Falling Out With Fast Fashion
Published: May-05-2018
We’re officially on the rocks with fast fashion, and it’s been a long time coming.
Why, you ask? Well, we learnt things we didn’t know before and quite frankly we don’t want to make the same mistakes again! It’s easy to turn a blind eye and ignore issues, but when your relationship causes wide-spread inequalities and even ends up killing people half way across the world, you’ve got to ask yourself if it’s worth it.
We’ve all been made aware of the devasting growth in sweatshops over the last 15 years or so (deep down we knew something wasn’t right), but the collapse of the Rana Plaza Factory in Bangladesh six years ago which brands like Primark and Matalan had used to manufacture their clothing lines, was the last straw for many.
The tragic collapse of the building in less than 90 seconds, led to the deaths of 1,134 people and opened up a fresh debate about modern slavery, women’s rights and the consciousness of the fashion industry at large.
"You've got to ask yourself, if it's worth it."
We’re officially on the rocks with fast fashion, and it’s been a long time coming.
Why, you ask? Well, we learnt things we didn’t know before and quite frankly we don’t want to make the same mistakes again! It’s easy to turn a blind eye and ignore issues, but when your relationship causes wide-spread inequalities and even ends up killing people half way across the world, you’ve got to ask yourself if it’s worth it.
We’ve all been made aware of the devasting growth in sweatshops over the last 15 years or so (deep down we knew something wasn’t right), but the collapse of the Rana Plaza Factory in Bangladesh six years ago which brands like Primark and Matalan had used to manufacture their clothing lines, was the last straw for many.
The tragic collapse of the building in less than 90 seconds, led to the deaths of 1,134 people and opened up a fresh debate about modern slavery, women’s rights and the consciousness of the fashion industry at large.
The exponential growth of the global fashion industry, currently valued at over £3 trillion USD, makes it one of the largest growing sectors and according to Fashion Focus: The Fundamental Right to a Living Wage, fast fashion brands such as H&M and Inditex make up a large slice of the profit pie. Yet despite this rapid growth, the industry is still plagued with an inability to provide decent working conditions and fair wages. Being greedy, just isn’t a nice quality.
Fast fashion also doesn’t treat women well. Yes, we, the consumers, might end up looking a bit more trendy (he knows how to keep us sweet), but the women garment workers who prop up the industry and make up a staggering 80% of the fashion workforce, are often poorly treated.
In Fashion Revolution’s Who Made My Clothes Campaign this year, they noted that:
- A garment worker in Bangladesh on average only earns £44 a month which represents a quarter of a living wage
- In Guangdong in China, young women face 150 hours of overtime each month, with the majority not having contracts or access to social insurance
The clear disregard for these workers’ rights show how shockingly easy it has been to ignore the plight of women across the world. What happened to sisterhood and solidarity?
Another reason to consider ending your long-term relationship with fast fashion is the environmental mess it has caused. As we continue to feed our consumerism addiction, factory produced clothes rise year on year (from roughly 80 billion to 2012 to 150 billion in 2016).
If we wore all the clothes we bought maybe there would be some kind of justification for this, but 40% of the clothes we buy are rarely or never worn. So we are effectively making more, buying more but actually not getting the wear out of them – leading to an estimated £140 millions worth of clothing, ending up in landfills each year.
Ready to end it yet?
If nothing else, it’s worth just being more conscious of your buying decisions and taking small steps to help empower people and work in harmony with the environment. We’ve captured a few things you could do instead of feeding a bad relationship:
- Wear what you have: Concentrate on the good that you have already - you don’t need anything to validate you or make you feel better. Think about new ways of styling an outfit or how you can upcycle. You could swap a few pieces with your friends to mix up your wardrobe and make things a little more interesting.
- Shop vintage/charity: A fine wine gets better with age right? Well, so do some clothes! Shopping vintage is a great way of increasing the life-cycle of products and finding unique pieces. We find many vintage clothes are better made then the mass produced clothes we have on our high-street, and you can’t beat the feel good factor of knowing your money is going to a good cause if you buy from a charity shop.
- Forward plan your wardrobe: This might be a little time-consuming but will be worth it when you have a more streamlined and decluttered space. Impulse buying feels great at the time but only serves to make fast fashion more big-headed and ridiculously wealthy.
- Invest in trans-seasonal and high-quality clothes: A good and easy tip is to make sure any new pieces of clothing you invest in isn’t trend driven and is good-quality. Quality is better than quantity after all. It will last you longer and you’ll get more wear out of it. If it’s something really special, perhaps you can hand it down too.
- Get to know brands: You’d hardly go on a tinder date without checking the person’s profile first so why not check up on brands before you buy. You can ask companies, “Who made my clothes?” as the @fash_rev campaign calls for, or simply ask retailers more questions about how the clothes were produced.
Your actions matter and so do ours. Omi Na-Na was set up to help people express themselves authentically and to give them choice and opportunities to buy from designers and brands that are fighting the cause to change the fashion industry in the right way.
We take our time and get to know our partner designers and carefully select them for their unique designs, ethical practices and sustainability goals. In true slow fashion style it can take weeks or months for each piece to be made and so we only hold a limited number of items at any given time, making each one extra special. You can also find ethical standards detailing how each item has been made, available on each product page so you can make informed buying decisions. Being open and honest is key to a good relationship (or so we have been told!).
Breaking up with fast fashion or even, taking it a bit slower is getting easier. Like all new relationships, they’ll be ups and downs but by collectively making simple changes to the way we think and interact with fashion, we can start to turn the tide to make the industry fairer for all and more sustainable. After all, we can all do better!
Your actions matter and so do ours. Omi Na-Na was set up to help people express themselves authentically and to give them choice and opportunities to buy from designers and brands that are fighting the cause to change the fashion industry in the right way.
We take our time and get to know our partner designers and carefully select them for their unique designs, ethical practices and sustainability goals. In true slow fashion style it can take weeks or months for each piece to be made and so we only hold a limited number of items at any given time, making each one extra special. You can also find ethical standards detailing how each item has been made, available on each product page so you can make informed buying decisions. Being open and honest is key to a good relationship (or so we have been told!).
Breaking up with fast fashion or even, taking it a bit slower is getting easier. Like all new relationships, they’ll be ups and downs but by collectively making simple changes to the way we think and interact with fashion, we can start to turn the tide to make the industry fairer for all and more sustainable. After all, we can all do better!