So you’re thinking about reducing your fast fashion consumption? The first step is understanding what
fast fashion is.
In the past, fashion companies came out with between two and four collections a year. There would be a spring/summer collection and a fall/winter collection or maybe one collection for each of the four seasons. However, around the 1980s, the model shifted, and companies started releasing new collections every month, or even every week. This was the birth of fast fashion.
In addition to clothes coming out more quickly, they also became cheaper. This changed the way people shop. Whereas before someone would buy one sweater for $40, now consumers would rather by four sweaters for $10 each. “New” and “more” became more desirable than “quality” and “long-lasting”
Essentially, clothes had become disposable.
This systemic switch led to some serious consequences. Once one store was offering $5 t-shirts, every other store was pressured to lower their prices to stay competitive. Companies wanted to increase their profits while complying with this lower price model so they started to cut corners. This means outsourcing labor to countries with loosey-goosey labor laws. Workers were being paid next to nothing to work long hours in dangerous facilities.
Not only were people suffering, our planet was too. More resources than ever before were being used to produce vast quantities of clothing required to keep up with stores ever-changing collections. For example, producing one new pair of jeans uses 20,000 liters of water. In addition, since people were only wearing their clothes a couple of times before getting rid of them, more than 28 billion pounds of textiles end up in global landfills each year.
Fast fashion has some pretty ugly skeletons in the closet! So what’s the solution?
Well lucky for you, you’re in the right place! Following this blog is a great way to get started because I will be bringing you all sorts of tips on how you can become part of the solution. Stay tuned to learn about how you can quit fast fashion and help work towards a future where fast fashion is a thing of the past!
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