Fast fashion has become an essential part of our wardrobe in the last few years, attracting us with access to the newest trends in fashion at low prices and thus making us feel more comfortable in the way we look and dress. However, many of us may not consider the additional environmental consequences that this industry has. By translating the true price of fast fashion, we can get a better understanding of its nature and learn how to be up-to-date and environmentally friendly at the same time.
What is the essence of fast fashion?
Fast fashion is a sector of the fashion industry that supplies us with the latest fashions at low prices. You see a celebrity introducing a new trendy design on the catwalk and want to have it, too. Done. Fast fashion takes care of this. Guided by the idea of bringing in the latest looks as quickly as possible, the industry turns us into consumers who are never satisfied with what they have. We want more and more from those trendy and cheap clothes and throw them away after wearing them only a few times. Fast fashion may contribute to our confidence and make us feel like we belong to those trendsetters, but it also makes us less likely to wear the same clothes repeatedly if we want to be trendy. Our desire to always be up to date transforms us into one of the main causes of overproduction and overconsumption. In an October 2018 article by Sara Idacavage in Fashionista the author explains how our most preferred places for shopping evolved from the 1800s to the present.
How does fast fashion contribute to environmental problems?
Fast fashion’s advantage in terms of trendy and cheap clothes comes at a hidden cost to our environment and planet. We frequently throw away our clothes after only a few wears, and this drastically increases the quantity of waste that we cause. In addition, the whole clothing-producing process requires lots of natural resources, which generate greenhouse gas emissions. According to a-BCC-July-article by Esme Stallard, the fast fashion sector contributes around 10% of all global emissions. Using cheap chemicals in its production processes, this sector pollutes local ecosystems, which affects us as well. Additionally, the shipping of all the different items needed for clothing production from one place to another contributes to air pollution, which again affects our lives.
How does fast fashion lead to overconsumption?
The world of fast fashion and its growth over the past few years have led to overconsumption and impacted our choices when it comes to our shopping decisions and personal preferences. Fast fashion can be purchased at low prices and in great volume, leading to such clothing being treated as disposable. It is produced with low-quality materials, using large amounts of water and energy in the process. With its low prices comes the low quality of the clothes, which encourages a culture of disposability, rather than one where clothing garments are reworn and taken care of for longer periods. Nikol Peeva, the founder of the first Bulgarian clothing resale platform Unboxd, assumes: “With such increased purchasing power, consumers can easily opt to instantly satisfy their fashion needs, leading to increased levels of consumerism and an overall environmental impact on our planet.”
What are some alternatives to fast fashion and what can we do to reduce its negative impacts and stay up to date?
Some of the alternatives to fast fashion are second-hand clothing stores, online platforms for preloved fashion, and sustainable clothing brands with environmentally friendly production processes. To reduce our own negative impact, we could start buying from second-hand shops instead of always buying new ones for special occasions, upcycle our clothes, and attend pop-up bazaars where many unique vintage clothing items could be found. Second-hand clothing stores may sound unpleasant for quite a lot of us, but we can find brand-new clothes in these stores. By thinking twice before throwing our clothes away and keeping an eye on our washing, we can also reduce our water consumption. By donating, we can help people in need and make sure that the clothes will not end up in a landfill. Vilislav Slavev, the co-founder of the first Bulgarian clothing resale platform Unboxd, says: “Our mission at Unboxd is to educate the audience about the existence of the problem and help people take more conscious decisions while purchasing clothing items. We provide users with a solution that lets anyone contribute to reducing the bad impact of fast fashion by simply buying or selling preloved fashion.”
— — —
Eyma Georgieva studies Business Administrations and Journalism and Mass Communications at the American University in Bulgaria. She wants to make people think about their consumption habits and their impact.
