The Truth About Fast Fashion
As we all know, fast fashion is becoming increasingly popular among today’s youth. However, few of them are aware of the harmful consequences of purchasing large quantities of “affordable” clothing both online and offline. Fast fashion is used to describe cheap trendy clothing that is very quickly coming in and out of style. Many fast fashion retailers introduce new products multiple times a week to stay on trend. Just go into your closet and check the labels on your clothing, chances are most of them are from fast fashion brands.
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So how did fast fashion manage to take over our closets and become so successful? It’s said that fast fashion is a response to a huge market of consumers who are demanding high fashion at a low cost but the truth is that fast fashion retailers are actually creating that demand because selling tons of clothes is really profitable.
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But how exactly do they maximize their profit? Well, instead of replenishing their stock they replace the items that sell out with new items of a different style, making our older clothes outdated and unfashionable and also making us constantly want to keep shopping for new, trendier clothes. Fast fashion brands are constantly hunting for new trends, thus many times they steal and copy ideas from independent artists.
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They use advertising to stay relevant and further promote their constantly changing trends. But the worst part is that they use cheap labor that is often sourced from sweatshops which are factories where workers are employed at inhumanely low wages for long hours and under poor working conditions. For example in Bangladesh, sweatshop workers will earn thirty-three dollars per month which is way below the living wage of $60 a month. They’re forced to work from 14 to 16 hours a day in often hazardous working conditions. Since 1990, more than 400 workers died and thousands have been wounded in 50 major factory fires. Female workers also face sexual harassment and no access to maternity leave. Factory management in many cases prohibits the creation of trade unions which prevents the workers from defending their rights. Workers are also exposed to harmful and carcinogenic chemicals, and child and slave labor are also prevalent in sweatshops.
Fast fashion also comes at a huge environmental cost. Garment production and unregulated factories have resulted in toxic chemicals often used to create vibrant colors prints and fabric finishes. These chemicals can enter our bodies through our skin. They also harm the workers and they are dunked into streams and rivers polluting the water and soil of nearby areas. Fast fashion is so cheap and disposable, hence consumers are throwing their clothes away at unprecedented rates.
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Now that you have known the truth, would you still buy them?