AKOStudent'sGuideto SustainableFashion

by Regina Miller '22 and Margaret Miller '25

Fast fashion: you ’ ve probably heard this buzzword before, but what does it mean?

Many of the styles seen in the student body are trendy and seem more popular in certain seasons than others. But where do these trends come from, and where do they go when they’re over? The fashion industry has evolved to a level of efficiency that can mass-produce new items every day, generating an endless algorithm of new trends Producers know that many of their customers will only wear a certain item a few times before moving on to a new trend, so they often design their clothing to be of bad quality, making it cheaper to produce. For example, in 2019, H&M Sales reported that new clothes come in every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.

But when one trend passes to a new one, many of the clothes end up deteriorating in landfills or sitting at the bottom of closets. This is what environmentalists have come to call fast fashion: the pollution of the Earth from the generation of short-lived clothing trends

In the recent decade, trends have been surfacing, circulating, and ending at rapid speeds. Many experts credit this to social media and the immediate spread of trends on platforms When there is demand, supply is not short to follow, and with fashion inspiration becoming increasingly more widespread due to social media, it is only inevitable that mass production follows.

This has led the fashion industry to become the second-largest polluter in the world. By creating cheap synthetic fabrics, clothing companies keep production at full steam, leaving the environment in ruins. A new material called viscose is very harmful to the earth, 33% of it being made from ancient or threatened forests. 70% of the wood goes to waste while only 30% is used in the garments.

And that’s just the beginning; making the clothes is harmful enough, but throwing them out is even worse. The average American throws away 80 pounds of clothing a year. One Salvation Army center in New York creates 80 tons of unwanted clothes every three days. After that, they are sold to buyers, put in landfills, or burned

Solution1:Thrift.

When you want to buy new clothes, try thrifting, especially if you ’ re experimenting with new styles. Thrifting is fun, sustainable, and affordable, and offers a unique selection of clothes no one else will be wearing. This is why it’s great for trying out new fashions; it won’t break your piggy bank or the Earth! And, you can still find trends in a thrift store, because many vintage fashions resurface as modern trends. Thrifting itself is even a trend, as many influencers are sharing positive experiences of buying clothes secondhand In addition, many of the clothes at thrift stores are of a higher quality than clothes circulating on social media platforms, because they were made in a time before fast fashion, so you can still get a lot of wear out of them

Solution2:Invest.

When not thrifting, invest in high-quality pieces that will last a long time. If there’s a piece of clothing you ’ re certain about, consider saving up to buy a version that will last a long time. Although it may be more expensive than the cheap alternatives on the market, it probably costs less than having to buy the same item three times from H&M And having to produce it only once will save the environment a lot of pollution.

Solution3:Spread theword!

Along with simple changes in your shopping habits, fast fashion can be shut down when we speak up Whether it is one less tee shirt you buy or one conversation, it can make a difference.