What is Fast Fashion?

Fast fashion has taken over the fashion industry within the past decade. The saying “fast fashion” refers to mass and rapid production of inexpensive clothing, especially in low-income countries. This offers consumers trendy and cheap options for clothing, but the product is often lacking in quality and durability. This leads to people throwing out their clothing at quicker rates and creating massive amounts of waste. Another consequence comes from poor treatment of workers producing the clothing. Many companies have been criticized for abusing the inadequate labor laws of developing countries. For years fast fashion has shown us its existence poses various environmental and ethical concerns, making it apparent that a shift towards more substantiable practices is essential.

Concerns

  • Environmental Impact

    The result of making low quality garments is a buildup of waste from consumers having to throw away clothing at a faster rate. This textile waste ends up in landfills and contributes to pollution. Another environmental concern is that fast fashion requires the use of non-renewable resources to make synthetic materials such as nylon and polyester. Production also results in the emissions of greenhouse gases that are continually harming the ozone.

  • Exploitation of workers

    Fast fashion often utilizes the low cost of production in overseas markets. This means that companies can pay workers less to make their products and sell at a higher markup to consumers. Some brands even utilize child labor to produce their products. With a lack of laws that protect workers, fast fashion companies are taking advantage of these workers with little regard for their safety.

  • Health Hazards

    Many fast fashion garments use harmful chemicals that have a series of dangerous effects. Firstly, the chemicals may cause serious skin irritation and, in extreme cases, lead to developing cancers. Chemicals such as dyes, bleaches, and finishing agents also are at risk of being released into water supplies.

Recent Developments

With public awareness and the internet's domineering presence, many have become aware of the threats fast fashion practices pose. Several brands have made pledges to sustainability and promotion of shopping locally/supporting small businesses has influenced masses.

There has been an intensive rise of sustainable brands and company owners wanting to find a solution. H and M, Zara, and Forever 21, have made sustainability pledges and commitments to reduce their environmental impact, increase transparency, and promote fair labor practices. What’s most apparent is that consumers are thinking twice about their purchasing choices and have become aware of the negative impacts of fast fashion. Many look to boycotting certain brands that are known to have a lack of ethics in the matter.

Policies

A significant law that clothing companies must abide by is that of labeling the clothing that they sell. This requires clothing manufacturers to disclose certain information, such as the fiber content of the garment and the country of origin.

Other laws that attempt to address the issue have yet to be accepted by certain countries. The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) states that clothing manufacturers must take responsibility for the disposal of their products at the end of their life cycle. Current environmental regulations are regarding the use of certain chemicals in textiles and regulations on wastewater discharge.