Fast Fashion in the Pandemic
Abigail Warwick '21 Opinion Editor
Fast fashion, an ever-growing environmental and global labor issue, has only worsened since the development of the pandemic this past year. Fast fashion is the process of designs making their way from elite, expensive companies to becoming widely available trends for the average consumer. The practice of producing these clothing pieces is often quite harmful to both production employees and the environment. Generally, fast fashion is known as inexpensive garments made at a rapid pace.
Companies infamous for utilizing this strategy include Zara, H&M and Forever 21, among hundreds of others. Many of these brands use toxic chemicals and substantial amounts of resources to produce their clothing—it takes 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt, which is the amount of water the average person drinks in 2.5 years, as reported by the World Resources Institute. |
Not only that, but factory employees for these companies in other countries are overworked, underpaid and experience negative effects on their health from exposure to harmful chemicals. At the beginning of quarantine, millions of orders were canceled, which caused millions of jobs to be lost, according to GQ. Now, underpaid workers are not receiving any wages at all. In cities like Bangladesh, where a majority of clothes are made, the poverty levels are extremely high. Factory employees went from making half a livable wage to making no wage, causing poverty to skyrocket.
Has this caused big-name brands to rethink their production strategies? Probably not. Most likely, these companies will recycle old designs from the beginning of the year in order to sell and get rid of clothes that went to waste in the spring, as per Grist. Otherwise, it would all be thrown away. This is not much |
better than the normal process, though, because new clothes continue to be made, meaning more materials continue to be wasted. In order for the fashion industry to change its ways, it would take complete production reform, and potentially even legislation.
Shopping sustainably is incredibly hard to do at a reasonable price as of right now. The less expensive brands everyone knows and loves contribute to the fast fashion problem. “I think a lot of big brands are focused on getting their product out to the masses in the most cost-effective way. Sustainable fashion would be lower quantity and with higher costs that not all consumers are willing to pay,” says Chisom Obioha, a senior who plans to study sustainability and business next year. “One solution for concerned consumers could be second-hand purchases and thrifting or donating clothes that are no longer worn rather than throwing them out,” she continues.
There’s not a lot the average consumer can do about this global issue, but paying attention to which brands claim to produce sustainably, and even second-hand buying could make a huge difference if it became the new norm.
Shopping sustainably is incredibly hard to do at a reasonable price as of right now. The less expensive brands everyone knows and loves contribute to the fast fashion problem. “I think a lot of big brands are focused on getting their product out to the masses in the most cost-effective way. Sustainable fashion would be lower quantity and with higher costs that not all consumers are willing to pay,” says Chisom Obioha, a senior who plans to study sustainability and business next year. “One solution for concerned consumers could be second-hand purchases and thrifting or donating clothes that are no longer worn rather than throwing them out,” she continues.
There’s not a lot the average consumer can do about this global issue, but paying attention to which brands claim to produce sustainably, and even second-hand buying could make a huge difference if it became the new norm.