Can we be sustainable when we do shopping?
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Fast Fashion is a production system aiming to give conumers an item from the place of production to the place of sale in the shortest time possible . This trend has exploded in the 2000s, when fashion brands began to produce multiple collections throughout the year. The constant influx of new styles encourages consumers to purchase more clothing in order to stay on-trend. Fast Fashion matches with a change of perspective in consumption, which replicates one of the key values of capitalism: stimulate the desire to own more things without them responding to a real need.
To achieve its rapid production goals, Fast Fashion relies on:
- a very low labor cost, in terms of resources and manpower;
- few controls in the production chain (delocalised production to countries with less controls) and consequent exploitation of labor and resources, together with the use of polluting or harmful substances;
- segmentation of the supply chain, from the cultivation or processing of the raw material, up to retail sale, there can be dozens of steps that are difficult to trace;
Fast Fashion is a system that has bewitched the white, Western middle class of millennials and Generation Z. These consumers, heavily influenced by advertising, with a purchasing power which is not sufficient to follow high fashion trends but abundantly sufficient to buy low-cost items that are often thrown away after just a couple of uses. Fast Fashion survives and speculates thanks to us, citizens of the European countries and North America. Let’s explore its consequences which affect the entire world.
Disposable clothes
The rise of Fast Fashion has led to an ever-growing number of consumers seeking the latest trends at an unprecedented pace. This rapid consumption cycle significantly shortens the lifespan of clothing and other textile products.
European citizens consume almost 26 kg of textile products every year and dispose of around 11 kg of them. This waste includes clothes, shoes, blankets and other textile products that cannot be easily recycled or reused, because they are usually made of polyester, mixed fibers or poor-quality materials.
It is also estimated that 4-9% of all textile products placed on the market in Europe are destroyed even before use, for a total of between 264,000 and 594,000 tonnes of textile products destroyed every year. Many of these items are the “returns” of online purchasing. Brands may often find it cheaper to destroy rather than putting back products on sale. In Europe, the average return rate for clothing purchased online is estimated at 20%: one in five items sold online is returned.
In Italy, the majority of textile waste comes from the importation of low-cost clothing from foreign markets, the often poor quality of which quickly forces them to throw away damaged products and buy new ones.
It’s time to put fast fashion out of fashion. Fashion has always been the mirror of society, where habits, customs and ways of living converge; but it is also an expression of the will of the individual as part of the society to which they belongs. Remember, you too can make a difference.
Murky water
Textile production requires substantial amounts of water. Not to mention the use of land for growing cotton and other fibers. On avargage we can say that 2,700 liters of fresh water are needed to produce a single cotton t-shirt, while up to 8,000 liters are needed to produce a pair of shoes. In 2020, the textile sector was the third largest source of water and land use degradation.
Textile production is estimated to account for around 20% of global drinking water pollution due to the extensive processes involved: dyeing and finishing have a devastating effects on the health of people, animals and ecosystems near factories. Additionally, washing synthetic garments releasese 0.5 million tons of microfiber in the seas every year. In domestic homes, a single laundry load can release 700,000 microplastic fibres from polyester clothing which end up in the seas, groundwater and therefore the food chain.
The fashion industry is estimated to be responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and shipping combined. According to the European Environment Agency, purchases of textile products in the EU in 2020 generated around 270 kg of CO2 emissions per person, mainly caused by the long journeys that the purchased items make to reach our homes. This means that textile products consumed in the EU generated greenhouse gas emissions amounting to 121 million tonnes.
Coffee break?
Who pays for the low prices of our clothing? This is the question we should ask ourselves every time we buy a dress.
Across the Global South, many countries and workers depend on the garment industry for their income. However, conditions are often deeply exploitative and dangerous, with all the profit going to the multinationals who trade the garments.
The exploitation arises from the debt accumulated by the South of the world towards Western powers, which have forced countries that were often already poor (or plundered by colonialism) to implement wicked policies. In the meantime, foreign investors have been enjoying new access to the Global South markets on favorable conditions. There are currently 54 countries in debt crisis in the world: many of these countries host clothing industries, predominantly Western or Chinese brands. At the same time, only 14% of major fashion brands involve experts in evaluating respect for human rights in the production chain:
- According to an investigation, a Shein worker receives 4 cents producing at least 500 per day, with an 18-hour working day. They only have one day off per month and there is no break during the day.
- In countries like Bangladesh, principles such as a decent minimum wage or humane working hours are not covered by national legislation; as a result, big fashion brands take advantage of local poverty, paying labor from $1.90 to $2.40 a day, with a working day of around 12 hours.
- Cutting wages and reducing funds for factory maintenance, in the face of an ever-increasing demand for productivity, translate into violations (and violence) against workers, who are even locked up with the windows barred inside the factory so as not to allow them to go out or even just rest.
Mind the gap
Paid work has historically been an important element for female emancipation and gender equality. This is also valid for the textile industry, a sector dominated by female workers.
Nowadays, more than 70% of the workforce in the textile industry in China is made up of women. In Bangladesh the percentage is 85%. In Cambodia even 90%. Looking at the Global South, however, other types of data appear relevant regarding female work in clothing companies. In a global economic system that rewards flexible and low-cost work, the unequal social position of women allows the owners of textile factories to compose an even cheaper, docile and flexible workforce. Therefore, instead of promoting female emancipation and gender equality, work in the textile industry slows them down, reproducing and accelerating the mechanism of social subordination.
The exploitation of female labor allows large fashion brands to make enormous profits by denying the most basic rights to the workers who produce their clothes. Extremely low wages, exhausting working hours, unsafe working conditions and a total lack of unions or other forms of rights protection are not the “only” problem. In Bangladesh, for example, many women have testified that they have been victims of physical violence perpetrated by their supervisors in order to boost their productivity and complete orders placed by fast fashion brands on time.
Fast Fashion shows all its atrocity even towards the LGBTQIA+ community. The big brands create collections for the Pride season, inducing those who buy into a false awareness-raising action. This behaviour is known as #RainbowWashing. Major brands actually operate exclusively for their own profit, ignoring the reality of workers belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community. The Hypocrisy is that these collections are made in countries where being gay is illegal.
Glamourize consumerism
Production in the fashion industry has doubled, but the lifespan of a piece of clothing has decreased. An item is used 7 times before being thrown away, while 70% of consumers throw away half of their clothing purchases in just one year.
This happens because Fast Fashion has accustomed consumers to REPLACABLE clothing items. Firstly, because it uses poor quality materials, which deteriorate quickly and do not deserve the care of being recovered. Secondly, the market has studied consumers and, by leveraging their desires, has contributed to the desperate search for COOLNESS gratified solely through the satisfaction of a new purchase.
Today, if you enter in the same clothing chain store in a week you will find new items displayed in the window. This urge of latest product has distanced designers from creating unique garments for their collection. In Fast Fashion the collections are in continuous production, testing the new tastes of consumers every week. Do you know why Vintage phenomenon has became so charming? Because in vintage we talk about 60s, 70s and 80s exclusive season collection.
Another sick phenomenon is that promoted with Black Fridays. You must have seen online the crowds of people raid shops the moment they open. On social media, fast fashion purchases has become an element for content creators. If you look at TikTok, you will find many examples of unboxing and haul. This content shows live the opening of the purchases received at home as they put on the new clothes. The phenomenon is promoted by the Fast Fashion brands themself who offer to ordinary people (but also influencers with millions of followers) the chance of a new discount to buy again.
Rolling Over to the South
Waste is one of the most pressing problems in the textile industry. In recent decades they have increased dramatically with the production of Fast Fashion and due to disposable overconsumerism. Textile waste represents a major environmental problem, because most of these materials can take several centuries to degrade.
The 87% of used clothing ends up in landfill, while only a small percentage is recycled. Many used clothes are exported outside the EU, often destined for second-hand clothing markets in Africa, Asia and South America. The burden and responsibility for disposal falls on them. There is a demand for cheap used clothes from Europe, which appear to be preferred to new items, but what is not suitable for reuse mostly ends up in open landfills and informal waste streams. Synthetic fibers, such as polyester and nylon, make up about 60% of clothing and 70% of home textiles. An estimated 42 million tonnes of plastic textile waste was generated globally in 2015, representing 13% of all plastic waste, making textiles the third largest contributor to plastic waste generation.
Two extremely problematic questions therefore arise: on the one hand, the markets of many countries are saturated with second-hand clothing which has replaced local production of new clothes, with serious damage to the already very weak local economy. On the on the other hand, a problem linked to environmental pollution generated by the improper disposal of textile waste, especially synthetic fibres.
Do the right thing
It’s time to put an end to the Fast Fashion consumption model.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Inform. Always read the labels of the items you purchase. Know what you wear and choose what to buy. There are useful apps that can accompany you in choosing brands that respond ethically and with transparency of their production chain, for example Good on you, Fashion Checker, Clean clothes.
WHAT SHOULD BRANDS DO? Clearly describe their environmental impact. In 2023, 95% of major fashion brands were not transparent about how they plan to transition to a circular economy. 51% have published objectives, for example on the sustainable materials used, but only 44% have defined what they mean by “sustainable”. Not clearly communicating your production chain and simply narrating your sustainable commitment only means greenwashing.
WHAT CAN GOVERNMENTS DO? Europe is facing the problem of Fast Fashion. The European Commission has proposed changes to the eco-design rules for the European Green Deal, Circular Economy Action Plan and European industrial strategy projects. These actions aim to make products more durable and easier to reuse, repair and recycle, reducing the consumption of resources such as energy and water.
Sources
Fair Trade Italia “FAST FASHION: THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES AND HOW TO MAKE CONSCIOUS CHOICES”, Fashionrevolution.org
The impact of textile production and waste on the environment European Parliament, 2024; The destruction of returned and unsold textiles in Europe’s circular economy, European Environment Agency, 2024.
European Environment Agency, 2023; How much water do we exploit, Global 2000, SERI, 2011.
Rosita Factory in Bangladesh reported in the documentary “Fashion victims” by Sarah Ferguson / https://www.fashionrevolution.org/category/working-conditions/ / https://forbes.it/2022/10/21/shein- exploitation-work-channel-4-fast-fashion/
Schultze Emilie, “Exploitation or emancipation? Women workers in the garment industry”, in Fashion, Revolution, 2015.
Yidan Wang “Fast but Slow: analisi dello sviluppo della fast fashion, percorso dal punto di vista del consumatore”, in ResearchGate, 2023
Plastics in textiles: towards a circular economy for synthetic textiles in Europe, European Environment Agency, 2023; Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R. and Law, K. L., 2017, Production, use and fate of all plastics ever made, Science Advances, pp. e1700782; Europe sells 90% of its used clothes and textile waste to Africa and Asia, B. Kamal, Inter Press Service.
EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles To create a greener, more competitive textiles sector, European Green Deal, European Commission;
Fashion Transparency Index 2023, Fashion Revolution
La Gare due Vintage
Lᴀ Gᴀʀᴇ ᴅᴜ Vɪɴᴛᴀɢᴇ is a project born in the Associazione La Stazione. We are group of committed volunteers in the promoting of a sustainable approach to the consumption of clothing. We have a critical, vintage & second-hand store. Come and join us!
The setting up of the route is part of the initiative carried out thanks to the “Siete Presente. With young people to restart – 2024” tender, based on the “Giovanisì.it” project, promoted by Cesvot and financed by Giovanisì – Regione Toscana in agreement with the Presidency of the Council of Ministers Department for Youth Policies and Universal Civil Service, with the contribution of the CR San Miniato Foundation.
This event was supported by EU4YOUTH2Act (P.Nr.: 2023-1-IT03-KA220-000154855) as a contributor to promotional and recording materials
