When it comes to fast fashion, people do not really think about the environment. They see clothes in fashion, something cute, and buy it without a second thought. Those same people have most likely never even heard the words ‘fast-fashion’ before. While it is understandable why people never notice it, it is still something that needs attention brought to it.
Fast fashion is a term used to describe cheap and poor-quality clothing that is rapidly produced and is cycled in and out of the market quickly to meet the latest trends. But why is it bad? Globally, an estimated 92 million tonnes of textile waste is produced every year, and that number is expected to soar up to 134 million tonnes a year by 2030. Due to the high demand, so much fabric, labor, and utilities are wasted just to live up to trends and expectations.
Senior Jose Manzo says, “It’s sad how fashion brands don’t care about the environment as much as they should. Like, is your heart made of the bad fabric you use?” Fast fashion seems to be most popular in expensive lifestyle magazines, such as “Vogue,” “Marie Claire,” “Who What Wear,” “ELLE,” and others. This makes their clothing suggestions much more expensive and harder to obtain for a regular person. These items can range from $60 to even $3,000 for something as small as a bracelet.
Fast-Fashion sites and brands are also widely overlooked on the internet, such as SHEIN. Not to mention the terrible treatment of their workers, SHEIN is the biggest example of a ‘fast-fashion website.’ They sell poorly made clothing for a cheap price, advertise it as something it is not, and cheat people out of their money.
SHEIN is not the only place to do this, as one that has gotten big recently is Temu. There is also Zara, H&M, Forever 21, Gap, and more. Since it is not something people directly look out for, it is usually overlooked or just generally ignored.
Fast-fashion occurs most around season changes, due to the fact that people want to get clothes that are in “season,” even if they do not ever wear them, see themselves wearing it next year, or anytime in the near future. Freshman Tapiwa Chaweresa says, “I personally think most of my clothes can be worn all year long, but that might just be because Seattle weather is almost the same all year.” While yes, your clothes depend on the weather, most of the time there will be a chance to dig out an old sweater when it is chilly out in the middle of May.
Fashion houses such as Chanel, Dior, Jil Sander, Gucci and Prada, for example, usually present their new ‘spring/summer’ and ‘fall/winter’ collections during major fashion weeks. They appear on the official calendar of New York Fashion Week, London Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week or organize independent events (almost) simultaneously. Here, they show their new designs for the first time, gauging the interest of buyers and press and create enthusiasm for their collections for next season.
These items are specifically created to be worn for a specific amount of time, before it goes “out of style” and now it is “embarrassing” to wear in public. Fast fashion is widely considered to be low-quality apparel produced rapidly to follow current trends in the industry and sold at rock-bottom prices. Although the monetary cost is low, textile workers and the environment are paying a high price. Fast fashion is cheap because workers are not paid adequately. Junior Gabrielle Maker says, “Yeah, no, I really just don’t see the point in ‘fast-fashion.’ It’s useless and harmful.”
It is not all doom and gloom, though. Solutions to fast fashion do exist, such as staying away from strip malls and internet trends, because that is what causes people to discard their clothes after a week. It is okay to buy decent quality and expensive clothing, but make it last – do not buy something you only want to wear once. It is important that you know the clothes will last a while, because buying something that only has a one time use defeats the purpose.
A lot of this can be looped back to prom season and prom dresses, because a lot of girls buy dresses that they only wear once. They buy a big, poofy, glittery dress, wear it once for one night, and then it hides away in their closet until they leave for college. While having a pretty dress to show off to everyone is nice and flattering, it is one of the biggest examples of fast-fashion and how much people do not realize how big of a problem it is.
A lot of these things keep going and stay around because since it is not a problem that affects someone’s everyday life, no one feels the need to speak out and mention how bad it is for their future and the world’s future. Sophomore Isaac Jun says, “Just ‘cause it’s gone unnoticed doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
Fast-fashion is here to make its return for the summer, and it does not plan on going anywhere, because no one has any plans to stop it.
