Shorter trends may seem fun, but they wreck havoc on the ecosystem that supplies them AND the lives of those who buy them. Find out how, here.
We live in times of social media and digital connect. Trends are now micro, global, fast changing & easily adopted. The short lived satisfaction & newness we feel on buying a cheap but trendy new apparel is doing much more harm than we realize. This is the fallout of Fast Fashion.
Typically, the fabric production process works in 4 stages - Spinning, Weaving, Processing & printing, and Garmenting. On average, each stage takes nearly 25-30 days to forward it's output to the next level. This means it takes a little over 120 days from design to garment. Fast fashion cuts this organic timeline to 60 days, with rushed contracts to exploited labor, cheap processing & by degrading the environtment around them.
It is important to understand the cost we, as consumers, pay to buy from the fast fashion cycle, not only in terms of money, but in terms of all the things it abuses in its way. A documentary by the name "The True Cost" was released in 2015 capturing a brief look of the exploitation. Have a look at the documentary here - The True Cost movie. Here is an overview of the situation right now -
The True Cost to Labor
The fast fashion cycle cuts cost at every point to offer cheap clothes. Fast-fashion giants search across the world for the country desperate enough to work in poor conditions, at painfully low wages, because for someone close to poverty something is better than nothing.
After offering high quantity to small workshops, they trap the owners into progressively larger order agreements at lower rates with each new order.
Over time, these uneducated craftsmen find themselves unable to exit the cycle, while their employers force them to work in unsafe and unregulated workshops, often forcing them to make their children work as well for a small increase in wage.
Safety & freedom is sacrificed for a few cheap garments.
The True Cost to Resources
Fast fashion creates a huge amount of waste as people discard items much quicker. Cutting cost for their vendors encourages thousands of workshops to resort to unregulated dumping or other ways to squeeze margins to win more orders. Needless to point out that it causes health issues in nearby colonies and destroys the environment, contributing grately to global warming as well.
"In China, it’s estimated that 26 millions tonnes of industry and consumer textile waste is generated every year. In my home in Hong Kong, we dump 270 tonnes of clothing per day, which, at an estimation, represents around 11,000 garments entering per hour" said Christina Dean in an interview about the changes she has been noting as the fast fashion acceptance spreads like wildfire.
Waste mountains spread across hundreds of acres in India, may increase rapidly, as giants gain popularity with the unaware masses.
By turning it into a race for personal profits, fast fashion giants pollute the lives of everyone and they have no right to!
The True Cost to You (The user's life)
Our lives are drastically changing with the introduction of global cultures. We are always on the hunt for fulfillment and newness. "An Up-to-date Personality".
Shopping is supposed to be a positive activity. Every time we buy something new, it boosts sense of self, brings new colors & vibrance to our lives. We associate our personality with what we wear.
The poor quality of the fast fashion line loses it's charm, brightness, vividity & overall "feel-good factor" very soon. Subconsciously, it makes us think we NEED something new to feel good again. (These attributes are hidden and the guilt is removed with cunning marketing & advertisement)
"Meanwhile, while I grew up with Gap and H&M, I saw my mother who was always stunningly dressed, whose favorite thing to say when someone complimented her clothing was, “Oh this? I have had it for decades.” I guess it just took me a while to realize that she looked so good, because she chose quality and timelessness over cheap trends." - Maxine Bedat (Co-founder, Zady)
Maxine is working towards developing her brand, Zady, to be a conscious fashion house by creating a sustainable value chain. She also says "There has been a radical change in how we consume clothing. We consume 400% more clothing than we did even 20 years ago. At the same time we’re spending less money than ever on the most clothing we’ve ever had. This has been done by fast fashion companies cutting corners, using cheap material, constructing a cheap product, and using cheap labor."
This greed for newness grows when fed. Over time, the fast fashion industry is not only creating more waste while manufacturing, but is also encouraging its users to discard older trends to keep sales high.
It takes time to cure this addiction to cheap trends. But sustainable style that is built by, and original to YOU, is truly a class apart.
Working towards Slow(er) Fashion
No industry is perfect and a single idealistic firm's efforts may seem trivial, but we believe our stride towards slow fashion makes a difference. All our work is mechanized or done by valued craftsmen, in well-organized workshops, keeping global standards & parameters in mind. We work on the organic timeline and create products and styles that are timeless, yet contemporary, so you can truly love everything you buy for years. Some of our designs from over 10 years ago are still demanded by brands across the country!
Personalize your wardrobe after your personality, Classy, Elegant and of the Highest Quality. You would help yourself & everyone across the globe!
Your choices make a real difference.
Sources
We recommend watching the movie if you have a subscription to Prime video (License holder during Feb 2021), click here to find the documentary.
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