Recent times have put the fashion industry under immense scrutiny, and the results are nowhere near good. The fast-fashion industry and its drawbacks have come to the spotlight.
The industry has been known to cause a devastating impact on the environment for a while now. Along with that, recent revelations bring to light the inhumane treatment meted out to the factory workers. Fast fashion companies outsource the entire production process to countries like Bangladesh where cheap labour is readily available- but they don’t pay them enough, and completely disregard their safety. The workers are made to work overtime in excruciating conditions for long hours and are not paid overtime.
The companies that make our 'feminist' t-shirts profit from the enslavement and abuse of female garment workers. The companies that make our 'save the world' merchandise are among the largest contributors to global carbon emissions and generate gargantuan amounts of waste. These companies take the gravest of issues and profit off them rather than actually supporting them, and sell the products to us, emptied of their political intent. The steps taken by them to aid such movements are incredibly performative. When you buy a garment from one of these companies for 400 bucks, it is nearly impossible that the garment workers are being given their fair share. Additionally, when you make a bargain on the price, you compromise on quality. The garments produced are meant to be disposable and fall apart easily, owing to the shoddy fabric used to manufacture them.
It’s hard to escape fast fashion brands for one simple reason - they’re cheap. They provide us with trendy clothes at an affordable price, but it comes at a cost. All our favourite brands, from H&M and Zara to Adidas, come under this category.
The question that arises is - can fast fashion be sustainable?
When we try to adopt environment-friendly ways of production, we discover that they’re expensive, and most of us are not going to pay 6000 bucks for a basic tee. Many companies offer zero-waste and zero-pollution apparel made from organic material, but the average middle class, the college-going student can’t afford them. On the other hand, fast fashion gives us a myriad of choices at one-tenth of the price, which is why it is the obvious choice. The problem arises when we buy more than we need and don’t stop there, all because they’re easy on our pockets. The expansive range and style varieties offered to us promote consumerism, and the cycle becomes never-ending. The fast fashion industry thrives on constant change in trends, the ever-increasing demand for cheap, disposable, clothes. They release up to 50 collections every year, and it takes them one week to design the apparel and bring them to stores, the industry average being 4-5 weeks.
So no, as of now, there is no way for companies to offer the products that they do at the same cost if they decide to start producing ethically. The only feasible solution to this is to shop from thrift stores, support small local companies, wear hand me downs, and normalize repeating of clothes often. The least we can do is keep an eye on where our clothes are manufactured. Those of us who have the means to make sustainable fashion choices should refrain from buying from mainstream fast fashion brands. It is our moral duty to be aware of the price someone else has to pay for our comfort and fight against the injustice towards the garment workers.
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