Fast fashion prides itself on being able to deliver an abundance of stylishly “in demand” products for insanely affordable prices.
The catch? These products are not designed to last for more than a year, and they’re produced in painfully unsustainable ways.
The apparel industry is one of the biggest violators of both the environment and human rights.
The International Labour Organisation has highlighted eight fundamental labour standards which are:
1. Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87)
2. Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98)
3. Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)
4. Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)
5. Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138)
6. Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182)
7. Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100)
8. Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111)
Unlike higher-end fashion designers, fast fashion retailers release new clothing styles 52 times a year. Also unlike traditional fashion fast fashion pieces aren’t designed to last years. Instead, most pieces can only be worn for only a few uses before they begin to deteriorate.
The result is an increased, rapid-paced cycle of clothing manufacturing and waste. Use of harmful chemicals, polluting nearby water sources and increasing levels of toxic waste from the fashion industry are some of the side-effects of fast fashion.
Most of the clothes produced in the industry leave behind a toxic trail. The demand for new trends is always yay-high. Fashion brands are always on the look-out to produce more and mint more profit from the same.
Many companies use fast fashion, or cheap yet high-style clothing options that are constantly being replaced by newer, trendier alternatives. However, in order to maintain this low price tag, fast fashion comes with numerous consequences, including the significantly low quality of the items, the mistreatment and the violation of workers’ human rights, the dumping of thousands of clothing pieces into landfills, and forcing workers to work with potentially hazardous and toxic chemicals. Fast fashion is a highly unrecognized issue, although it displays clear indicators of harm throughout our modern-day world.
The truth about the workers in the fast fashion industry is something most people turn a blind eye to. 85% of these workers comprise of women who are abused mentally, physically and even sexually. The conditions are unspeakable, the long work hours and the pays are extremely low. Additionally, these industries employ children who work with hazardous substances and unsafe conditions.
With fast fashion you trap a generation of young women into poverty. 75 million people are making our clothes today. 80% is made by women who are only 18–24 years old. It takes a garment worker 18 months to earn what a fashion brand CEO makes on their lunch break. A majority of them earn less than $3 per day. The biggest corners fast fashion cuts are human. Cheap clothes are made by underage workers entering the industry as young as 14 to work long hard hours (an avg. of 14 hrs per day in sweatshops) for low wages, while dealing with sexual harassment.
Fast fashion is an unethical system that requires change, which can only be accomplished with the involvement of a more substantial number of people. As the issue gains more recognition, it will create a lasting effect on our environment and those stripped of their human rights while working for these large fashion companies.
Fast fashion encourages mindless consumerism. The ideal method salvages ourselves from this situation is to stop purchasing clothes from big brands and support local eco-friendly clothing brands.
Let’s use our buying power and our voices to change the direction the fashion and clothing industry is taking the world and help end exploitation.
