Fast Fashion Comes With a Price
It is no secret that Athenian students love fashion. Giving and receiving compliments on new clothes or cute outfits are not uncommon. However, this attention to the clothes students wear can unintentionally cause harm. Fast fashion is a topic that has been widely discussed and recognized. For a school that preaches environmental consciousness, the students seem not to know how much environmental harm could be caused by fast fashion. Brands like Shien, Romwe, and more recently Temu have been the poster children of low-quality, unethically sourced, cheap, easy-to-buy clothing. These extreme examples of fast fashion have misled and blinded many people, especially teenagers, of what fast fashion is, and how to avoid it. Spoiler alert, it's harder to escape than it seems and it’s very likely that everyone at Athenian is guilty.
Fast fashion refers to clothing brands that outsource their manufacturing to other countries with cheaper labor. The work conditions of the workers can be discussed in depth, but to summarize, they are exposed to high amounts of dangerous chemicals, paid barely anything, overworked, and expected to operate heavy machinery without the proper safety measures. Elizabeth Wright, who teaches the Upcycling March Term and Biology, said, “There's the production of it—clothes like acid wash jeans and sandblasted jeans. The processes for creating those jeans are incredibly damaging to the environment. For the most part, those jeans are produced in countries with very poor protection for their workers and the environment. People in certain countries can tell what colors are popular in America because that's what color their river is.” Elizabeth continues, “Then there's also just the whole part of fast fashion of, this is in style this month and then the next month you can't wear it anymore, you have to wear something else. People are constantly turning over their wardrobes and just throwing away their clothing. Most young people aren't trying to responsibly repurpose it.”
The designs of these clothes follow recent trends, a new piece of clothing can go from the design room to a customer’s hands in less than a week; hence the name fast fashion. Many people know the fashion crimes of Shien and Temu, but fast fashion encompasses many more brands than just these extremes. Clothing brands such as H&M, Hollister, Old Navy, ASOS, Brandy Melville, Cider, and many more are considered fast fashion brands. They are all popular brands, and in fact, it’s easier to think of an affordable clothing brand that is fast fashion rather than isn’t.
Teenagers are the most likely to wear fast fashion than any other demographic. Trends are set by teenagers and are mostly directed toward them as well. The bad thing about these trends however is that they come and go much faster than before thanks to social media. Elizabeth said, “I don't think our fashion changed as frequently as they do now. It used to be that it would take years for the style to go from baggy jeans to tight jeans. Whereas now it seems to go much faster. And in fact, if you look at a thrift store nowadays all of the jeans are skinny jeans because they aren’t in trend anymore.” Teenagers often care more about what they are wearing than anyone else, and adhering to trends is almost a status symbol for teenagers. Most parents, however, do not want to allocate a chunk of their salary to their teens' clothes which leaves teens with strict budgets when shopping. Because of this teens gravitate towards cheap trendy brands, the perfect conditions for fast fashion.
Most teenagers have heard of fast fashion and how it is harmful to the environment and dangerous to its workers. Junior, Ally LaFayette said, “They create a bunch of clothes that adhere to micro trends so then you buy a bunch, wear it, and then just kind of throw it out.” But to teenagers clothes are so much more than just what we put on our bodies, it is a way of self-expression and connecting with others. Junior, Alexa Ford said, “When I feel more put together with my fashion, my clothing, I also feel a little bit more productive. I feel like when I look the part, I also feel like it's pushing me to be the part.” She mentions, “It's also a way of connecting with others because I can share where I got my clothes from, I can ask people where they got their clothes from and start a whole conversation.”
Elizabeth said, “What I think is great with your generation, which was so not true in my generation, is a lot of people love to thrift. They love that each article of clothing has a history and a past. I think we need to be thinking of the fact that just because you are done with something doesn't mean it needs to go into the landfill. Someone else could still use it.” We’re making progress, by buying used and second-hand clothing greatly reduces the amount of waste that is produced. But with thrifting, some moral conflicts come with it as well. Alexa said, “I'll admit I could be more sustainable. I am at the point where I could be buying from places that are better for the environment. But, sustainable brands are not really selling what I’m looking for. In my personal opinion, when someone has the resources to spend more on clothes, but, buys from thrift stores they are taking away from other people who are less privileged and have less money. It takes away from the point of secondhand stores in the first place, good affordable clothing.” Ally added, “Yeah, I'm not a fan of doing that. It takes away from people who actually need to shop at a thrift store, doesn’t everyone deserve to be fashionable?”
How teenagers pay for their clothes is also an added factor in why we are put in a hard place when it comes to avoiding fast fashion. Whether their parents buy it for them, or they use their own money there is always a strict budget. Ally said, “I know it's their job, but I do feel bad spending their money on clothing. I don't know why. So I lean towards stuff that's less expensive.” Alexa added, “Yeah, I think most of the time when I spend my mom's money, it's when I'm with her and she's a very busy person so she likes to go to the stores that she knows and that are accessible, the ones that are open at times when she can go to them. So usually when she'll go out to stores and find clothes with me, to the more accessible big branches. My mother's a big consumer. I love her, but she is Target's biggest fan.” Ally said, “So does my mom, she likes to go places where she has discounts. She has thousands and thousands of Old Navy points. We could probably buy the entire store and my mom would only have to pay like $2 because she has so many points there.” It’s just more convenient for parents and their kids when the clothes are easily accessible.
There are of course drawbacks to buying fast fashion and if people become more aware of the importance of long-lasting timeless pieces, maybe they’d be more inclined to invest more in their clothes, of course if they have the means to. Elizabeth said, “You’d think because fast fashion's cheaper, right? Think Zara or H&M, jeans are cheap there, dresses are cheap there. You're like ‘Oh gosh, I can have three of those’ but then in two weeks they're out of style and you don't want them and you've spent this money on them. So individually the item is cheap, but overall it ends up costing more.”Elizabeth continues, “Instead of fast fashion, buying timeless pieces of clothing that are made of high-quality materials will last you many, many years. Then you are not creating so much damage and you're not spending as much money.
Elizabeth said, “I just think especially your generation was not raised in a world where people fix things. If something breaks, you throw it away and get a new one. Whereas when I was a kid, there were repair shops in downtown Danville. You could go in and get your camera fixed in downtown Danville. Now you can really only go out to lunch in downtown Danville.” Talking about the upcycling March Term, Elizabeth continues, “It teaches students to sew and fix things. And I think most people feel kind of empowered. Like, wow, I can make something myself, or I can take this pair of jeans and make it fit me.”
As a final thought, Elizabeth said, “Don't put your clothes in the landfill. I know it's easier to just put it in the garbage can, and it takes more effort to drive it to a thrift store or to make something new out of it. But our world just isn't gonna survive if we just keep throwing stuff away.”
