User:Danel216/Fast fashion

The issues about fast fashion

The fashion industry is one of the largest industries in the world making its impact larger and irreversible over the years. Fast fashion is a business that has massively grown over the years by continuing to produce inexpensive pieces of clothing that are sold to retailers in order to follow the latest fashion trends. Since the fashion trends change every season, fashion brands need to overstock all of their stores so customers can keep their satisfaction while continuing to shop for a while until the season arrives. Customers continue to purchase trendy clothes that contribute to the expansion of the industry. The annual consumption of clothing has now reached about 80 billion new pieces which have caused many impacts on people and the planet. (Healthy Human, 2020).

The environmental issues and impacts of fast fashion

When clothes are no longer being used nor they are sold, all of those clothes go to waste which contributes to the pollution of the planet. A long and complex supply chain is available in textiles and fashion industries, starting with agriculture and petrochemical production, through production, logistics and retail sector. Every stage of production has an impact on the environment because of the use of water, materials, chemicals, and energy. Many of the chemicals used in the textile industry are hazardous to the environment, factory workers, and consumers. The majority of environmental impacts occur in countries that manufacture textiles and garments, but textile waste is found all over the world. The system's material throughput has increased as a result of fast fashion. When compared to before the year 2000, fashion brands are now producing nearly twice as much clothing. Today, fashion brands produce almost twice the amount of clothing before 2000. Current practices in the field of fashion consumption lead to large amounts of textiles, most of which are incinerated, depleted or exported to developing countries. Also, the apparel and footwear sector contributes 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. It is also responsible for the release of 4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per year.

Advertisements for the industry of fast fashion

Fast-mode companies have to communicate with their target market in order to make sales. Social media platforms such as Youtube allow fashion enthusiasts to promote fast fashion brands to their audience. This influence creates overconsumption since many products that are not environmentally friendly go to waste. Further, marketing campaigns promote fashion trends that subconsciously train people to get a new wardrobe every season with new and trendy clothes that will be out of style the following year. Also, research conducted by the Fashion Retail Academy reveals that 54% of people believe influencers have at least partly caused a rise in this type of fast fashion clothing consumption and addiction.

The Product Privacy Prohibition Act safeguards fashion designers' ideas by prohibiting quick fashion chains from copying them for at least six months after they are officially released, such as runway appearances.

Activist try to emphasize the importance fast fashion.

'''Slow and conscious fashion'''

A single cotton t-shirt from a fast fashion company needs 3000 litres of water to manufacture. Furthermore, chemical exposure is in high demand in the fast fashion industry. Lowering chemical exposure is a choice in the slow fashion industry. Cotton farmers and factory workers who are exposed to pesticides, synthetic dyes, and other toxic chemicals for an extended period may develop infections, headaches, vomiting, and even death. Wearers of quick fashion items can be affected as well. Small companies that promote slow fashion, such as Annibody, are good for the environment because they prevent these issues by using non-toxic dyes and antibacterial fabrics. In addition, textile dyeing is the second-largest polluter of water globally. Slow fashion brands such as Boody, which recycle and reuse all dye water, contribute less to pollution.

Cited work:

1. Niinimäki, K., Peters, G., Dahlbo, H., Perry, P., Rissanen, T., & Gwilt, A. (2020). The environmental price of fast fashion. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 1(4), 189-200.

2. Štefko, R., & Steffek, V. (2018). Key issues in slow fashion: Current challenges and future perspectives. Sustainability, 10(7), 2270.

3. Aspers, P., & Godart, F. (2013). Sociology of Fashion: Order and Change. Annual Review of Sociology, 39, 171-192. Retrieved April 1, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/43049631

4. Brooks, A., Fletcher, K., Francis, R., Rigby, E., & Roberts, T. (2017). Fashion, Sustainability, and the Anthropocene. Utopian Studies, 28(3), 482-504. doi:10.5325/utopianstudies.28.3.0482

5. McQuarrie, E., Miller, J., & Phillips, B. (2013). The Megaphone Effect: Taste and Audience in Fashion Blogging. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(1), 136-158. doi:10.1086/669042