Fast fashion is the latest trend (actually has been the latest trend for a few years).
What is Fast Fashion? IMO Fast fashion is cheap fashionable apparel bought for one season (or less) only. It is highly popular among youngsters and parents with little children (my own survey). Youngsters (well most of them) like to shop and now with the Fast Fashion trend they can shop for new fashionable clothing weekly. But everything comes with a price. How come fast fashion is so affordable? The companies who bring Fast Fashion on the market are always on top locations, meaning high rent and still they manage to survive. So Fast Fashion is “big business”. This is a win- win situation for the shopper and the retailer, right?
But there is a downside to Fast Fashion. Are we aware of the fact that affordable fashion (read: cheap fashion) can only be affordable because everything in order to produce cheap fashion has to cost next to nothing? The farmer who grew the cotton doesn’t get a fair price for his crop. The people who make the clothing for Fast Fashion do not get fair wages or in some cases not even a safe workplace environment (http://www.globallabourrights.org/campaigns/factory-collapse-in-bangladesh). So are the people at the very beginning of the chain being treated unfair? Who makes the profit? In any case, not these people.
Not only people are affected but also our environment is affected by the Fast Fashion trend. After a few washes the clothes don’t look nice and appealing (hmm, why is that?), so we throw them out (Tip: why not use them to mop floors?) they have done their work. Did you know that producing a single t-shirt can take about 2700 litres of water*! That is a lot of water for a t-shirt we only wear a few times after which we then chuck it in the bin! Hmmm, Hundreds of millions of people do not have access to water. The minimum amount of water people need is 20 litres** per day, so 135 people per day could live on the water of one single t-shirt.
We humans are not taking care of Mother Earth by our actions. Fast Fashion is just one of many actions. A large group of humans have been created who only want to consume. This group is un-aware (a lot of them really are) of the fact what effect their consumption has. Shouldn’t we inform our youngsters about these facts? Can we teach our youngster not to buy 5 cheap t-shirts but to buy 2 quality t shirts instead which they can wear longer, or will they choose quantity over quality? Can we change the mindset of our youngsters?
If we the consumers change the way we shop aren’t the retailers forced to change their business policy? In the end it will also be beneficial for those at the beginning of the chain.
The question is, are we consumers willing to change, are we?
*http://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/the-impact-of-a-cotton-t-shirt
** http://everylittledrop.com.au/knowledge-center/how-much-water-does-a-person-need/