The accessibility of fast fashion has increased enormously in recent years. The term means nothing more than "fast fashion" and expresses the rapid pace of the fashion industry. As the term suggests, this means that you can get clothes particularly quickly and cheaply. And delivered right to your doorstep. But what's the catch? In this article, we explain everything you need to know about fast fashion and its disadvantages.
It is primarily a production model, behind which an entire industry lies. Since the 1960s, the demand for fast fashion has increased. The desire for fast and cheap clothing has now reached a peak, as clothing production has more than doubled since 2000. Every even small trend is picked up by the fast fashion industry and implemented for the masses. Providers look for trends and can bring them to market in under 6 weeks. Absolute speed and availability are aimed for. The availability of current fashion trends makes fast fashion particularly popular. Online shopping plays a major role here. With just one click and low costs, clothes can easily be delivered home. This means that the industry has to produce cost-effectively and efficiently to meet the high demand. This entails many factors that are very harmful to the environment. Human rights violations are also commonplace for workers in the fast fashion industry.
One factor is the overproduction and waste of clothing. Huge quantities of clothes are not sold and used, which is why they end up on huge textile mountains. At the same time, clothes continue to be produced. Over 70% of clothing consists of synthetic fibers. This is problematic because the textiles cannot be broken down by nature and produce toxic gases when burned. The highly toxic chemicals used in production also massively endanger workers, and surrounding rivers are polluted by wastewater. The remaining plastic fibers also pollute the environment by entering the sea. About 20% of global water pollution is caused by textile dyeing. The fast fashion industry is also responsible for an incredible ten percent of the greenhouse gases that heat our atmosphere. This also includes the long transport routes by plane, which cause a large CO₂ emission. In addition, huge amounts of water are used in the production of fast fashion clothing, which is another factor contributing to environmental pollution. This water is then missing elsewhere, which leads to water shortages and crop failures in the producing countries. Workers also suffer from working conditions, which include abysmal pay, lack of occupational safety, accidents, and extreme pressure to perform. Moreover, the quality of the clothing is not even good. On the contrary, it shows great quality defects such as unstable fasteners, loose seams, and other material damage. All this because it was produced as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
We can all play a part in limiting or even stopping the fast fashion industry in the future. We can do this by no longer supporting it. The focus should be on sustainable clothing that does not endanger the environment through its production. Therefore, we also want to call on you to rethink the purchase of fast fashion.