Fast Fashion has gone to far

Fast fashion’s main priority is to constantly mass produce inexpensive clothing with cheap labour and cheap materials which leads to a low-quality product. Creating clothes in this way leads to environmental damage and major infringement on workers' rights. There isn't much anyone can do about it.

The industrial machine that fast fashion has become is too large to be slowed down by any boycotts or policy change as its global. 

Elaine Ritch, Reader in Fashion Sustainability and Marketing at Glasgow Caledonian University said: “
I don't think that fast fashion can ever be sustainable because the very premise of it is not built on sustainability. It's all about doing things cheaply, selling items cheaply and encouraging people to buy more than they need and not keeping it for particularly long.” 

Shein ships to over 160 countries and your everyday fast fashion shops that litter high streets are on every continent. 

No matter where in the world you are, you can have a 10-pound pair of jeans sent to you by one of these companies relatively quickly. If you ignore the immense damage it causes to the environment. 

The industry gained the name fast fashion due to its ability to quickly and inexpensively create clothes that follow current designer trends to keep up with consumer demand. 

It's easy to spot fast fashion brands as they normally all follow the same business model. 

They don't follow regular seasons like most designer brands do logically as you wear different clothes when the weather changes. Instead, they follow tiny micro-seasons to be able to keep up with consumer demand for trendy items. 

They'll offer their clothes extremely cheap, even suspiciously cheap in some cases where it's obvious to see that it would be impossible to produce an item of clothing for as cheap as a Tesco meal deal. 

In the current age of internet subcultures and fleeting micro trends fast fashion is extremely profitable. Items of clothing go in and out the cultural zeitgeist faster than ever and fast fashion companies are the only place that can produce clothing quick enough to keep up. 

It may feel like a necessary evil however the ends hardly justify the means and there are other alternatives that just aren't as popular. 

Ritch Said: “Think about cost per wear and maximising your money from that perspective. 

“You might buy something and not want to wear it more than five times then want to buy something new.  

“I think we are in a mindset where if we buy something we own it but, what about different ways of getting access to something for 1 to 5 to maybe even ten wears. 

“Renting if it became more popular and more accessible and had the right clothing that people wanted to wear might be a way in which to access something more sustainable.”   

Renting is a smart alternative to giving in to easy consumerism, but it isn't the only option. 

There are many brands that are committed to remaining sustainable in the face of fast fashion for example Cow People at the Barras Market sell genuine leather boots that are made to last a lifetime. 

Ritch said: “There are places like Joey D in Edinburgh he makes new clothing from other things. 

“I was in London recently and saw Christopher Raeburn who is another example of someone who makes clothes out of materials that already exist like old parachutes or reworked military wear. He’s quite mindful of the materials he uses. 

“Second Cashmere is based in Glasgow. 

“What they are doing is interesting they saved tonnes of wool that ended up in a landfill, and they rework it into something new. 

“They also do workshops teaching people how to repair their clothes. 

“So, it's possible Christopher Raeburn is not cheap Joey D is also not exactly cheap. 

“But if you want something that is quirky and unique and has a nice story to it that people might ask you, where did you get that from those kinds of brands I think have become more important.” 

These brands aren't as cheap as fast fashion however, this is due to them staying committed to remaining sustainable and only using existing fabric which is significantly more expensive than the way fast fashion practically prints clothes. 

Companies can produce cheaper and quicker plus they already have large brand names that people feel safe shopping with due to return policies. 

Local businesses almost never have the manpower to follow trends as quickly as they rise and fall online. Whereas major fast fashion companies have teams of people working to find out what the best shape of jeans they need to push next year. 

Factors like these can stop small brands from getting off the ground and stop local boutiques from being able to get a foothold in their community. People are more likely to commute to go shopping in a big city rather than stop on a small high street for clothes. 

For these brands the most important thing they can do to stay afloat is to build a strong customer base. 

Ritch said: “It's about building a community around the brand which helps sustain the brand because people then become brand advocates. 

“Then word of mouth from that positive experience can help engage others.” 

There are also other smart ways to combat fast fashion that don't involve spending lots of money on quirky clothes for example The Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow partnered with the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice to create Worthwhile Wardrobe. 

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/a66739_3f8b13f3c97d436081a61ee8b8c89098/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Interview with Ramony Kerray Manager of the City Centre Prince and princess of wales hospice shops

Worthwhile Wardrobe gets donated high-quality clothing that you can buy for 20-30% of the original price and if you return it, you get 15% off your next Worthwhile Wardrobe purchase. 

However circular business models like this can't keep up with the output of fast fashion as they rely primarily on donations along with costumers donating or returning with the clothes they purchased to remain fully stocked. 

Ramony Kerray, manager of the city centre Hospice shops said: We are what's known as a hungry shop we sell a lot, but we don't get many donations over the door so without the warehouse we would struggle.” 

Fast fashion has the capability to buy big social media campaigns with your favourite influencers and celebrities to wear their clothes that have been handpicked by large teams as the trendiest clothes. 

Ritch Said: “It comes to you from social media or via emails whereas for Worthwhile Wardrobe you must go into that space but there is no reason why we can't adapt those behaviours.  

Going into a space means having a social encounter which can enhance the experience.” 

This is damning as Worthwhile Wardrobe and other circular business models renew the lifecycle of clothes that would have gone to waste. Whereas fast fashion is slowly polluting the earth with immense use of water and waste for clothes that aren't durable or built to last, eventually ending up in a dump. 

The textile industry produces 5-10% of greenhouse gas emissions due to the long process of producing, packaging, shipping these textiles from countries where the cost of work is cheap like in Southeast Asia and Africa to countries in Europe or America. 

Fast fashion consumes these finite materials like they are free and do it purely for-profit margins on large spreadsheets. 

Ritch Said: “That whole cycle is built for profitability for the retailer or the brand owner and there's nothing built into the system that makes it sustainable at all.” 

The best thing to do is to do your research before you buy, support local businesses and give back to the community rather than a faceless company. 

But most importantly look to your own spending habits and change them to look less at trends that will come and go. Look more for durable clothing that won't need replaced and when you think it's time to throw out clothes take them to a tailor and see if it can be salvaged, saved or donated to a local charity.