Fast Fashion : The Dark Side Of Fashion

The True Cost is a documentary that was filmed with the hope of educating consumers regarding the global impact that ‘fast fashion’ has on our society. Director Andrew Morgan provides the link between our clothes and the people who make them; careful to bridge the gap between the factory workers and how our high demand for fashion can affect their life. In fact, we seldom consider consumptionism (to consume, use or spend with little regard) and globalized production (when goods are made in another country for low wages) while shopping, but we should. Projects such as this documentary, shed light on the untold stories behind what appears to be a glamorous and trillion dollar business. Unfortunately, those who are impacted the most are the workers

Sweatshops a big issue in today’s society, even though their existence can sometimes stay hidden from the public’s eye. A famous author named Berry states, “ most of us get all the things we need by buying them and most of us know only vaguely, if at all, where those things came from; and most of us know not at all what damage is involved in their production. We are almost entirely dependent on an economy of which we are almost entirely ignorant.” The majority of people in the US have no idea where the clothes they are purchasing are actually coming from. Most people would not support the exploitation of their own race of people. If they were able to see and come to realization about what is actually happening they would have a much different change of heart.

People indulge in clothes shopping every day and often do not consider the changes that occurred throughout time that led to the development of mass produced clothing for both men and women. As a result of the Civil War, the production of clothing shifted from homemade clothing to clothing mass produced in factories. After the Civil War, Urbanization along with new developments, such as advertising and the new, wealthy urban class, increased the demand for mass produced women’s clothing and clothing stores that made clothing readily available.

For the past hundred years the need for clothing increased since the number of people of keeps growing. As the years go on, producers must find new ways to produce more clothing to make more profit and keep up with demand. Before people would either have to ride all the way into town to have tailors make their clothes, or have someone at home make the clothing for them. But as the years progressed, methods have changed dramatically.

How fast fashion is affecting the environment is a very serious topic since this type of consumerism in the United States is heavy on supply and demand, and because of that shoppers want it all and want it now which is basically fast fashions motto. The way to make these pieces of clothing heavily rely on cheap materials that can be made quickly, so that is polyester and cotton being made in big factories that emit out toxins into our earth. Cotton being one of the most used fabrics takes a lot to be made into a single garment. Uzbekistan which is the 6th biggest producer of cotton had faced many conflicts during production since cotton uses so much water to be made it has dried up the 4th largest lake the Aral Sea because of how much we need to produce cotton fashion. (Prospectjournalucsd) Buying these cheap garments that become unwearable after 5 times (Forbes) of wearing it usually gets thrown out after and producing more waste that gets put into our waterways since theses garments shed easy and through washing them can “find their way into oceans and on the shores everywhere.” (Sweeny) So with the help of shoppers, being able to cut down on the purchase of fast fashion can help aid in keeping the ecosystem in order.

It is impossible to beat a cheap price. In today’s world, finding a sought after item at a dirt cheap price is one the main motivation American’s get in the car and battle the craziness in the mall. And as the basic American human beings that we are, it is never possible for us to be complacent with the amount of stuff we currently have. Eventually, we will come across a friend that has the next must have item that will cause us to run to our local mall and purchase a similar item at the lowest price possible. With all that said, it is no wonder why the industry of fast fashion has taken off over the past decade. Felipe Caro and Victor Martínez-de-Albéniz, researchers for UCLA’s school of supply chain coordination, define fast fashion as “a business model that combines four elements: (i) fashionable clothes mostly for consumers under 40; (ii) affordable prices in the mid-to-low range; (iii) quick response; and (iv) frequent assortment changes”. Retailers like H&M, Forever 21, Target, and Wal-Mart have been able to take this business model and make a fortune. But while all these quick trends and cheap prices are great for the consumer, its cost on the foreign worker and the environment does not go uncovered. In the book Overdressed by Elizabeth Cline, she presents many arguments supporting the claim that fast fashion is unethical based on

First of all, the amount of clothing in the United States that had been purchased from other countries has been increasing in great numbers. Most clothing in America was made in America until the 1970’s when clothing from outside countries started becoming more common. This happened because labor costs were much cheaper in other countries than in America, causing the products from those countries to also be much cheaper than those made in the United States and retailers were gaining better profits. The minimum wage in the United States is $7.26 per hour, while in China the average clothing factory worker earns $1.26 an hour and $0.52 in Cambodia. By 1990, of all the clothing sold in America, fifty percent were made in America- which has

Materials such as wool, silk, and cotton had been used to manufacture uniforms for the servicemen and measures were taken to ration clothing for civilians. Women were more creative by showing their sense of style without expense or waste. Contrastingly, the highly competitive fashion industry today constantly drives to encourage and entice consumers to visit stores more frequently by aggressively merchandising fashion, indicating a shorter life cycle and higher profit margins from the sale of fast selling merchandise. Consumers today are more focused and demanding, forcing fashion retailers to instantly deliver the right product at the right time. Money worries, job-related challenges, and pressures about body image are concerns that directly impact fashion choices

In this article, Barenblat outlines some of the key reasons as to why fast fashion is detrimental for women and the environment. The author supports her claim by suggesting fast fashion is expensive for the planet, encourages young women in poverty to work in sweatshops, and leads to million tons of landfill each year. This information in the article is useful because it provides relevant statistics on the damages caused by the clothing industry.

A huge amount of natural resources are used without being measured, and end up creating detrimental environmental impacts. One example is the U.S. sends second hand clothes to Haiti and many end up sitting in landfills for two hundred years, releasing harmful gases into the air. If nothing is done to stop this rising problem, more and more workers are going to continue to be exploited and people are going to continue to die from hazardous working conditions. Some organizations have been created to prevent fast fashion, such as The People Tree and The Green Carpet Challenge, but will these make enough impact before it is too

Although the Chinese apparel manufacturers would lose profitability due to rising cotton prices and competition from emerging countries, they stand to gain the most from the removal of U.S. quotas and tariffs. According to the author, in 2007, 95% of the 20 billion garments Americans made were purchased overseas. Due to U.S. trade barriers, China’s share of the U.S. apparel import was only 30%. Once these barriers were removed, Chinese apparel would flood the American market due to their low cost and dominance in garment manufacturing. Experts predict that China could eventually supply 85% of U.S. apparel. As they increase their market share in the

The constant churn of new trends means that consumers have grown dissatisfied with what they already have. Cline herself looked at her clothing collection and found she had 354 garments in her closet. “61 tops, 60 T-shirts, 15 cardigans and hooded sweatshirts, 21 skirts and 20 pairs of shoes, most of which I never wear.” Reading this made me examine my own wardrobe. I thought surely I don't own that much. Shockingly, I have 12 jackets, 23 bottoms, 71 shirts 19 dresses and 13 pairs of shoes. That’s a lot of clothing, yet I still find myself complaining that I have nothing to wear nearly every time I go out. This is an effect of the fashion industry teaching us that we need more clothing than we actually do. One of H&M’s major selling ploys is advertising that they have new stock every day. So naturally people go into the store to check it out. Then we notice the low price. With a deal like that we can't say no and we buy it. Just like that all of us have fed billions of dollars annually to stores that encourage waste. Mass produced clothing is generally poor quality due to manufacturers cutting corners to lower cost and raise profit. As a culture we need to relearn valuing quality over quantity if we want to see a change in the garment

Child labor is not only a tremendous problem in the fashion industry but millions of children are tied up in paid or unpaid domestic, manual, agricultural and many other forms of work worldwide, leaving them helpless to abuse. Lingered in poverty, child labor impedes chances of gainful future employment, by lacking to assure all children are receiving a reasonable education. Asking someone if the clothes they wear are fairly made in other countries, is a hard question to answer for many. Fast fashion is appealing to us, the consumers because it allows us to feel, “rich” by hopping on ever-changing trends without blowing up our wallets. Child labor violates minimum wage laws, threatens children’s psychical, mental or emotional well-being, involves

The clothing industry, as one of the most globalized industries in the world (Bonacich et al 1994), is currently undergoing a restructuring, especially the fast fashion sector. Fashion markets are synonymous with rapid changes and short product life cycles. Therefore, changes in consumer demand for newness and fashion trend force the emergence of ‘fast fashion’ strategy in retailers like Zara and H&M and shifts in the focus of competitive advantage from price towards quick response. That is to say, clothing firms, which are adopting global or offshore sourcing strategy, are not considered to have more competitive advantages as before.

Generations ahead of us only had a tiny wardrobe, where clothes were not washed every day. In our generation, fast fashion is in. It’s ok to have multiple shirts or shoes of the same color. It’s actually ok to throw away unwanted apparel. Apparel companies are beginning to focus on sustainable fashion, also known as eco fashion. Apparel, fashion, and textiles is the most polluting industry in the world. Every stage, that a garment goes through, uses up and threatens our resources.