The high price that comes with fast fashion

Fast fashion is just like fast food.

The rise in fast food brought an era of change in the average American diet and revolutionized an industry. As the price of fashion has become more accessible and cheaper, like fast food, the damage it has done to the environment and on developing countries holds a greater cost.

Stores like H&M, Zara, Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters are the biggest offenders. One can simply shop the latest trends in the store or online for cheap prices and questionable quality. Materialism has created an industry that harms us and the planet. Consumers need to cut down on unethical consumption.

Many factors keep this practice afloat— the most prominent being capitalism. Ever since businesses realized they could churn out mass amounts of trendy clothing for a low cost, they never looked back. Americans were still making 95 percent of the clothing sold in the United States until the 1960s. Now, only two percent of our clothes are made in the U.S.

“The True Cost,” a 2016 documentary directed by Andrew Morgan, sheds light on the industry using developing countries to create their products.

“When everything is concentrated on making profits, what you see is human rights, the environment, and workers rights get lost,” said John Hilary, executive director of the Charity War on Want, in the documentary

Bad labor practices and low worker wages came to light in Nov. 2017 when shoppers of retail store Zara found notes from Turkish factory workers that were sewn into their clothes.

“I made this item you are going buy, but I didn’t get paid for it,” the note read.

The dark side of the fast fashion industry became more apparent in 2013, when a factory building outside Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed and killed more than 1,000 workers due to a structure problem in the building’s design. Bangladesh is the second largest apparel exporter behind China.

Fast-fashion retailers have also come under scrutiny for cultural appropriation and stealing designs from smaller designers. The Navajo Nation sued Urban Outfitters for producing culturally insensitive underwear, socks and flasks in 2012.

Sadly, there are no laws that condemn retail stores rehashing high fashion designs from lesser-known designers. America’s copyright laws are outdated. They were made when we had more manufacturers than designers – this makes designs free reign, even if they can be extremely similar.

In an industry that is centered on disposable fashion for profit, it is nearly impossible to become completely ethical without dismantling the underlying system. That does not mean that we have to wait for businesses to join the green movement. We can help sustainability by purchasing ethically made apparel from stores like Patagonia, Everlane and PACT, which are all based in the United States.

Thrifting also helps because the buyer will not be contributing to fast fashion’s growing demand. Recognizing the problem behind fast fashion is the first step. Holding companies accountable and filtering out their hold on the industry is what has to follow.