While being on summer vacation, some fashion writers like Carla García (@garcia.cm) and Julles Hernández (@theboldbudget) were talking about “Fast Fashion”, something I had never heard of before, nor had I noticed that we’re all a part of until reading about it. That’s why I decided to share this information with you and bring more awareness to this topic which I believe is not talked about enough.
What is Fast Fashion? En arroz y habichuelas, fast fashion is dedicated to delivering new styles fast and at affordable prices. The industry is inspired by what’s trending at the moment. Companies that are a part of this, tend to bring new styles weekly to keep us buying constantly. They offer cheap prices and get you thinking that it is a good idea to buy these pieces of clothing. With everyone buying all the time, the number of garments that are made harms the environment and that’s where the real problem lies at. The industry counts on an accelerated pace of consumerism so they continue producing at low prices and you continue buying.
Check out this informative Instagram Story by @garcia.cm
The idea of this “disposable fashion” is to make the public spend more since the prices are cheaper. These “good prices” are because of the fabrics they use which are generally very bad quality. Let’s not forget about who is supposed to be making these clothes. Women and children are behind the job working long hours, in some of the poorest regions of the world, not getting paid enough. These garments are not made to be durable; they purposely use bad quality fabrics that last less: they want you to buy more. The textiles used are made with bad chemicals like lead and synthetic fibers. The lead is linked to a higher rate of infertility, while the synthetic textiles shed fibers that take a long time to decompose. These chemicals are mixed with water and end up in the ocean where they are eaten by planktons, who are eaten by fish, and the fish ends up being eaten by humans so it affects us directly too.
This need to stay on trend is affecting the environment more than we could ever imagine. Some studies state that fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world. From burning clothes, as Burberry has accepted they do to protect the brand exclusivity, to producing it, or doing something some simple as washing our garments, affects the environment. Sadly, stores like Zara, H&M, and Forever 21 are part of the fast fashion industry.
To make a difference, there are some simple things we can do like donate pieces of clothing, buying from vintage stores, thrifting, or swapping clothes with friends. There also are slow fashion stores that sell good quality garments. For those of you who are able, buy clothes that are a little more expensive, but will last longer. If you buy a shirt for $7 but only get to wear that shirt 3 times (because it fell apart), the cost per wear is $2.33. But! If you buy a shirt for $70 and wear it 100 times, the cost per wear is $0.70. That means there’s more bang for your buck.
The Good Collective invites you to do a 90-day cleanse of not buying any garments (bad quality, or just not buying anything at all) and work with what you have in your closet. This serves as the perfect opportunity to mix and match outfits, repair your pieces of clothing or make them into something new, create your style and see what you come up with. We don’t have to stop buying entirely from these stores, but we should be conscious of what is going on, and choose wisely where and what to buy.