerica, the comedian Marie Benoliel, humorously explains her side of the story when she was stopped by the supermodel. She explained she was questioned by guards and fashion designers. After lots of arguing she was escorted out of the premises. When asked why she did it, her response was: “Because the fashion world takes itself more seriously than any other on the Earth! …Everyone walks around looking sad because it seems cool.” She also added that “People take themselves way too seriously. There’s absolutely no sense of humor, this is the least fun industry on the entire planet.” This trend of fashion designers has been mocked in tv shows and movies, such as The Devil Wears Prada and The Shopaholic.
What Marie Benoliel does not acknowledge in greater lengths is that the fashion industry does not only think they are “high and mighty”, but that the industry produces serious problems.
The fashion industry is one of the biggest industries in the world right now, dominating most of the commercials you see on TV and billboards you pass by. According to Vogue Business, the total cost of all the expenses the industry invests for Met Galas, Fashion Weeks and Runways can cost up to“…$125,000-$312,000, plus the cost of producing runway samples.” With big investments and events, the industry also holds the biggest problems.
According to The Economist, the high demand for cheaper clothes increases every year as well as the cost of disregarding them, this is better known as Fast Fashion. In Europe alone, 300,000 tons of clothes are discarded every year and most of them end up in landfills. Around the world, this is a growing pollution problem. Once clothes are burned in landfills, they release certain toxins like carbon dioxide and methane into the air that can contribute to global warming.
Another serious problem that the Fashion Industry has is its low work ethic. It is recorded that most garment workers, young females, in developing countries do not earn their deserved minimum wage. According to a study conducted by Fair Labour Association in 2018, they found that for a garment worker to earn their minimum wage they would need an 80% raise on their paycheck. Other issues concerning the industry garment factories is that the work conditions in many factories are hazardous with blocked fire entrances and no access to clean water. In concerns of cheap or free labor, many children in poverty are forced to work in poor conditions, inhibiting them from receiving an education.
Most of these problems are overlooked by customers around the world, or in this case, clothing isles. Most people would not think twice about where their favorite sweater from H&M came from or whose hand it was sewn by.
To raise awareness, fashion bloggers and influencers around the Internet suggest customers should alternate from fast fashion to sustainable fashion. Clothes that can be reused, thrifted and have more organic or vegan ingredients when making them. It’s a step some people inside the fashion industry are taking to become more integral with climate change. Influencers also recommend and promote the importance of knowing what goes in to your make up products and if they are cruelty-free.
With all of this in mind, maybe this industry isn’t as beautiful as it seems to be, and the high standards it holds do not compensate for the damage it has caused in the environment and for its employees. Rather than focusing on how “serious” people act within the Fashion Industry, we should focus on the serious issues surrounding the industry and re-think what we buy in the sales section. Consider this an unwanted hole from that H&M sweater you really like, but it’s getting bigger and bigger.