Fast fashion is a term coined to describe the relationship between a particular style, colour or brand of women’s fashion which is popular, in favour, and dominates retail sales at the time and then will fade and disappear quickly in favour of a new set of aesthetic criteria. What is trending might be the result of what celebrities are wearing out and about and the desire of women in general to follow and what they should be seen in. Or there is the influence of publicity. There are frequent fashion shows in London, Milan or Paris where the main fashion design houses will display their latest take on what to wear this season. There is pressure everywhere for women to wear what is ‘in’, and not, what is ‘out’. As a by note here, this is also true of men’s fashion but for some reason the fast fashion applied to male garments is considered to be less harmful; maybe it is just more slow in its effect and outcomes?
It might be surprising to know that the production of textiles and clothes accounts for 10% of the world’s carbon emissions. Globally this multi-million dollar industry is responsible for significant nature loss, from cotton, leather and polymer production to the way that paper packaging of clothes has on the world’s forestry. It has also been estimated that 35% of microplastics that end up in the oceans can be identified as coming from textiles and that impacts on nature such as this will only increase without industry tackling the problem now, rather than later.
What is happening today to counteract the adverse effects of this self-propelling, fast turnaround system of fashion and its system of operation? Well, quite a lot and most of it is down to the economics and affordability of clothing these days and also the awareness that has been gathering about what the fabrication and disposal of clothes is doing to the health of our planet.
For a start the affordability of new trending clothes is having an effect on the willingness of women to purchase them new. Many women, particularly young women with precious disposable income, are turning to buying their clothes second hand in charity shops, at car boot sales or online. The online companies, Depop, Vinted and eBay are starting to increase their offer in the sale of on-line clothing. This is encouraging because it means clothes are in effect being recycled, thereby reducing waste.
Another angle to reduce excess consumption of new clothes, is for women to monitor what they have already in their wardrobes and what they wear each day. Tracking what they wear each day is helping women to realise that they perhaps they have enough clothes to wear. They are finding that some of their garments are hardly ever seeing the light of day, while others are worn more frequently. Also, by reimagining and varying combinations of existing clothes a woman could create a different style almost every day. These approaches will reduce consumption and hence waste.
One online company called Whering, which specialises in monitoring and recycling women’s clothes by using an app, has acquired a dramatic rise in its customer base year on year. They claim that they are revolutionising fashion, one wardrobe at a time, and making recycling very easy to do. Maybe a quote from one of their customers would sum up this approach better: “I am a slow fashion advocate who switched to second hand sustainable shopping to minimize my impact on the environment. Since using Whering, I have definitely reignited my love for the items that have been long neglected in my wardrobe and figuring out new ways to wear them”.
A new paper outlining new measures the fashion industry can take to improve the environment in all stages of its supply chain has been recently unveiled by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership (CISL). The document sets out a two year program of how the fashion, textile and apparel sectors can identify, improve and solve at each stage of their supply chains any adverse effects they might be having on the natural environment. In this very detailed document (which can be readily accessed online as a published pdf) it uses a hypothetical case study of an imaginary company ‘Ace Apparel’ and follows all the possible pathways to produce a garment from the source of its raw materials (cotton, leather and polyester) to final product and studies the processes at each stage and identifies any effects they may have on the environment.
‘Fossil fashion’ as it is labelled is at the heart of fast fashion’s environmental adverse impacts. It relies on cheap materials which have an excess of synthetic carbon based polymers in them and an ever increasing crisis in countries where affluent nations are dumping their waste clothes. One only has to look at what is happening in Ghana to be appalled at what is going on in terms of the mountains of waste clothing. Ghana imports about 15 million items of secondhand clothing for disposal every week. Most of these garments end up in informal dumps which rot and cause local pollution of the land and beaches.
Blaming consumerism for over-consumption of clothes is simplistic. It is a complex societal psychology. Consumerism of fast fashion in particular is a symbol for the individual that they are successful and equal to others; they can become the person they want to be. Shopping is seen as a way of providing for themselves and their families and by extension might be thought of as a means to express care and love.
Minimalism and recycling is a growing movement, but it is not enough in itself to solve these problems. The individual is in effect powerless to correct the adverse effects of fast fashion on the environment and it must be down to governments to effect change.
The EU is trying to do this. It recently agreed to ban the destruction of unsold clothing, accessories and footwear as part of an eco-drive. It also wants to introduce QR codes on clothes, giving each a digital passport which can inform the purchaser of the materials employed in the garment and its history of manufacture. These measures and many more will be necessary to reverse and correct the affect fast fashion is having on our planet.
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