Straight talk about fast fashion

Why ethically made clothing is the answer to fashion that exploits people and damages our world

The many blogs and news feeds I subscribe to inundate my inbox with encouraging stories about the ways in which fast-fashion giants like Zara and H&M are cleaning up their act. Sadly, most of these companies' initiatives are smoke and mirrors.

So it was a breath of fresh air to come upon Shannon Whitehead Lohr’s Huffington Post story, 5 Truths the Fast Fashion Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know. Shannon is the founder of Factory 45, a program to help U.S. designers surmount the challenges of producing fashion sustainably in America. In a few succinct paragraphs she cuts through the spin to expose the reality behind cheap clothes. Here’s a quick synopsis:

1. Fast fashion puts consumers on a treadmill where staying trendy is a never-ending pursuit. Stores churn out new styles on a daily basis—a strategy aimed to keep shoppers coming back, no matter how jammed their closets may be with previous purchases.

2. Outlet store discounts are a fantasy. If you’ve seen super-discounted designer labels at closeout stores like Ross and TJ Maxx and wondered how they do it, the answer is they don’t. Despite the suggestion they’re overstocks from the big names they bear, in reality they’re low-grade apparel expressly made for the “closeout” chains.

3. Fast fashion is toxic. Produced with a noxious stew of fire retardants, heavy metals, coloring agents, pesticides and permanent-press chemistry, fast fashion poses a threat to the people who make and wear the apparel while also poisoning the earth and its water. The dyeing and processing of petrochemical fibers as well as the looming problem of microplastics are poisoning our rivers and seas.

4. It’s designed to fall apart. Planned obsolescence combined with bottom-of-the-barrel fabrics and accessories is a recipe for continuous consumption. Low-grade fast-fashion apparel is designed with the expectation that it will fall apart after a few cycles of washing and wearing.

5. People of the developing world pay for our fast-fashion addiction. The lack of transparency in overseas production hides the fact that people—many of them children—work under horrendous conditions for minuscule pay to keep the flood of fast-fashion coming.

What you can do about fast fashion

As a Sympatico customer, chances are you’re already aware of the toll fast fashion exacts. As a conscious consumer you’re likely already focused on consuming less and shopping for sustainably made goods intended for the long haul. But if you want to know more, here’s an excellent summary also written by Whitehead Lohr. Or for a really deep dive into the subject, Elizabeth Cline’s book Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion is must-read.