F A S T I O N
VOL.15 | NOVEMBER 18
F A S H -
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What is It
Sustainability
TENT 2
The Dark Side
CONT-
Child Labour
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Fast Fashion What Fast means in Fashion
The phrase “fast fashion” has become a buzz phrase recently, but what does it really mean? In order to move past fast fashion and into a more sustainable industry, we all have to be on the same page about what exactly we’re pushing against. Here are three proposed definitions: Fast fashion can be defined as cheap, trendy clothing, that samples ideas from the catwalk or celebrity culture and turns them into garments in high street stores at breakneck speed. Good on You “Fast fashion” is a term used by fashion retailers to describe inexpensive designs that move quickly from the catwalk to stores to meet new trends. As a result of this trend, the tradition of introducing new fashion lines on a seasonal basis is being challenged. Today, it is not uncommon for fast-fashion retailers to introduce new products multiple times in a single week to stay on-trend. INVESTOPEDIA An approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers. Merriam Webster
PICTURE: Venus of the Rags by Michelangelo Pistoletto 1967
To understand and define the phrase, it’s important to first give the phenomenon context. The fashion industry, up until the mid-twentieth century, ran on four seasons a year: fall, winter, spring, and summer. Designers would work many months ahead to plan for each season and predict what they believed customers would want. This method, although more methodical than fashion today, took away agency from the wearers. Before fashion became accessible to the masses, it was prescribed to high society and there were rules to be followed.
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Big Players of the Fast Fashion Movement
PICTURE: British Vogue
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When it comes to question of who was the pioneer of the Fast Fashion phenomenon, it is difficult to pinpoint one particular brand or company. Nevertheless, there is some evidence that suggest the popular fashion brands that helped start the phenomenon. Amancio Ortega, founder of Zara, founded his clothing company in 1963 in Galicia and it featured products that were affordable replications of popular higher-end clothing fashions in addition to producing its own unique designs. Later on in 1975 Ortega opened the first retail outlet in Europe in order to sell his collections in the short run and also to integrate production and distribution in the long run. He eventually was able to move to New York in the early 1990s where the New York Times first coined the term “fast fashion” to describe the mission of his store which said that “it would only take 15 days for a garment to go from a designer’s brain to being sold on the racks”. In the article “Fast Fashion Lessons”Donald Sull and Stefano Turconi studies how Zara pioneered an approach to navigate the volatile world of the fast fashion industry. According to Sull and Turconi one of the reasons for Zara’s success was that it built a supply chain and production network where they maintained complicated and capital-intensive operations (like computer-guided fabric cutting) in-house, while it outsourced labor intensive operations (like garment sewing) to a network of local subcontractors and seamstress operatives based in Galicia. Thus with shorter lead times the company was able to respond very quickly when the sale of their products exceeded their expectations and also cut off production for items that didn’t have very high demands. Unlike many fashion companies, Zara hardly invests in television or press promotional campaigns and instead relies on store windows to convey the brand image, spread of word-of-mouth and locating their shops strategically in areas with high consumer traffic.
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“Fashion fades, style is eternal.”
Sustainability Recycling
Due to the amount of pollution and waste caused by the fashion industry,for-profit groups, like Viletex, and retailers, such as H&M, are working to decrease the industry’s environmental footprint and adopt sustainable technologies.Both companies have created programs that encourage recycling from the general public. These programs provide consumers with bins that allow them to dispose of their unwanted garments that will ultimately be transformed into insulation and carpet padding, as well as being used to produce other garments.While these brands are taking initiatives towards sustainability, the authenticity of these initiatives are questionable. By offering this discount, H&M is further promoting or encouraging people to shop more, hence making the intent behind such initiatives taken by fast-fashion brands questionable. Advances in technologies have offered new methods of using dyes, producing fibers, and reducing the use of natural resources. To decrease the consumption of traditional textiles, Anke Domaske has produced
“QMilch,” an eco-milk fiber; Virus has produced high-tech sportswear from recycled coffee beans; and Suzanne Lee has created vegetable leather from fermented tea.Many companies have also created various ways to reduce the amount of dyes emitted into the world’s waterways as well as the level of water consumption. For example, AirDye saves between 7 and 75 gallons of water per pound of textiles produced while digital printing reduces water usage by 95 percent. At Good On You, we love this quote by British designer Vivienne Westwood, “buy less, choose well, make it last.” Buying Less is the first, so creating a capsule wardrobe is something well worth considering on your journey. Choose Well is the second step, and choosing an eco-friendly fabric is complex as there are pros and cons to all fibre types, but we have countless material guides to help you, such as denim, linen, cotton and more. Finally, we should Make it Last and wear our clothes until they are worn out!
- Yves Saint Laurent 8
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Buy classic, versatile, durable clothes American Giant, a San Francisco-based startup, wants to make indestructible clothes. The company’s founder, Bayard Winthrop, wanted to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., partly to ensure that workers would be properly treated, but also because he wanted to make high-quality clothes that America was once known for when brands like Levi’s and Fruit of the Loom still manufactured products in the country. It’s best known for its very first product, a $108 sweatshirt that has been dubbed the best hoodie in the world. But it’s expanded into other products like pants, dresses, shorts, and bags. While none of the products are as cheap as fast fashion, they are meant to provide good value given how durable they are. T-shirts, for instance, start at $28, which is affordable, given that you could wear it for the next decade.
If you’re looking for slightly more formal clothes, Everlane might be a good pick. It’s another San Francisco-based startup that focuses on finding the best-quality materials in the world and using them to create affordable products. The brand’s cotton T-shirts start at $14 and its jeans start at $68. If you’re looking for higher-end materials, like silk and cashmere, Everlane also sells these at a fraction of the cost of other designer labels. But the goal here isn’t just to provide good value: These clothes are designed to be classic and to last a long time. And on top of all of this, Everlane is known for its incredibly ethical and sustainable supply chain. Its factories, which are all over the world, have been carefully selected based on how workers are treated as well as how eco-friendly they are.
Buy clothes made from recycled materials Over the last few years, there has been a lot of innovation around polyester, a fabric widely used in moisture-wicking clothes. If you’re in the market for a swimsuit or workout clothes, I would suggest looking at sustainable brands that use polyester made from recycled bottles pulled out of the ocean, rather than virgin polyester made from petroleum. Summersalt for instance, creates cute and high-performing swimsuits that cost $95 a pop, all made from recycled fishnets and carpets. (Even
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its mail packaging is made from recycled plastic.) Aday creates athleisure clothes that can be worn at the gym and in the office using sustainably sourced polyester. Its Waste Nothing Jacket, which costs $145, uses 41 recycled bottles. Rumi X makes yoga outfits made from recycled materials of all kinds, including plastic bottles, coffee grounds, and crab shells. Its colorful leggings, which cost $92, save 16 bottles from landfills.
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T H E
D A R K OF
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S I D E
THE FAST FASHION INDUSTRY
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Environmental Disaster Ending up in Landfills
Around the world, it is estimated that between 80 to 100 billion pieces of clothing are produced each year. However, only 80 billion were purchased and only 20% of clothes are worn regularly. What happens to the remaining 20 billion and 80%? They either collect dust in the closet or end up in the landfills. Every year, 90 million tons of clothing ends up in landfills. Over time, the landfill buildup also starts to produce pollution in the form of methane.
PICTURE: Vogue
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Some parts of modern life are, at this point, widely known to cause environmental harm — flying overseas, using disposable plastic items, and even driving to and from work, for example. But when it comes to our clothes, the impacts are less obvious. As consumers worldwide buy more clothes, the growing market for cheap items and new styles is taking a twoll on the environment. On average, people bought 60% more garments in 2014 than they did in 2000. Fashion production makes up 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions, dries up water sources, and pollutes rivers and streams. What’s more, 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year. And washing some types of clothes sends thousands of bits of plastic into the ocean.
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Environmental Disaster
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PICTURE: Cowarriorprincess.net
Child Labour Fashion over School?
can be found at all levels of the fashion industry, and nowhere is this more evident than with the production of cotton. In the cotton industry, children are often used to cross-pollinate the cotton plants, to harvest the crop, and in spinning, weaving and dyeing mills. This is particularly evident in Uzbekistan, where government workers force children to spend the summer months picking cotton, and even threaten them with expulsion from school if they do not comply. In cotton mills in Southern India, poor girls are often enticed to work in circumstances that are virtually bonded labour where factory managers may even have hormones put in their food to stop them menstruating, as women are seen to be less productive during their menstrual period. “Fast fashion has engendered a race to the bottom, pushing companies to find ever-cheaper sources of labour,” says a UNICEF report. “That cheap labour is freely available in many of the countries where textile and garment production takes place.” Given that 93 per cent of Australian brands do not know where their cotton is sourced, this raises concerns regarding the extent to which the average Australian consumer is unknowingly supporting the exploitative measures that exist in many parts of the supply chain.
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Editor/Art Director/Designer Photography Cover Photography Writers Address 20
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