Stop! Wait!
Don’t dump these whimsical budget buys just yet!
Let’s attempt to find out why the voguish clothes from your wardrobe are being shown the door, oh-so-quick.
- Is there considerable wear and tear?
- Have the stitches come loose?
- Has there been significant usage with respect to monetary value?
- Has the quality faltered the test of time?
- Has the trend vanished into thin air in the blink of an eye?
If you answered in the affirmative to any of the above (and with a ‘no’ to the third one) – chances are, you have been swept up unawares by the whirlwind of Fast Fashion.
Don’t be disheartened! We’re here to help you escape this vicious circle by exploring the basics:
- What is fast fashion
- How it works and affects us as consumers
- How it affects things around us
- Is fast fashion bad?
- What can we do about it?
WHAT EXACTLY IS FAST FASHION?
- A concept in fashion where trends keep emerging at a fast pace, even before the previous one has barely settled.
- Speedy production processes that introduce hundreds of new trendy garments every week.
- Revolves around marketing gimmicks like “Grab it while it’s hot” which drives frenzied shopping habits.
- Cheaply-priced products for people to buy more at a higher frequency.
In a nutshell, fast fashion is trendy, speedy, cheap, inspires FOMO, and can create an insatiable feeling.
HOW FAST FASHION WORKS AND AFFECTS US AS CONSUMERS?
Quick check – Are we into fast fashion? If you relate to the following points, you probably know the answer.
The fast fashion model is designed to manipulate the consumer’s purchasing power by promoting consumerism where “more is less”.
Overbuying: On the surface, the ‘reasonable’ price tags do not seem to break the bank. Bargain deals and marketing gimmicks add to and give us an extra push so we end up buying more frequently than required thereby costing us much more in the long run. We end up buying impulsively.
Ultra-fast change in fashion: Soon the trend is purposely discontinued and a succeeding fashion line replaces the former in a heartbeat, pushing one to have maximum “in fashion” clothes or otherwise succumbing to the fear of missing out.
Products of inferior quality: Cheap fashion is possible where backend processes are compromised to meet the demands of rapid mass production, in turn compromising the standard of the end product. Quality is sacrificed for quantity. Moreover, owing to the poor nature of raw materials used, the clothes do not endure well and fray easily within a couple of uses, fading faster than the trend itself! (Intentional?)
Mental Misery: If fast fashion were a person, most of us would end up blaming this relatively new phenomenon for our ‘constipated’ closets, piled up with ‘oh! so many clothes’ that it still leaves us with the gnawing feeling of having “nothing to wear”. With its ever-emerging trends, fast fashion keeps us dissatisfied with the urge to buy more and more.
HOW DOES IT AFFECT THE THINGS AROUND US?
Impact on the planet- Overproduction and overbuying lead to “use-and-throw” attitudes, thereby leading to pollution of soil from the non-biodegradable rot of discarded clothing in dump yards and landfills. The use of synthetic fibres and chemicals pollutes air and water in the entire manufacturing process.
Impact on humans- Lower cost of production is achieved by not only compromising raw material quality but also by exploiting garment workers who generally work in dangerous environments, for low wages, and without fundamental human rights. The collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh is a classic example.
Impact on animals- Polluted air and water affect land and marine life forms wherein toxic chemicals percolate through food chains and are ingested by living beings, harming entire ecosystems irreparably.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO REVERSE THIS DAMAGE?
Well, there has always existed an alternative and sustainable concept the principles of which were followed before fast fashion swept in and conquered the fashion universe. It is aptly named ‘slow fashion’. But, do we need to make a transition from fast fashion to slow fashion at once?
Honestly, it’s not going to be easy because these are akin to two opposite ends of a pole now. Slow Fashion is a complete lifestyle change but there are some simple actions that we can undertake as individuals, to make a teensy bit of difference. With collective effort (i.e., if the masses adopt), this tiny difference holds the definite potential to compound and snowball into a lasting movement to heal the environment. For starters, the following steps are necessary:
- Being aware of what fast fashion is and how it is affecting us, (our pockets), and the things around us, and realising that it is trying to create a never-ending spiral of new trends by inducing FOMO.
- Buying less and converting our wardrobe into a sustainable one by wearing and restyling stuff we already own in multiple ways, and taking good care so that they last longer and don’t end up in ash heaps.
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Being an informed buyer and choosing sustainable fabrics over non-biodegradable synthetic ones, and asking ourselves these questions the next time we buy something:
- Do I really need it or is this just FOMO?
- How many times will I wear it?
I guess we have the answer now that the fleeting trendsetters of fast fashion would probably end up as cast-offs in landfills (and incinerators), further adding to sky-high mountains of abandoned clothing unless we become conscious. We can take a step towards protecting the environment by saving the textile industry (especially those pertaining to sustainable indigenous handicrafts) by following the aforesaid pointers. And what is better than British designer Vivienne Westwood’s iconic advice to help us be mindful of the choices we make — “buy less, choose well, make it last”.