Essay Sample on Fast Fashion

Shopping for clothes was something we would do a few times a year as a reward or to replace old clothes. However, social media, influencers, and the rise of fast fashion quickly changed that custom. Accessibility to clothes has become better because now all it takes is to refresh the page or just change websites. Garments are becoming cheaper and cheaper but at what cost? Maybe the deterioration of the planet. A five-dollar shirt now may result in a multi-billion-dollar plan to save the environment, so is it worth it? Social media promotes overconsumption of fast fashion through shortening trend cycles and encouraging massive hauls which inevitably leads to a deteriorating environment. 

Fast fashion is a manufacturing method that mass produces garments and sells them for a drastically low price. Fast fashion brands utilize strategic marketing ideas like advertising on social media platforms to bring in their customers. As a result of the large demand, these companies have to rapidly produce items to support their ever-growing customers. Just to put into perspective how rapid it truly is, these brands “drop 700-1000 new styles daily” (Briones) according to Molly Miao, the chief marketing officer at SHEIN. Fast production rates guarantee items that show a lack of quality. We are throwing out garments because of a missing button or a loose thread and quickly replacing it, but that leads to overconsumption. Not only do fast fashion brands promote overconsumption, but social media does also. 

Social media is constantly evolving to encourage businesses to sell and market their items on their platform. To support the fast fashion demand, social media apps are implementing swipe-up links and a designated shopping page. A major critique of Instagram recently is how it feels like a shopping app instead of a photo-sharing app. This works in some brands' favor because “social media traffic to online stores has increased by more than 100%” (Djordjevic).  A new career is social media influencers who primarily promote fast fashion consumption. On these platforms, social influencers will promote overconsumption by uploading hauls to show the vast amount of clothes they are accumulating. The purpose of influencers is to influence their audience, so it encourages people to overspend and over shop which encourages everybody to overconsume. Social media influencers and society persuade you to stay on trend which aids in overconsumption and alters the fashion culture. 

The norm of the fast fashion industry is changing because of the creation of fast fashion. The constant production of clothes by these fast fashion industries makes social media influencers curate new outfits to match their new clothes. As a result, the longevity of clothes is shortening and so are trend cycles. Trending clothes can be defined as something popular and widely sought after. Fashion trends can be broken down into micro-trends and macro-trends which categorize how long a certain piece is trending for. Before fast fashion, a trending style or garment may have been around for a whole season then rolled over into the following years, but now it seems that new trends and new styles are appearing every two weeks because there are “52 micro-seasons in a year” (Pierson). Before social media platforms, trends were dictated by a small group of people who we see on occasion like models and celebrities, so trends were determined at a significantly lower rate. Now there are thousands of social media influencers who dictate trends so there is a constant want to be trendy and have the newest pieces. Consequently, increasing trend cycles have a direct link to overconsumption and greater amounts of waste. 

The fast fashion industry has various issues however, the impact it has on the environment is the biggest concern. The purpose of the fast fashion industry is to produce items at a low cost, which explains why “nonbiodegradable fabrics that are fully processed with chemicals” (Darmo) are thrown into landfills and water sources. The use of toxic dyes makes it the “second largest polluter of clean water globally after agriculture” (Rauturier). Many fast fashion companies manufacture their clothes overseas where guidelines may not be as strict on protecting the ocean, so marine life must face the consequences of human action. To produce these mass amounts of clothes, the factories end up polluting the air. The fast fashion industry is “responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined” (“How Much Do Our Wardrobes Cost to the Environment?”). To compensate for the cheap prices of their products, fast fashion brands must add to the climate crisis to support their demand. 

All in all, the fast fashion industry does not seem to be changing anytime soon despite all its negative effects. The new wave of social media influencers has promoted buying too much for way too cheap which increases individual consumption of fashion. The fast fashion industry with the help of social media has overproduced, expedited trend cycles, and harmed the environment. Fast fashion is an industry that relies on instant gratification without considering the ramifications.