Fast fashion benefits are affordable prices, instant gratification for consumers, more companies’ profits, and stylish clothing democratisation. But at what cost? I will come back to that later.
Fast fashion gets a lot of pummelling from people like me who are revolted by the socio-economic and environmental impact associated with the business model, and yet no one highlights the benefits. Hold your horses, I am making a point.
Fast fashion allows mainstream consumers to purchase the hot new look or the next big fashion trend at an affordable price. Consumers find this point alone very compelling, especially during a recession. Although affordable prices are possible because of the cheaper, speedier manufacturing and shipping methods deployed to making them, driven by increased consumers’ appetite for up-to-the-minute styles, and the increased consumer purchasing power – especially among young people – to indulge these instant-gratification desires.
The Cost of Fast Fashion
Fast fashion is convenient, cheap and cheerful, simple, but it comes at a cost. Understanding and acknowledging the benefits and satisfaction consumers derive from fast fashion will help us communicate the pros and cons of fast fashion with consumers that care less about sustainability. The obvious disadvantages include pollution, waste, the promulgation of a “disposable” mentality, low wages, and unsafe workplaces. To put it into perspective, we must highlight the fashion industry’s impacts;
- The industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water per year
- It takes 3,781 litres of water to make one pair of jeans.
- Of all the wastewater in the world, 20% is from textile dying and is highly toxic—many countries where clothes are made have reduced or no regulations for wastewater disposal.
- Microplastic fibres used in clothing make their way to the ocean, amounting to about 500,000 tons—close to 50 billion plastic bottles.
- Fashion emits more than 10% of global carbon emissions.
The Cost of giving up Fast Fashion
There’s no denying that the impacts are horrendous, which I must admit seems a little distant to most, if not all consumers. There’s also no disguising the efforts and potential sacrifices consumers must make to wean themselves off fast fashion. For instance, consumers will have to;
- patiently and painfully search for sustainable fashion brands and designers online, discover sustainable fashion marketplaces and use secondhand marketplaces to trade in their closets.
- relearn to appreciate already existing clothing in their wardrobes,
- equip themselves with the tools to upcycle or repurpose their clothing items, or conveniently find outlets that offer these services.
- feel comfortable buying secondhand, renting and swapping clothing – not just ceremonial outfits but daily wear.
- feel comfortable spending a bit more for the sake of clothing workers and for great products.
- choose to buy less or not at all, even when they have a compulsive spending or shopping disorder.
The fashion supply chain will also need to make changes to transition away from the fast fashion business model to a circular economy model. That, in itself, isn’t an easy task, but a topic for another day. Let’s focus on consumers.
Grassroot Education – The Silver Bullet
Asking consumers to completely change from what is convenient, cheap and cheerful is a big ask. Even with consumers’ power in changing the narrative, sustainable fashion brands, climate change experts, circular economy experts, educators and policymakers bear the responsibility of reorientating consumers. Conscious shopping campaigns will go a long way, but adopting a targeted approach towards enabling behavioural change remains critical, and it starts from grassroots education.
School curriculum.
Schools must include sustainability or sustainable fashion in the school curriculum. A curriculum that will achieve similar outcomes to the recycling, littering, anti-bullying, etc., campaigns have over the years. An early start will help build and nurture a generation of “Gen-somethings” that will demand sustainability beyond what Gen-Z accomplished in today’s fashion industry.
The fashion industry is a complex one riddled with sustainability issues that seem overwhelming, leaving us with a feeling of helplessness. Nevertheless, brands respond to consumer demands and if enough of us demand change, the industry will have no choice but to reassess their practices within the supply chain and end of use.
In conclusion, the demand for behavioural change from consumers must be a compassionate one, with a sense of appreciation for what is being asked. The sacrifices demanded of a generation that built fast fashion are significant, but education is one powerful tool to dismantle generational miseducation.
Fillip Shop Live is not only a marketplace for trading secondhand clothing via video and live shopping, our platform hosts a collection of educational video content created by experts in the industry with a story to tell, some of which are shoppable, exposing the ills of fast fashion and teaching the next generation using a Tik-Tok format – reels of educational and shoppable short-form videos aimed at changing consumer behaviour towards fashion.