The Fashion Industry: No Right Answer

By Campbell Sharpe

While the Fashion Police stalk the streets on the lookout for socks and sandals, the real crimes against fashion happen off the runway. Cheap, quickly produced clothing fills stores like Zara, H&M, and Forever 21. Fast fashion, defined by The Good Trade as “an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers,” has gained immense popularity over the last few decades (Stanton). As a student with no disposable income, I have bought many garments from fast fashion brands. One I got at a bargain price: $10 for a simple black shirt. It was sitting on a rack at Target, where I initially planned to buy groceries and cleaning supplies. The convenience of the shirt in tandem with the price made the garment's jump from the rack to my cart insanely easy. However, the perfection of this purchase comes with an environmental cost unseen by me, the consumer. Although the rapid production of clothing gives consumers more materialistic freedom, further analysis of the fast fashion business model reveals that today's expectation of mass production results in detrimental amounts of waste and supports a cycle with no real solution other than to stop buying new clothes altogether.

Our society relies on materialistic impulses to fund the economy. This is a harmful trait considering the overconsumption resulting from this mindset. I am an excellent example of this thinking. I did not need my black shirt; I was at the store for other reasons. Materialism pushed my decision. Western values teach us to show off our socioeconomic status at a young age. Fashion is an obvious way to do so. Having an abundance of outfits suggests that you can buy more clothes. If you can buy a plethora of clothes, especially stylish ones, one might presume you are wealthy. And to prove your sustained wealth, the fashion industry always provides new trends. Ulrich Lehmann explains this in his piece “Production and Consumption” where he explores the need for “planned obsolescence” in fashion, as trends must break down to make way for newer styles (Lehmann 18). To sustain itself, the industry must popularize new items for consumers to purchase. That means that just as many garments need to be retired and thrown in landfills. The limits of our planet are a known fact among today’s youth. Yet, our instant need for social gratification and the materialism ingrained in our daily lives veil the damage caused by the fashion industry. Customers have grown complicit. They expect new styles, low prices, and convenient purchasing. And brands have been more than willing to provide. Instead of responding to specific demands, they produce an ever-changing supply of garments that has created a norm of constantly changing clothing. This development has been helpful for those who cannot afford pieces more expensive than $10, but fast fashion relies on quantity rather than quality. The industry orients consumers to buy $10 garments every few weeks — a practice that low-income consumers cannot adopt. Fast fashion brands target customers who can afford more expensive clothes but choose not to. They budget for groceries to throw in an extra shirt. They have the freedom to choose stylish garments over functional ones, and they are privileged enough to attempt a facade of wealth. Fast fashion fuels our materialism. It clothes us in the latest styles, granting us the image of the socio-cultural status we so desire but at the massive cost of continuously discarded clothes.

Some consumers have taken action against the toxic structure of the fast fashion industry. As a way of environmental protest, conscious consumers have resorted to thrifting their clothes. “Thrifting,” a term popularized to destigmatize shopping second-hand, reduces waste by keeping clothes out of landfills while reducing the number of new garments consumed (Nair). For fashionistas searching for new clothes to build their wardrobe, thrifting can be an exciting pastime. It requires creativity and knowledge of current and future trends all while signaling your moral superiority. However, an article from the Berkeley Economic Review points out, “the privileged are at an advantage when engaging in such ‘entrepreneurial’ activities, which require the time-consuming practice of sifting through thrift stores and the time-flexibility of being able to visit these stores soon after they are restocked, which working individuals simply do not have” (Nair). Excessive thrifting harms low-income consumers, as the wealthy snatch stylish pieces quickly. Currently popular is the practice of buying larger garments and reworking them into new pieces. By taking these sizes, privileged thrifters deny poor consumers — who are more likely to be overweight — access to clothing they might not find anywhere else (Nair). These pieces are still low quality: stained, stretched, and smelly. If purchased by someone who has the means to wear something else, second-hand garments are more likely to be set to the side, denied to those who would use them. Thrifting, though well-intentioned, fuels materialistic tendencies when overused by the privileged. This injustice reveals a different failing of the fashion industry, one that spares the planet but perpetuates inequality.

Our society relies on capitalist interests, cultivating a materialistic culture that has led to excessive waste and ineffective alternatives. At the root of these problematic practices are corporations, which are the largest supporters of fast fashion. However, consumers must too be conscious of the toxic business model they fuel. The earth pays a heavy price due to poorly produced garments, which we quickly discard without significant wear. Additionally, alternative modes of garment acquisition may not be as footprint-free as one might think. Now is the time to both advocate for more sustainable business practices and consider our own impact reduction.

Works Cited

Naire, Nanditha. “Rise of Thrifting: Solution to Fast Fashion or Stealing from the Poor?” Berkeley Economic Review, Berkeley Economic Review, 19 Nov. 2019, econreview.berkeley.edu/rise-of-thrifting-solution-to-fast-fashion-or-stealing-from-the-poor/.

“Production into Consumption: Materialism in Fashion.” FASHION AND MATERIALISM, by ULRICH LEHMANN, EDINBURGH UNIV PRESS, 2019, pp. 14–32.

Stanton, Audrey. “What Is Fast Fashion, Anyway?” The Good Trade, The Good Trade, 24 Apr. 2020, www.thegoodtrade.com/features/what-is-fast-fashion.