Fast Fashion Essay Example

A group of friends decide to go shopping at the mall because it is Black Friday. They go to Zara, Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, etc. After going home, several of them also go online shopping at stores like Shein and Boohoo. Since store prices are at an all time low, they are able to buy plenty of trendy clothing for low prices. In the public eye, the fast fashion industry has become a great source and necessity for cheap and trendy clothing all over the world even as . However, regardless of its popularity, fast fashion is a terrible industry because it encourages unethical business practices, produces mass amounts of pollution, and enlists harsh labor conditions.

Admittedly, some say that fast fashion is beneficial because it boosts the economy. To illustrate, the rise of cheap and trendy fast-fashion has led to the increase of shopping worldwide; since shoppers are now capable of affording more clothes, they are also encouraged to buy more goods. Consequently, this increase of shopping allows companies to profit as well as allowing the economy to grow. Studies show that, “As a result(of fast fashion), women's clothing sales in Britain rose by 21 percent between 2001 and 2005 alone to about £24 billion ($47.6 billion), spurred by lower prices, according to the Cambridge report” (Rosenthal). However, this is inaccurate because the growth in the economy only encourages the immoral practices of fast fashion businesses. For example, several companies are continuing to open more and more stores while still enlisting and using unsustainable methods of labor and resources to produce mass amounts of clothing. For instance, “Inditex, Zara's parent company, expects to open 300 new stores this year and launch online sales in Dubai, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and UAE” (Kozlowski). Lots of companies are growing in size due to the overwhelming support of fast fashion by the public. As a result, many resources will be needed to meet the demands of these new stores being created. Also, workers who are employed in the fast fashion business will most likely continue to be treated unfairly; even though fast fashion businesses are receiving large amounts of profits, these profits are not going to the workers as they are still being exploited for labor and are continuously paid almost nothing for their hard work. In addition, almost all fast fashion companies continue to promote an increased consumption of their products. Almost all clothing stores use sales or promotions to feed the demands of the public and increase the desire to shop. As a result, fast fashion companies will not encourage a more responsible behavior of buying clothes because it would hurt their business as a whole (Kozlowski). Businesses have benefited greatly from the rise of fast fashion because they have been able to make a large amount of profit. Consequently, businesses will most likely not want to encourage customers to buy less clothing because they would, in turn, earn less money. Therefore, the benefits of growing the economy from fast fashion industries only leads to the continuation of irresponsible and harmful business practices.

Next, the increase in pollution caused by fast fashion is another reason why it is an awful industry. For instance, fast fashion industries produce large amounts of gas emissions that are detrimental to the environment. Making clothes requires large amounts of materials—most of which are unsustainable and rely heavily on fossil fuels. As a result, “The current carbon footprint of the fashion industry is over eight per cent of total global greenhouse gas emissions, larger than all international travel” (Kozlowski). Since fast fashion has been in such high demand, production of these clothes have been increased to meet the needs of the people. However, this causes the constant use of several non-renewable and harmful fossil fuels. The fashion industry’s carbon footprint is greater than what is being produced for international travel; this means that the production of clothing emits more greenhouse gases than that of airplanes. The increase of the fast fashion industry only adds to this strain on the environment. In addition, natural resources are being overused throughout fast fashion to produce clothing. Clothing materials, like cotton, are needed in large quantities to be able to produce the product. For this reason, it is said that to produce only one pair of cotton jeans, it will take almost eight-teen hundred gallons of water to make that cotton (Anastasia). Only one pair of cotton jeans already uses thousands of gallons of water to produce; as the demand for these jeans increases due to the popularity of fast fashion, the need for resources, like water and cotton, will also skyrocket. This, in turn, will have a severe negative influence on the environment. This puts into picture the immense amount of resources that are needed to provide for the fast fashion industry. Consequently, fast fashion is detrimental because it has serious negative effects on the environment.

Finally, the labor intensive and harsh conditions of work environments in the fast fashion industry is another reason why it is an unacceptable business. For example, fast fashion has allowed for extremely low prices of clothing which has enabled shoppers to buy more and more clothes. As a result, “Cheap costs and speedy production are why we still have labour issues like sweatshop conditions” (Anastasia). Fast fashion has resulted in the use of sweatshops. Sweatshops are extremely bad work spaces where the conditions are dangerous and dirty. The increasing demand for fast fashion has only added to these harsh labor conditions and made it worse. Because fast fashion sells their clothing for such cheap prices, workers are not being paid a substantial amount of money that can support them or their family. In addition, to provide for the increasing demand of clothing, labor is also extremely intense for those working. Labor is often sourced in less developed countries where wages can be low and jobs are in high demand. Millions of people, including children, are working incredibly long hours in very bad conditions to produce the highly demanded clothing (Anastasia). People in developing countries usually have no choice but to work in the fast fashion industry. Fast fashion industries require long hours of work with little pay. Clearly then, labor issues involving fast fashion proves that is bad. 

Though many believe that fast fashion is beneficial because of its increase in demand, the continuation of inhumane business policies, the adverse effects on the environment, and the cruel production processes all associated with the rise of fast fashion proves the fact that fast fashion is bad for society as a whole. Fast fashion has taken a toll on the world, creating negative effects on both the environment and workers across the globe. As a society, it is imperative to start supporting more sustainable brands or buy second hand clothing to help decrease the consequences that fast fashion industries have created. Even though it will take effort and time, each step that is taken together brings us closer to a better future for workers and the world.