Fashion, SLOW DOWN!

Being fashionable nowadays is easier than ever.
Go online or visit a store, and you can always find amazing, trendy items for just a few dollars.
You get a great deal and the business gets an order, win win!

Right?

Well, as it turns out, nothing is as simple as it seems nowadays.
Chances are that this great shopping experience was actually the last step of a business model called “fast fashion”, which I'm sure you're already familiar with by now.
Here are the pitfalls of fast fashion:

Natural Resources


The more items a person goes through, the more resources are demanded to produce those items. Which means more water, more chemicals, more land for crops, more electricity, more fuel for transportation, etc.
It's estimated that fast fashion is responsible for 10% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.

Unsustainable Textiles


One of the main costs of garment production is the materials.
Fast fashion-focused brands tend to use low-cost high-pollutant textiles such as polyester and nylon.
Moreover, a common practice adopted by some brands in the fast fashion industry is to burn unsold or returned inventory.

Sweatshops

In order to reduce production costs as much as possible, fast fashion-focused brands often produce their items in sweatshops or underpaid labour facilities.
These are usually located in countries with lax labour regulations.

See our post “What do you know about sweatshops?” to learn more.

Watch out for Greenwashing

Since the early 2010's, these same brands have been trying to improve their image and launched sustainable lines.
However, specialists see these efforts merely as greenwashing, as they do not tackle the main issues behind the nature of the fast fashion industry itself.

See our post “Have you ever heard of greenwashing?” to learn more.

Social Media Influence

Spend 10 minutes on social media and you'll surely stumble upon an influencer showing their “latest find”.

Social media has become a huge marketing tool for fast fashion brands to put style and price in front of the underlying issues, which are what actually matter.

SLOW FASHION DOWN


How?

Buy only what you need.
Purchase clothing made from sustainable textiles, such as organic cotton, produced by local transparent brands.
Try second-hand items too,
it doesn't hurt!

Start small.


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