Nonna fashion

Besides the environmental impacts, fast fashion also has huge social repercussions. Low price tags are often a signal that something is wrong behind the scenes. Too often, the industry is associated with issues such as child labour, the exploitation of workers as well as violations of basic workers’ rights, such as the lack of safety rules, low salaries, and excessive working hours. Fast fashion brands prioritise mass production and profit over human welfare. Some go as far as describing the fast fashion industry as a ‘modern form of slavery’. A 2018 US Department of Labor report found evidence of forced and child labour in the fashion industry in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, and Vietnam.

While we are constantly coming up with new, innovative technologies to recycle textiles, we are still not doing enough. It is estimated that less than 11% of fashion brands have implemented recycling strategies for their items. The main reason why recycling is so hard is because of the materials we use to manufacture fashion items. Most are produced with synthetic fibres that are made with crude oil, which makes them almost impossible to reuse in other ways. Fortunately, data shows that the sustainable and ethical fashion market is growing rapidly, offering alternatives that produce clothing with more environmentally friendly materials, that are grown and harvested in a sustainable way, and produced with fewer resources and less toxic materials.

On top of CO2 emissions being one of the major sources of pollution deriving from the fast fashion industry, garments are also a huge source of microplastics. A large portion of clothing made today uses durable and cheap materials such as nylon or polyester. It is estimated that approximately 60% of fast fashion items are produced with plastic-based (which is made from fossil fuels) fabrics. Throughout their life cycles, these fabrics are significantly contributing to the worldwide plastic pollution crisis. With each wash and dry, especially the latter, sheds microfilaments that move through our sewage systems and end up in waterways. Researchers estimate that half a million tons of these contaminants reach the ocean each year.

A 2016 study found that brands consciously target young consumers, often students with low incomes, with females of this age group found to shop in fast fashion retailers more than any other demographic groups. Not surprisingly, cheap prices and trendy styles are the key attractions for such audiences. In fact, the authors of the study argue that young consumers are usually more willing to sacrifice premium quality for a lower price and more variety.

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The modern shopping model – which relies on rapid production and cheap deals – encourages excessive consumption as people are inherently attracted to low-priced goods. For individual buyers, it is also easier and more economic to sn**ch up cheap clothes that have short lifespans compared to splurging on high-quality, long-lasting pieces that will very shortly fall out of popularity. Yet, despite owning large quantities of fashion items, studies show that most people wear the same things over and over, while in most cases at least 50% of their wardrobe is left untouched.

That translates to nearly 14 items for every human being on the planet. Based on these jaw-dropping high figures, it should come to no surprise that global clothing production represents the third largest manufacturing industry in the world, preceded only by the automotive and technology industries.