Fast fashion first emerged in the 1980s in popular fashion cities such as New York, Milan, Paris, and London. During the 2000s, this movement intensified, with more and more fast fashion brands catering to consumers’ desires, but at the expense of the environment and the working conditions of employees. What exactly is fast fashion? Why is it essential to rethink its consumption?
What is fast fashion?
Fast fashion is a large-scale production model characterized by very rapid manufacturing and sales cycles. Fast fashion brands are known for their ability to produce new clothing quickly, in response to changing trends (every two weeks, sometimes less), and to make it available at affordable prices to consumers.
To give you an idea, a fast fashion brand is able to release up to 36 collections per year, while a classic fashion brand only releases 4!
The impact of fast fashion
This approach focused on large-scale, low-cost production raises questions about the environmental and social impact of our clothing choices.
Environmental
With fast fashion, every step of the manufacturing process results in soil and water contamination, as well as excessive use of water and energy. Indeed, before being your t-shirt or pants, your clothes have undergone numerous chemical treatments.
For example, even before being treated, cotton cultivation will have used 25% of the world's pesticides and 10% of its chemical fertilizers. The problem is that these chemicals infiltrate the soil, pollute waterways and poison aquatic life at the same time. Take the Citarum River in Indonesia, for example: it is currently the most polluted in the world because of the 500 textile industries that line it.
And who says low-cost clothing production, says cheap and therefore low-quality materials! Polyester and elastane are also part of the lot, with less solid finishes, which does not allow the clothes to last over time. This encourages excessive consumption and significant waste, because very often, the clothes are thrown away after a few uses.
Finally, some major fashion brands that opt for this production model contribute to the deforestation of the Amazon, particularly because of their links with tanneries and other companies that are allegedly involved in leather production.
Social
Fast fashion contributes to the exploitation of workers. The clothes are mostly made in countries where social minimums are far from being respected. Poverty wages, unsanitary buildings, unsuitable working hours, no contracts, child labor… The list is long. It is the brands that impose their working conditions on the factories, which leads them to take significant risks for the health and safety of employees.
Sanitary
The precarious working conditions in fast fashion brands’ manufacturing facilities can contribute to health problems for workers. This is due to their exposure to hazardous chemicals, but also to the long hours required. Finally, the overconsumption encouraged by fast fashion leads to an increase in textile waste, which has a negative environmental impact and can create public health problems.
So, buying clothes from a fast fashion brand, ultimately, at what price?
Sustainable fashion, a solid alternative to fast fashion
Fortunately, many initiatives are emerging to build ethical and more sustainable fashion. Buying less, but better, that is the solution! This is the very principle of slow fashion and eco-responsible fashion.
Quality, yes. Quantity, do we really need it?
Slow fashion presents itself as a sustainable and reliable alternative to this mode of consumption. Unlike fast fashion, this movement highlights an approach that respects the environment, workers and animals in the manufacture of clothing.
Its goal is to limit clothing purchases and to favor thoughtful and better quality consumption. To achieve this, slow fashion uses materials with low environmental impact, manufactures clothing in compliance with minimum social standards and is committed to responsible and reasoned production.
Why choose quality, eco-friendly indoor clothing?
By choosing materials that come from nature, are local and consume little energy, such as linen, hemp, organic cotton, Supima or lyocell (artificial textile developed from wood cellulose), you contribute to reducing soil depletion, the drying up of waterways, improving waste management and making a gesture to combat global warming.
In addition, by buying clothes made with eco-friendly materials, they will last you longer. You will therefore not need to buy them regularly and follow the fast fashion trend.
Finally, since fast fashion is associated with precarious working conditions, by promoting sustainable fashion, you encourage more ethical business practices.
Eco-responsible brands ensure that workers' rights are respected, by guaranteeing reasonable wages and hours, as well as safe working conditions. Ethical fashion is simply a return to values of sobriety and sustainability.
→ In short, Talc is the "anti Shein" par excellence. The production rate is adapted according to the state of stocks, no large-scale manufacturing, the right price and only a hundred pieces per model/color!
Discover our quality indoor clothing for men and women and our eco-responsible commitments.
How to change your consumption habits?
First of all, think about your real needs before buying new clothes. In fact, 64% of clothes that can still be worn end up in the trash today. Instead of throwing away your clothes, repair them and recycle them as much as possible!
If you really don't want them anymore, you can always give them away by dropping them off at collection points, to associations, or simply by offering them to those around you.
Explore second-hand buying or trading options with other people as much as possible.
And then, you don't have to follow fleeting trends either, you can also adopt a timeless style! Maybe you don't need new clothes right away. Take care of your clothes and keep them as long as possible.
If you are buying, opt for ethical and environmentally friendly brands that use responsible manufacturing practices. Always prioritize quality and sustainable materials over quantity.
You can vary your wardrobe with clothes made from second-hand natural materials, and others made from recycled or upcycled natural fibers (a creative process based on the revaluation of damaged or unused fabrics), with manufacturing that requires very few resources, less than recycled synthetics, such as rPET.
Finally, raise awareness about the harmful effects of the fashion industry and inspire others to adopt conscious consumption habits! Fast fashion simply reminds us that deep down, we probably already have everything we need at home, and that it is worth choosing our clothes wisely.
Discover our unisex ranges here:
- Pajama sets (men's photos )
- Pajama sets (women's photos )
- Pajama shorts (women's photos )
- Pajama shorts (men's photos)