Fast fashion: not the end, but change is needed.
Yesterday, a world-famous fast fashion brand filed for bankruptcy with the US government, continuing the chain of bankruptcies of “fast fashion” brands that once made waves and were elevated to the status of retail unicorns. Is fast fashion coming to an end?
I think there is no end, it's just that each manufacturer, each brand has its own mission and business goals in each period, quickly adapting to the desires of consumers. The world is constantly changing, consumers are constantly expecting breakthroughs, different from what they see every day, so the demise of a "fast-food" brand is a natural law.
For more than 2 decades, fast fashion has been in a temporary position of usurping the throne, constantly making waves in the matrix from production to consumption of fashion. Consumers in the craze for "trendy" fashion, influenced by the psychology of following trends, wanting to quickly change their wardrobes, constantly hunt for sales to own as many, as many models as possible from fast fashion, and of course they eliminate a large amount of clothes after a short time of use. The flow of fast fashion is like an extremely attractive matrix, anyone who has lost themselves in the world of sales will find it difficult to get out. For fast fashion brands, a fashion product only takes 3 weeks to go from sketch to distribution stores. And it can be understood that quality comes with preparation time.
Fast fashion was born to serve consumers with average income and spending. However, what always makes me wonder is how they can make products that are sold at such cheap prices. There must be a way for them to squeeze production costs, because clearly the cost of premises and operating the retail industry is almost a common formula. The answer is not difficult to find, they pay garment workers with low wages, they squeeze all the income from poor workers to make products that serve consumers a little better. Simply put, when consumers buy a shirt at a cheap price, it is not because the brand favors or is kind enough to sell it to buyers, they simply squeeze the workers' wages really low to lower the cost. More than that, the fact that brands produce indiscriminately to meet consumer demand without caring about environmental issues inevitably leads to an environmental crisis. In November 2016, at a conference in Morocco to discuss the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, fast fashion was mentioned as one of the culprits causing the climate change problem.
From another angle, calmer, more composed, sustainable fashion - sustainable fashion with a few brands playing the right fashion game has stood out in its own way by its strategic humanity, progressing slowly but surely in the minds of both producers and civilized consumers. With the principle of protecting the environment, sustainable fashion brands have initially introduced improvements in materials and textile fibers to reduce the amount of chemicals released into the environment from fiber cultivation to dyeing and packaging. Over time, the criteria of "sustainable fashion" have gradually been supported by consumers: minimizing production pollution, civilized design, humane labor treatment policies, healthy production environment for workers, optimizing operating costs, honest communication, sincere ethical sales to customers, being a brand that is responsible not only for revenue but also for the community and society. A shirt from a sustainable fashion brand can still be proudly in your wardrobe 10 years later, not out of fashion, not faded, not losing value.
Fast fashion will always have room to continue its trendy mission, and sustainable fashion will gradually affirm its value in its own way through strategic humanity, progressing slowly but surely in the minds of both manufacturers and the public because we - smart consumers, always know that we need to join hands to support sustainable, positive values.
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