Fast Fashion is Everywhere

Fast fashion items are cheap and overproduced clothes made in sweatshops, which have a big influence on the environment. Such clothes interest clients because they are affordable and up-to-date with the latest trends. Yet, because they aren’t made to last and quickly go out of style, these garments are instantly forsaken, piling up in disposal areas.

Fast Fashion can be seen in your favourite shops such as H&M, Shein, Forever 21, and Zara, among others. These shops guarantee low-quality clothing whose maximum usage will be much lower than traditional garments. After this short period of time, trends and styles have already changed, which implies the customer to purchase yet another piece of clothing to stay up to date with these fashion trends. This cycle is totally unsustainable.

Fast Fashion is the second-largest polluter of clean water, after agriculture. 100 billion clothes are thrown away every year, the vast majority of which are found contaminating the ocean. Polyester is a common fabric seen in this industry, which, as is it made from fossil fuels, contributes to global warming and can break into microfibers that will increase the level of plastic in our oceans when washed.

In order to mass-produce insane amounts of garments per day, these products are not ethically made. Factories are known to expose children aged five to seventeen to unsafe conditions, for low wages and long hours, without fundamental human rights.

In order to reverse this trend, we must first recognize these Fast Fashion companies. Most of them are manufacturing offshore, where labour is the cheapest. Their fabrics are low-quality, like polyester which will break down after being used a few times. Another factor might be finding thousands of styles, which are up-to-date with all the latest fashion trends.

We must learn to adapt ourselves to this new change by thrift shopping, exchanging clothes, donating, buying new clothes only if necessary, and repairing garments instead of tossing them away. You must also purchase clothes with the phrase "quality over quantity" in mind, and building your own clothing style instead of copying whatever is trending at the moment.

If you are interested in reducing your carbon footprint and finding alternatives for fast fashion, you can follow the Instagram accounts down below that gives you advice on how to approach it:

• fastfashion.awareness_

• ssustainably_

Bibliography

Raturier, S. (2021, July 26) What Is Fast Fashion? Good on You. https://goodonyou.eco/what-is-fast-fashion/

DiLonardo, M. (2021, April 16) What Is Fast Fashion — and Why Is It a Problem? Treehugger. https://www.treehugger.com/fast-fashion-environmental-ethical-issues-4869800

El fenómeno del 'fast fashion' (2018, March 27) [Photograph]. El Cronista. https://www.cronista.com/columnistas/El-fenomeno-del-fast-fashion-20180327-0107.html

Honda, S. (2010) The High Price of Fast Fashion. New York Times. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-high-price-of-fast-fashion-11567096637