Our closets of yesterday were filled with a moderate number of practical items. These wardrobe staples were good quality clothing, which in the event of damage, people saw the worth in repairing. Our closets of today are filled to the brim with countless cheap, trendy clothing items, which we now justify throwing away whether they are still wearable or not. Clothing is now something we wear a few times and then toss out once it is out of style. Closets are cleared out regularly for spring cleaning to make room for the constant inflow of new clothes. Where did the change in our behaviors come from?
This shift in our shopping habits and wardrobe contents is a result of the emergence of “fast fashion”. Fast fashion is defined as, “an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers,”. Fast fashion is the reason that the garment industry has become one of the most environmentally unfriendly, resource intensive, and socially exploitative industries globally. Here's why:
1. USES TOXIC CHEMICALS
The garment industry and its modern processes have never been considered good for the environment, but fast fashion has given life to a throw-away culture, which has greatly heightened the industry’s impact on our planet. The process of transforming a basic input, such as cotton, into a final product, such as t-shirt, is a chemically-intensive process. The chemicals used to bleach and mercerize the cotton are extremely damaging to the planet. The entire textile manufacturing process emits seventy-two toxic elements, of which only forty-two can be partially purified to mitigate their effects.
2. CREATES A LOT OF WASTE
On top of the chemical pollution, fast fashion also produces drastic amounts of textile waste. The amount of waste produced is staggering. The USA alone generates more then 15 million tonnes of textile waste. Whether it is the turnover from the shelves of giant clothing chains or turnover from the closets of individuals, fast fashion’s dynamic trends have created a socially acceptable excuse to trash perfectly usable clothing.
3. NO RECYCLING SOLUTION
Some people would argue that the solution to this environmental damage is textile recycling, an emerging industry which produces new fibers from textile waste. Although it is true that recycling greatly reduces the amount textile waste that ends up in landfills, it does very little to reduce the environment impacts of the textile manufacturing process, such as bleaching and dyeing. These chemical treatments are still necessary when using textile waste instead of raw cotton as the basic input. Textile recycling is not a perfect solution. The main problem is over consumption, which is perpetuated by fast fashion.
4. RESOURCE DRAIN ON OUR PLANET
The garment industry is a large strain on global resources. Take for example a single pair of jeans; to make one pair of jeans it takes four hundred mega joules of energy, fifteen hundred gallons of freshwater water, and it emits seventy-one pounds of carbon dioxide. And that's only considering the impacts of production. The most resource intense phase of a garment’s life-cycle occurs after the consumer has purchased it. The average American washes four hundred loads of laundry per year and each load using forty gallons of freshwater. Fast fashion’s continual push to increase production levels and global demand of garments has turned the industry into a dangerous drain of global resources.
5. SOCIALLY EXPLOITS CONSUMERS
The development of fast fashion has also made the garment industry socially exploitative. It has psychologically manipulated consumers through the use of “perceived obsolescence”. Perceived obsolescence is obsolescence that is based on appearance and style as opposed to functionality, and due to fast fashion’s ever-changing trends, textiles are going out of style at neck-breaking speeds. Just how fast are fashion trends changing today? According University of Georgia professor Laura McAndrews, there used to be four “seasons of clothing”, meaning new clothing was brought to store shelves four times a year, in accordance with the seasons of weather. But now there are as many as fifteen seasons of clothing every single year. Thanks to fast fashion, perceived obsolescence also dictates how consumers value themselves and others. Giant clothing chains count on the social shame that comes from wearing clothing that is out of style or perceived to be obsolete to drive consumers back into the store with every release of new collections.
From production to disposal, fast fashion has changed the way we think of clothing. It has been the cause of several changes to the garment industry. These changes have led to unpredictable and damaging effects on our society and environment. Under the influence of fast fashion, the garment industry has become one of the most environmentally unfriendly, resource intensive and socially exploitative industries globally.
Are the changes irreversible? Our closets of yesterday were filled with a modest amount wardrobe basics. Our closets of today are packed full of stylish clothes that we will soon grow tired of and toss out. What will fill our closets of tomorrow?
Fast fashion is avoidable. If you're in the market for new clothing, there's always more options than than you might think. If you're looking for new sustainable and responsible glasses or sunglasses, considering checking out our line.
If you liked this piece, checkout our other posts on how to successfully thrift, and how to live a more sustainable life.
