Slow…and Sustainable Fashion
Is sustainable fashion ‘expensive’ or are we just used to unethically low clothing prices? Why consumers must shift their mindset to help our planet and others.
Feb/02 2024: Sierra Aston
The term sustainable fashion has grown in popularity over recent years, but what is it? Sustainable fashion is that which considers its environmental, social, and economic impacts. There are many facets to sustainable fashion such as greenhouse gas emissions, worker’s wages, water consumption, and workplace conditions. Sustainable fashion includes everything from the materials clothes are made from to clothes end-of-life. However one of the fashion industry’s biggest sustainability issues is overconsumption.
On average people consume 60% more clothing than they did 15 years ago (UNEP, 2022). Not only that, but people aren’t even using these additional clothes. Clothes are worn on average seven times before being discarded, with the average American throwing out 81.5 lbs of clothes every year (Igini, 2023).
What does this have to do with the affordability of sustainable fashion? Well, it paints a picture of the wasteful consumption made possible through fast fashion’s unethically low clothing prices.
Fast fashion is mass-produced clothing that is made cheaply and quickly (Whieldon, Costello, & Rossi, 2023). These clothes have extremely short product life cycles due to the low quality of the product and style. Fast fashion often capitalizes on ‘micro-trends’, fashion trends that quickly surge in popularity generally on social media and then fall off just as quickly. Meaning consumers often do not want to wear fast fashion in a matter of months when they’re no longer trendy.
Many people choose to shop from fast fashion brands because they offer cheap and trendy clothes, but what consumers don’t pay for at the check-out is paid for by the environment and the people who make the clothes.
Fast fashion is responsible for half of the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions and this number is only growing (Whieldon, et al., 2023). The people who make these clothes work in unsafe conditions and are significantly under paid. Due to the unsustainable and unethical production process, fast fashion companies can sell clothes for less than what they’re worth, creating a societal standard of unethically low clothing prices.
A global study conducted in 2019 found that “world-wide, few people say they are willing to pay more for sustainable fashion” even if they are supportive of the concept (Fashion Summit, 2019). People care about sustainable fashion but don’t want to pay for it. With the cost of housing, food, transportation, and other essentials everyone wants to save, but fast fashion should not be the answer to the affordability crisis.
This is why we need to shift our mindset around the consumption of clothing. We are consuming more clothes than ever before but subsequently throwing out more clothes too. Therefore, we must focus on buying less clothes that will last longer instead of lots of poorly made clothes.
A great place to start rethinking your consumption habits is to complete a closet audit. This is an inventory of your closet that gives you a better understand of what you already own. It’s an important first step in building a sustainable wardrobe because the most sustainable piece of clothing is the one you already own.
Closet audits can then be used to create a shopping guide by highlighting what clothes you wear most and what you need. When shopping for new clothes, focus on buying high-quality clothes that highlight your personal style and remember the “buy it once, buy it right” principle. Buy durable and high-quality clothing that you like and will last longer than a quick trend.
If you want to complete a closet audit but don’t know where to start, join us for Green Drinks hosted by Stewardship Pemberton. This is happening Feb 12 at Mile One from 6:30 - 8:00 PM.
References
Fashion Summit. (2019). Sustainable fashion: A survey on global perspective. Retrieved on January 30, 2024 from https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/cn/pdf/en/2019/01/sustainable-fashion.pdf
Igini, M. (2023). 10 concerning fast fashion waste statistics. Earth Org. Retrieved January 30, 2024 on https://earth.org/statistics-about-fast-fashion-waste/
UNEP. (2022). Why you should rethink your next fashion purchase. Green Economy. Retrieved January 30, 2024 from https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/why-you-should-rethink-your-next-fashion-purchase
Whieldon, E., Costello, L., & Rossi, S. (2023). Fast on fashion, slow on sustainability: Clothing companies and the circular economy. S&P Global. Retrieved from https://www.spglobal.com/esg/insights/fast-on-fashion-slow-on-sustainability-clothing-companies-and-the-circular-economy
