Fast Fashion, Fast Crisis: a Track to Environmental Destruction

Are you wearing the clothes you bought last winter again this year? How often do you buy and throw them away? According to a study, in the era of Ultra-fast Fashion where clothing brands release new products every week, research has shown that 100 billion clothes are produced a year on Earth, of which 33 billion are discarded in the same year. This rapidly consumed fashion industry is actually causing huge pollution to the environment without our awareness.

As rapid changes take place in the field of fashion, new coinage referring to this has also been created. Fast fashion is a business model that instantly reflects the latest trends, produces and distributes clothes at an affordable price, like fast food that we eat simply and quickly. The fast fashion culture started in Europe in the 2000s, and the number of SPA brands that adapt quickly to global trends. Here, the SPA brand is a combination of the three words’ initial "Specialty retailer," "Private label," and "Apparel," which means a company that manufactures and sells clothing directly. In the case of SPA brands, designers are hired by the brand itself and various clothes are provided to consumers through the stores. Unlike general fashion companies that release new products four to five times a year, new products are released in one to two weeks  through its system. This is because it takes about six months for existing companies to predict fashion trends, plan, and design, while fast fashion SPA brands can produce and deliver products to consumers in about two weeks due to structural differences. Representative brands include GAP, Forever 21 in the United States, ZARA in Spain, H&M in Sweden, UNIQLO in Japan, and SPAO, Musinsa Standard, and 8 Seconds in Korea. Fast fashion has the advantage of pursuing cost-effective products and easy access to trendy clothes. Thus, it is quite attractive to consumers who purchase clothes depending on trends rather than their own fashion values.

However, as fast fashion emerges and persists, there are also several problems behind it. First of all, the main issue and noticeable aspect is the environment. “No Earth for Clothes”, an environmental special documentary organized by KBS (Korean Broadcasting System), addresses water pollution, soil pollution, and air pollution caused by fast fashion. Do you know how much water is required to make a single white cotton t-shirt that can be easily accessed in any store? According to this video, the amount of water used to make a white T-shirt amounts to 2,700 liters. This is equivalent to the amount of water that a person can use for drinking water for three and a half years. It also emits a huge amount of carbon. The process of making a pair of jeans emits about 33 kilograms of carbon. In fact, the fashion industry generates far more greenhouse gases than those produced by the aviation and shipbuilding sectors combined. The reason why environmental pollution problems are more serious in the fashion industry is that significant pollution is generated during the manufacturing process as well as the disposal process. Currently, Korea is the world's fifth-largest exporter of old clothes, and it exported about $347.7 million in 2021. Discarded clothes are sent to Southeast Asia or Africa, where environmental regulations are loose and there are no facilities or money to dispose of the waste. Textile waste that is no longer useful is landfilled or incinerated, leading to serious environmental issues. Most clothes used in fast fashion are made from synthetic fibers such as nylon, acrylic, and polyester. These synthetic fibers take a long time to decompose, and microplastics are generated during the dissolution process. These microplastics eventually flow into the atmosphere and water systems, posing harmful effects on ecosystems and human health. 
 
Not only environmental problems, fast fashion also causes social problems. In order to quickly produce and distribute cheap clothes in a week or two, labor is inevitably overexploited. Many fast fashion brands are shifting their manufacturing to developing countries where labor laws are weak, allowing them to produce products quickly and cheaply. Long working hours and unsanitary conditions have become routine, and workers are often not guaranteed basic rights and safety. In most fast fashion factories, working hours are long, salaries often fall short of the minimum cost of living, and protection against industrial accidents is lacking. In reality, Bangladesh is one of the countries which has many fast fashion factories, and workers are paid only KRW 260 for working for an hour. On April 24, 2013, approximately 1,100 workers lost their lives in a factory collapse. This led to a movement of protecting workers' human rights and safety; however, workers in many developing countries are still being exploited to make clothes in dangerous environments.

Then, how is modern society responding to this fast fashion industry problem? In March 2022, the European Union announced the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, calling on direct changes to fast fashion brands. The strategy includes the following.

"The clothes we wear should be able to continue after washing more than three times." This, which may sound natural, was left by vice president of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, when he pointed out the quality of fast fashion products. EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles especially emphasized product design because the most effective way to solve environmental problems caused by textiles is to extend the lifespan of clothing. Consumers can wear clothes longer if the durability of clothing is strengthened, which leads to circular businesses such as repair, reuse, and secondhand sales, helping to reduce the costs of overall clothing consumption. Additionally, using single fiber is much more effective in increasing the recyclability of clothing. However, these methods are limited because they can’t fundamentally solve the numerous problems that have arisen while making, wearing, and throwing away clothes without any regulations. Above all, we, as consumers,  desperately need to change our attitudes. 

"Slow fashion," which emerged as the opposite concept of "fast fashion," literally means a way of thinking more slower, carefully and deeply about the process of producing, selling and purchasing, and wearing or using clothes. Rather than mass-producing clothes quickly at a low cost, it emphasizes durability with high-quality materials and produces products that can be worn for a long time with a classic design. Slow fashion brands that have recently been in the spotlight in the U.S. include Brook There, a slow fashion brand which has also appeared in the media. Specializing in handmade underwear made from organic cotton, the brand focuses on "comfort" and "ethical production." If you look at Brook There's production process, it spins and dyes organic cotton that is GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified in the U.S. state of California, and the fabric is transferred to Massachusetts for cutting and sewing by the brand's own small team. As such, not only is the slow fashion production process impressive, but also the logistics method.By storing completed underwear products in the same production facility where cutting and sewing occur, it significantly reduces packaging and logistics movement compared to having a separate warehouse.  If you feel a little burdened by the price of slow fashion products, there is a cost-effective brand called “One Off”  that helps you pursue slow fashion and consume reasonably. Oneoff, which takes excessive inventory from a number of slow fashion brands and sells them at deeply discounted prices, is regarded as a brand that captures both rabbits by reducing waste of clothing stock in the market while providing reasonably priced products to consumers. In Korea, the fashion company Kolon Industries has created new categories by collecting sustainable products and is introducing various slow fashion brands. It also spreads a good influence by running a donation-based project using proceeds from sales for the environment. The fashion brand 'Noblera' produces clothes with the slogan of “It's a classic design and will be quietly appreciated”. Adopting production after pre-ordering, the brand's clothes are made and delivered to customers by domestic artisans.

As such, the environment and the fashion industry are inextricably linked. As environmental issues continue to emerge worldwide and affect the overall production and distribution processes, we need to change our behavior as direct consumers. If you purchase clothes from the many slow fashion brands mentioned above or use secondhand stores, you can achieve positive results even if they are not immediately visible. Also, organizing your wardrobe periodically can help you reflect on your shopping patterns. Why don't you take a step toward conservation by reviewing your fashion spending habits that contribute to these problems?