The Effect of Fast Fashion on the Sustainability Movement

This paper is about fast fashion and its relationship with sustainability. Fast fashion is a term associated with the most recent trend in the apparel fashion industry. It implies that the apparel displayed in retail stores... [ view full abstract ]

This paper is about fast fashion and its relationship with sustainability. Fast fashion is a term associated with the most recent trend in the apparel fashion industry. It implies that the apparel displayed in retail stores is the most current fashion and, at the same time, is inexpensive. As a result of falling prices, streamlined operations and increased consumer spending, clothing production has doubled from 2000 to 2014, and the number of garments purchased each year by the average consumer has increased by 60 percent. In 2014, this amounted to about 14 items for each person on earth. The improving economies in emerging economies have joined the buying; apparel sales in Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and Russia grew eight times as fast as in Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States. The increased buying has also led to increased disposal of clothing, as consumers keep clothing only about half as long as they did 15 years ago, often discarding them after only a few wearings (Remy, Speelman and Swartz, 2016). 
What is not as obvious is that fast fashion supply chains also contribute to an increase in materials being disposed of in landfills and utilize some suppliers who pay substandard wages and fail to provide safe working conditions. Innovation in the way clothes are made has not kept pace with the way they are designed and marketed. “Fast fashion is now a large, sophisticated business fed by a fragmented and relatively low-tech production system.” (Remy, Speelman and Swartz, 2016) Unfortunately, while some companies are beginning to recognize the need to confront the negative impact on the environment and social responsibilities, the change depends on the consumers’ willingness to pay the higher prices that will likely result (McNeil and Moore, 2015).