Why are people still buying fast fashion?

 

A Huff Post columnist - Jen Craven - challenged herself to go 365 days without buying any clothing or accessories

 

She found the experience challenging, but noted that she realized she tended to wear the same items over and over again while ignoring many of the others that she owned.  She also mentioned that she now has a new attitude about buying clothes and realized that "it's not the things in life that make you happy."  (Craven, 2021)

 

Hmm.  Where have we heard that before?

 

She also acknowledged that wearing fast fashion is inconsistent with her values as it both destroys the environment and exploits workers.

More than 60 percent of fabric fibers are now synthetics, derived from fossil fuels, so if and when our clothing ends up in a landfill (about 85 percent of textile waste in the United States goes to landfills or is incinerated), it will not decay. (Schlossberg, 2019) 

Stories about sweatshops in Vietnam and Bangladesh - where 1,134 workers died and 2,500 were injured in a building collapse in 2013, continue to pop up from time to time.  But the problem is actually closer to home too.  A federal Labor Department investigation in 2019 of Nova Fashion in Los Angeles, showed that workers were being paid as little as $2.77 and hour. (Kitroeff, 2019)

 

So when 82% of Millennials say that they "are concerned about the environment."  What does that really mean?

 

Ms. Craven ended her column by saying that not only is she going to buy fewer clothes from now on, but she is also going to check out local resale shops and online vendors like Poshmark and TheRealReal.

 

Good for her.  But what about the Instagram influencers who are stoking the fast fashion market?  Cardi B, Amber Rose and Janet Guzman are still selling Nova Fashion's clothes.

 

Why do you think people say they care about the environment but still buy fast fashion?  Why do people say they care about exploited workers and still buy fast fashion?  Why do people say they care about pollution and still buy fast fashion?  What will it take to get consumers to reject fast fashion? 

 

Do you buy clothes that last?  Do you buy resold clothes?  Will you now?

 

 

 

 

Craven, J. (2021, October 10)  I Went A Year Without Shopping For Clothes. Here's What I Learned.  huffpost.com.  Retrieved October 26, 2021, from  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/no-shopping-for-a-year-challenge_n_617088bfe4b0657357366ef7

Schlossberg, T. (2019, September 3)  How Fast Fashion Is Destroying The Planet.  nytimes.com.  Retrieved October 26, 2021, from  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/03/books/review/how-fast-fashion-is-destroying-the-planet.html

 

Kitroeff, N. (2019, December 16)  Fashion Nova's Secret: Underpaid Workers in Los Angeles Factories.  nytimes.com.  Retrieved October 26, 2021, from  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/business/fashion-nova-underpaid-workers.html?curator=FashionREDEF

Am I the only one suffering from charity burnout?

4/13/09

It seems like every time I turn around these days someone is informing me that part of the money I just paid to buy something is being devoted to some worthwhile cause.

The latest one jumping on the bandwagon is Tide detergent. They have been touting their disaster relief efforts, most notably those for victims of Hurricane Katrina, on television, and are now introducing a new package design featuring their beneficiaries that is scheduled to run through June. (Hopefully this isn’t a Tropicana packaging disaster in the making).

P&G, Tide’s parent company will be donating 10 cents from each sale of the newly packaged detergent to disaster relief. (Wong, 2009)

While a study conducted by Self magazine and consulting firm Latitude in spring 2007 indicated that women will pay an extra 6.1% for products associated with a social cause, I am skeptical. (“Self Study: Women Willing To Pay Premium for a Cause”, 2007)

Frankly, I’d rather decide for myself which charities I want to support rather than having someone else do it for me. What do you think? Is donation to a worthy cause a motivator for you when you make your purchase decisions? Would you pay +6% more?


Wong, E. (2009, April 10). Tide’s Charitable Makeover. brandweek.com. Retrived April 12, 2009 from:
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/direct/e3id54466e9215cc2ba9ef1c644d5ea54fa

(2007, October 15). Self Study: Women Willing To Pay Premium for a Cause. AdWeek, p38.