FAST FASHION- A DEVIL IN DISGUISE!

“Fast fashion isn’t free. Someone, somewhere is paying.”

— LUCY SIEGLE

Fast fashion is a method through which apparels and fashion accessories are manufactured in high volumes at low cost. This allows retailers to introduce new products multiple times in one week ensuring that customers always have many choices. The designs of these accessories are copied from designer goods of prestigious brands and mass produced which make them easily accessible at a cheap price. This makes fast fashion stylish and cheap making it bewitching but the truth is that this ‘disposable fashion model’ is having a severe detrimental impact on our environment.

 Fast fashion is a devil in disguise because the lucrative deals that it offers to us are the foundation of evils like exploitation of labourers, usage of disease causing fabrics and significant contribution to pollution. Mass production followed by the low quality of goods and the synthetic fabric used in manufacturing these clothes lead to poisoning of soil and water bodies once they have been dumped. Eg -Harmful chemicals such as benzothiazole, which has been linked to several types of respiratory illnesses, have been used in the manufacturing of these cheap products.  

Ironically, the poor quality of clothes provides these companies more profit. The problem with this is that ever-changing fashion means more and more production of fashion accessories and a decrease in durability of clothes leading to more and more purchases throughout the year. 

According to a recent article in Forbes magazine titled “Fast Fashion is a Disaster for Women and The Environment”,80% of the 75 million people who make our clothes today are women and it takes them 18 months “to earn what a fashion brand CEO makes on their lunch break.” Most women make less than $3 a day. Many of them are even underage workers that come in direct contact to toxic chemicals like silicone waxes, petroleum scours, softeners, heavy metals, flame retardants, ammonia, and formaldehyde. They are underpaid and are forced to work long hours in factories with poor working conditions. Not only this but the ecological equilibrium is greatly affected by the waste that these factories produce. Most of these factories are situated in developing countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh where laws for protection of environment and labour are non-existent. 

As consumers, we should be aware of the choices we make and what are its implications. When we purchase better goods, we send market signals to change the system for good. We should try to recycle our clothes or donate them to the needy instead of throwing them away. We can check our apparels for certifications like Global Organic Textile Standards. This certification is a leading textile processing standard for organic fibres, and includes strict ecological and social criteria to ensure workers involved at all levels of the supply chain are paid living wages and are provided good working conditions. The clothing choices we make don’t just affect us personally. They also have global implications on the environment and the livelihoods of millions of people in developing economies. 

Stay Smart! Stay Satark!

                                        By - Achint