Fast fashion: What it is & what you can do about it
If you’re like us, chances are you’ve been stuck down a doom-scrolling rabbit hole of “fashion hauls” more than a few times in recent memory. The content is fun, light and usually filled with great answers to some of our most burning questions, like, “What will I wear to that wedding next month?”
It’s never long before you find yourself browsing an influencer’s Amazon storefront or sifting through Shein’s 40 pages of dresses. You might end up feeling like you’ve just wasted a lot of screen time, but have you considered the bigger problem that this is usually “fast fashion?” It’s a major contributor to our environmental problems.
What is fast fashion, exactly? Here’s a quick primer from Good On You: “Fast fashion can be defined as cheap, trendy clothing that samples ideas from the catwalk or celebrity culture and turns them into garments in high street stores at breakneck speed to meet consumer demand. The idea is to get the newest styles on the market as fast as possible, so shoppers can snap them up while they are still at the height of their popularity and then, sadly, discard them after a few wears.”
Coverage of fast fashion is limited at best, and it’s not hard to understand why. Besides competing with many other drivers of climate change, it’s also big business – and we mean BIG. The aforementioned Shein, one of the most notorious fast fashion perpetrators, is eyeing an IPO after experiencing a serious boom in sales over the last couple of years.
“With sales of at least $16 billion in 2021, up from $10 billion in 2020, and a valuation of about $100 billion, the company has catapulted into the same league as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and TikTok parent ByteDance Ltd,” Bloomberg wrote recently.
“But Shein’s business model is also the source of a potentially toxic image problem that’s sparked allegations of environmental damage, worker exploitation, and copyright theft.”
As problematic as fast fashion is, everything is expensive these days, so how much harm could be caused by a cute outfit you’ll wear once or twice?
Two of the biggest reasons that fast fashion is so problematic is the amount of unsustainable materials used, as well seriously inhumane labor conditions. Go more in depth on the issue itself here and here, and then see it on devastating display with these piles of clothes that lined a beach in Ghana.
We’re about solutions here, so let’s pivot from the doom and gloom and talk about what you can do. Unlike many of the other issues that plague our planet, fast fashion is something that we, as consumers, can tackle in real ways. And given how intertwined fast fashion is with influencer culture, social media has a big role to play.
The first thing you can do is be more thoughtful with your own shopping decisions. Buy less, buy better - and thrift. It’s tough to resist a deal, but think about the long-term consequences, and about how having to constantly buy new clothes really adds up over time ($$$).
There are so many tips for shopping more sustainably - and who better to trust than Vogue? Check out their tips.
Defining your style is also helpful in being intentional with your purchases. Allison Bornstein is a creator and stylist who does a great job of explaining how to determine your style.
When it comes to shopping, there are more and more great ways to buy and sell used clothes, from TheRealReal to Poshmark. There are also some incredible young people getting innovative to tackle the problem, like Meghan Russell who started a popular “influencer thrift store” that is reselling clothes from PR packages that clog up our favorite creators’ closets.
Shopping, thrifting, donating and repurposing your clothes are all wonderful options - but what’s also critical is creating demand for more sustainable fashion choices. So although social media has played a massive, undeniable role in the rise of fast fashion, it’s an excellent tool for creating change.
Think back to the days when organic food was only something you would find in specialty food stores. Consumers wanted more of it, and now it’s more readily available in most places we buy our groceries. Creating demand takes years of work, but social media puts the power in our hands. Here’s what you can do:
Follow and engage with creators who are publishing sustainable fashion content. Start with some of the people on this list and let your algorithm get to work.
Check in with organizations, like Good On You, that act as a watchdog for fashion brands, particularly those that might be greenwashing.
Share your own finds on your social channels, and tag the brands doing it right. Your friends and followers will thank you for fashion tips that they can feel good about it.
Don’t forget that creating demand for sustainable fashion isn’t just for ourselves, but for everyone. Besides protecting the planet, people from all income levels should have access to better-made clothes, which are usually pricey and less available.
Like anything else impacting our climate, fast fashion isn’t something that will go away anytime soon. But the more we can do to support the alternatives, the better. So start spreading the message, and scroll right on past the next Amazon haul on your feed.