Look around a mall or take a second glance at an Instagram ad for cute pants that seem similar to what was on the runway at Paris Fashion Week. You are surrounded by fast fashion, and you might not even realize it.
In the 1990s, the term fast fashion was coined by The New York Times to describe the speed at which Zara produced clothes. Zara claimed to sell its clothes just 15 days after being designed.
Fast fashion has taken its name literally and skyrocketed since the 1990s in ways one could never predict.
First off, and most pertinent, is fast fashion's effect on the environment. Helping the environment has become more popular in the past few years. Fast fashion remains a sore subject in environmentalists' eyes for many reasons.
Producing any product rapidly comes with major repercussions and stressors. According to Statista, in June 2020, global retail reached 22 billion monthly visits and $26.7 trillion in sales. Not only were people bored during the pandemic clicking through websites trying to reinvent their lives, but they also wanted their packages fast. In 2020, there was not much else to look forward to.
Since Amazon has created an unbeatable promise of next-day or even same-day shipping, competitors have stepped up if they wanted a chance at surviving.
The U.N. Environmental Program said that fast fashion generates more carbon dioxide emissions than aviation and shipping combined. Mass producing clothes and transporting and packaging the product are all steps that add up negatively for planet Earth. A forest conservation group, Canopy, found that three billion trees are logged every year to produce paper packaging. Those trees would wrap around the world 1,037 times.
So, why are people falling into fast fashion so easily? With the rise of influencers and marketing through social media, trends are becoming more volatile. Viewers see a clothing item on their favorite influencer with the links readily available to the very same outfit, and it is too easy to click "add to cart." However, in another two weeks, that outfit might be shunned by the same influencer.
There are so many sales that draw buyers' attention and make them feel that now is the best time to buy. But nowadays, it seems the best time to buy is 10 different times a year. Consumers are constantly persuaded to buy more and more. We fall into the trap because why not buy the same $5 shirt in three different colors? We think more is better, but when the cheap material from that $5 top disintegrates and you throw it away, you are falling victim to fast fashion.
The idea that we can simply throw clothes away when the initial excitement of receiving a package wears off is becoming all too normalized. The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change expects that total greenhouse gas emissions from textile production will increase 60% to 1.2 billion tons annually by 2030. If you want to do your part in helping to prevent climate change, remember how much work went into producing your clothes and refrain from buying in excess.
There are many alternatives to fast fashion and methods to reduce waste. Even mainstream brands are realizing the negative impacts of clothes on the environment. Coach created a way for customers to exchange their bags to be recycled or “reimagined” called Coach (Re) Loved. Patagonia buys back preworn clothes as an alternative to throwing them away.
As for altering your everyday online shopping habits, try shopping on Depop or ThredUp for a stylized second-hand option. Instead of shopping at H&M and Shein, try looking at your local thrift to find fun pieces.
Shopping is one of the most fun ways to express yourself and spend time with your friends, but eventually the impact of fast fashion is going to catch up to us. Thankfully, we can do our part to try to undo our choices.