Fast Fashion At The End of the World

December 20, 2019 10:57 AM

Fast fashion is both a global environmental problem, and a human rights issue. The NYT did an expose of the conditions and sweatshop labor that contribute to the success of one of Instagram's most successful fast fashion companies - Fashion Nova, which has partnered with stars like CardiB. This was territory previously covered by independent media LATaco last year.

The next day, the NYT interviewed a few Gen Z shoppers on their fast fashion habits, which depend on Instagram for inspiration, and free and fast shipping for instant gratification.

The New Republic argues that Americans live in denial when it comes to factory conditions in the US, and that we assume, without justification, that "Made in the USA" indicates labor protections and fair wages. "The fashion industry as we know it rewards willful avoidance: companies have gotten in the habit of outsourcing or contracting third-party factories and insisting that they produce enormous quantities of clothing under impossible deadlines, then washing their hands of what those subcontractors do in order to meet such expectations. "

posted by toastyk (10 comments total)

It was also recent the foucs of Netfix's Patriot Act with Hasan Minaj. That episode is currently available on YouTube.
posted by Frayed Knot at 11:15 AM on December 20, 2019 [5 favorites]

I should add that this topic is truly personal for me - my mom used to work in garment sweatshops in the Bay Area. We are all doing fine now, but she should have been paid.
posted by toastyk at 11:45 AM on December 20, 2019 [10 favorites]

I watched the Patriot Act episode and it contrasted Zara and H&M as kind of opposite of The Gap. Is Gap not fast fashion? (I don't wear Gap but am curious.)

What about Muji? Are they fast fashion? I love their clothes but wear them for years, not months.
posted by dobbs at 12:09 PM on December 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

Given how long Muji clothes last, I wouldn't consider them fast fashion. I used to not consider Gap fast fashion, but they now use such cheap, thin fabrics now for their women's clothing that I can't imagine they hold up.

I consider fast fashion to be the sorts of clothes that made of thin, usually synthetic, fabric with poorly finished seams that will not last more than a year of occasional wear. Sweaters pill quickly. Some of it will not even survive a few washes. More and more "normal" brands seem to be headed this way. I try to find clothes in thrift stores, but even the J Crew-type brands I find there look visibly worn. Unless I happen upon something from 10+ years ago--that stuff is clearly made of better stuff.
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 12:26 PM on December 20, 2019 [3 favorites]

So is it a regulation problem? Require stress-testing. If a clothing item can't be worn a simulated X times and machine-washed Y times or whatever, don't let the manufacturer sell it, or tax it enough to make it too expensive to wear just once or twice.
posted by pracowity at 1:21 PM on December 20, 2019 [2 favorites]

Depressingly related: persistently high levels of beef consumption x improvements in (fossil feul-based) synthetic leather means some livestock farmers on are the verge of throwing away hides.
posted by 99_ at 2:07 PM on December 20, 2019 [6 favorites]

Very interesting 99_! I am somewhat surprised there hasn't been a move to showcase those imperfect hides as artisinal and more authentic and natural than perfect ones. But maybe that's too much of an active reminder that your leather handbag used to be alive.
posted by jacquilynne at 2:15 PM on December 20, 2019 [2 favorites]

I thrift shop; in part out of brokeness, in part out of a desire for certain styles that aren't popular. But in part because the quality of clothing was so much better, and not that long ago. Cheap brands from I'm guessing 10 years give or take a couple years, seem like luxury brands due to the quality of fabric. Now, just no.

Two years ago, I got 3 dresses from Gap (I loved the first so I bought two more identical ones). Around the same time I ordered two 2nd hand Gap skirt from Poshmark of a style I used to have and loved.

3 new dresses are wearing out. The two older skirts? Going strong and they've been passed through two people.

And leather - someone please please give me a quality leather shoe or boot that lasts as opposed to plastic shoes that fall apart within a couple weeks. The problem is that leather isnt a guarantee of quality anymore. I have a pair of leather boots new since October, and they're falling apart. It's like leather stretched over plastic parts that are already crumbling.

I don't want to abide fast fashion, it's just that's often all there is. (outside of buying older clothing)
posted by [insert clever name here] at 12:57 AM on December 21, 2019 [2 favorites]

And leather - someone please please give me a quality leather shoe or boot that lasts as opposed to plastic shoes that fall apart within a couple weeks.

I've also seen a lot of plastic shoes sold as "vegan" at leather shoe prices. Pardon my cynicism, but a whole lot of "vegan leather" goods seem to just be a way to sell crappy product for more money.
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:59 AM on December 23, 2019 [3 favorites]

And leather - someone please please give me a quality leather shoe or boot that lasts as opposed to plastic shoes that fall apart within a couple weeks.

The Drifter Leather shoes hold up and can be resoled.
posted by dobbs at 2:54 AM on December 27, 2019