The disease of fast fashion plagues the modern world. The abundance of choices and access to the internet have made online shopping a lot easier and so much cheaper. Gone are the days (in fact, it’s all history now) when shopping used to be a seasonal event. Clothing and fashion items are cheaper today, and trends change in the blink of an eye. Slow fashion advocates understand the dire need to switch to sustainable fashion items before the planet becomes a waste dump that consumes humanity.
According to the Fashion Industry 2018 Report, a whopping seventy-five percent of fashion supply chain material ends up in landfills. This figure equals one garbage truck of textiles each second!
The great plague of fast fashion
Fast fashion revolves around making fashion trends readily and cheaply available to consumers. Trends change faster than a minute, and quality is heavily compromised. But that is not the only problem with fast fashion. The working conditions of millions of people involved in the production and manufacture of fast fashion brands are mainly ignored.
Ethical violations like unlivable wages, child labor, modern slavery, and hazardous work conditions are common human rights problems associated with fast fashion. The use of toxic materials in fibers, dyeing, and textiles processing is hazardous for the manufacturers and the buyers. While many people believe fast fashion is free, it is essential to know that someone, somewhere, is paying, and soon, the planet will pay a much heavier price.
It is undoubtedly a sad state of affairs as the modern generation has zero experience with high-quality fashion. Fast fashion has accustomed most people to flashy and trendy items at a glance and withers away after a short time. Sturdy fabrics that last centuries and quality care of fashion items have long been flooded by fast fashion. It is time to change the scenario because a fashion revolution awaits and a planet-friendly, zero-waste approach to style is the new trend.
Slow and sustainable fashion is the perfect antidote.
Slow and sustainable fashion is the best available antidote to fast fashion. It incorporates businesses and trends that value both a people and planet-centric approach. It is a movement that is the rage nowadays to overcome the disasters of fast fashion and is rethinking our established relationship to fashion. It promotes quality clothing fashion items made to last and encourages practices like thrift shopping and upcycling items. It focuses on slower and more thoughtful production and zero-waste products. Instead of filling your wardrobes and clogging the landfills, slow fashion encourages customers to embrace minimalism and opt for quality over quantity. In addition to that, sustainable and ethical fashion promotes local, in-house labor with complete control over labor conditions.
The aim is to counter the consumerist obsession with mass production and evolving trends. Slow fashion embodies a futuristic vision of sustainability with little to no negative impact on the environment. The ethical and transparent model is structured on fundamentals of social conscience and counters the evil menace of fast fashion that prioritizes profit over people and the planet.
It is high time that consumers understand the seriousness of the issues of fast fashion and adopt sustainable life choices. Companies that are transparent about workers, materials, and distribution processes and have a people and planet-centric approach to business should be highlighted and supported. Humans must realize that the planet is wounded, and the hard truths of fast fashion need to be learned to inspire the shift to sustainability.
Buyers have the power to drive the fashion revolution and make a difference. By supporting sustainable brands and slow fashion, the problems with fast fashion can be easily evaded, and the disaster that awaits us can possibly be thwarted. You can be part of the greater change by supporting ethical brands that produce sustainable products.
In order to make a true impact on environmental waste and social evils associated with fast fashion, sustainable fashion is the best long-term solution. A radical change and ‘rebuilding the fashion-as-know-it’ is the only solution. It is definitely the new cool of today’s time and era, but it would be a lie to say that it’s just another fashion trend. It is far more than that; slow and sustainable fashion is our ultimate savior.
