I am not a fashionable person. Unless, that is, if wearing the same jeans everyday for three consecutive weeks accompanied by a second-hand Harry Potter figurine jumper has come into style. I can appreciate fashion. Just want to get that in there before I’m verbally impaled by Miranda Priestly. But I do nothing to be fashionable. The majority of the clothes I wear are items I’ve had for between 5-8 years. Besides replenishing my underwear selection, the only times I will buy something new are:

  • When my shoes look and smell like a dog has eaten and regurgitated them.
  • When I find a spectacular, oversized jumper, which I will then wear everyday for the next 3 years.

That’s it. I’ll get the odd wobble, thinking I should put in a bit more effort to have more options to ‘look good’ but turns out my fashion habits are excellent for the environment.

The only reason I’ve been able to wear the same clothes for years on end is because my older items were designed for exactly that. Slow fashion items are the tortoise - long-lasting, good quality. Whereas fast fashion is the hare - it runs out of steam quickly because it’s designed to have the lifespan of a Mayfly. This technique is used by companies to get you to buy more.

What is Fast Fashion?

Fast fashion refers to clothing that’s produced quickly and cheaply, usually at lower quality. These items are designed to ride the wave of the latest, ever-changing catwalk styles and piggyback trends. They’re not made to last in a quality sense or a fashionable capacity, meaning it’s not long before you feel like you have to bin it and buy something new. Which means dollar dollar bills for the companies selling fast fashion items, and horrendous waste for the environment.

In a world where instant gratification is rife, fast fashion is huge. Prices of these garments are ridiculously cheap, because the majority of them are made by exploited factory employees, who work in unsafe conditions for below poverty line wages. And the cheaper and more short-lasting the clothing, paired with TikTok Shop fashion trends and social media influencers, the more the western world is buying. Research has shown that 90% of our clothing is thrown away before it needs to be, and the more people buy from fast fashion companies, the more other brands feel pressured to compete and go down the fast fashion rabbit hole.

What are some of the impacts of Fast Fashion on the environment?

To use the title of the 1998 disaster film, fast fashion has a DEEP IMPACT. (Instead of fire balls falling from space wiping out humankind, imagine Elijah Wood drowning in deep v tees from the ground up).

  • 100 billion garments are produced by the fast fashion industry every year. To put that into perspective, brands are producing twice the amount of clothes they were in 2000. Fast forward to now and, out of the 100 billion items being produced, 92 million tonnes end up in landfills. That weight is about as heavy as 9000 Eiffel Towers. (Oh, mon dieu!) And it’s partially because it costs the company more to put clothing returns back into circulation than it does to ditch them. (Literally). If this trend continues, by 2030, fast fashion waste is expected to increase to 134 million tonnes annually along with a 50% increase in the industry’s global emissions.
  • The fast fashion industry uses huge amounts of water and energy. It’s responsible for roughly 10% of global carbon emissions (more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined according to earth.org) and is the second largest consumer of water. (Example, it takes 2,700 litres of water to make ONE t-shirt. That’s enough water to keep someone hydrated for 900 days. What are you doing in that t-shirt? HIKING THE SAHARA?) Besides this, the process of adding colour and other chemicals to fabrics – also known as dyeing and finishing – is responsible for 3% of global CO2 emissions as well as more than 20% of global water pollution. 
  • Microplastics. You’ve probably seen these tumbling out of the bellies of exotic fish when cut open by fishermen/women. Microplastics are tiny pieces of non-biodegradable plastic, which come from synthetic fibres like polyester, nylon, and acrylic. They take HUNDREDS of years to biodegrade. Fast fashion brands love using these materials. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated that 35% of all microplastics found in the ocean come from the laundering of synthetic textiles like polyester. Meanwhile, researchers have found microplastics in the male reproductive system of sea turtles, as well as finding microplastics in the human body. I'm no doctor, but I’m assuming ingesting tiny pieces of a thrown-out Shein blouse isn’t great for digestion.

What are some of the social impacts of Fast Fashion?

  • Gender Inequality: According to human rights and clothing justice organisation ‘Remake’, 80% of fast fashion items are made by female workers between 18 and 24, many of whom are from marginalized communities. Despite the fast fashion industry being reliant on these women, female workers are frequently subjected to discrimination, harassment, and exploitation. Many female workers also have fewer opportunities for progression and get paid less than their male counterparts for doing the same job. According to the Fair Wear Foundation, on average, women in the garment industry earn 20% less than men.
  • Illegal exploitation of workers: The fast fashion industry benefits developed economies and exploits those still developing. According to Earth.org, a US Department of Labour Report from 2018 found evidence of forced labour and child labour in the fashion industry in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, and Vietnam to name a few.
  • Unsafe working conditions: The rapid production of 100 billion garments a year prioritises sales and profits over human welfare. A stark example of this happened in 2013 when an eight-floor factory building in Bangladesh, housing several garment factories, collapsed killing 1,134 workers and injuring more than 2,500.
  • Community impact: Vulnerable communities become economically dependent on factory work. Factories are set up in impoverished areas to exploit cheap labour. They bring economic opportunities to these regions but also create a dependency that leaves communities vulnerable to economic fluctuations. ‘When a factory closes or relocates, the local economy can be devastated, leading to widespread unemployment and social disruption.’ (Ecomaniac.org) The environmental fallout from factory pollution and waste add to the problems exploited workers have to face. The environmental impact of the fast fashion industry is huge and hitting those working in factories around the world the hardest.

Now, it can be difficult to comprehend how all this disruption is happening behind the scenes, especially when some of the big dogs are actively telling you it’s not. Which is something called Greenwashing.

What is Greenwashing?

These big fast fashion companies tend to use their marketing prowess to convince you they’re operating under environmentally friendly motives. But for many in the big leagues, this isn’t true. They’re using greenwashing techniques.

Greenwashing is when companies give misleading information about their products being environmentally sound when they’re not. Example: Volkswagen was promoting that their vehicles were eco-friendly and produced low emissions, when actually their engines were emitting close to 40 times the allowed limit for nitrogen oxide pollutants.

This was going on at the same time that Volkswagen admitted to cheating emissions tests. They did so by fitting various vehicles with software that could detect when it was undergoing an emissions test and alter the performance to reduce the emissions level. 

Greenwashing can also be used to intentionally cover up a company’s involvement in practices that are environmentally damaging. Example: When fossil fuel giant BP misled people into believing it produced low-carbon energy products, when more than 96% of its annual spend is on oil and gas. 

Companies also use greenwashing to get people to buy more of their products, targeting consumers who are more environmentally conscious. Example: When McDonalds introduced paper straws that turned out to be non-recyclable. Or when Coca-Cola whacked a green label on their bottle and added ‘Life’ to the end of Coca-Cola, making you think it was a healthy alternative, when really it was 6.6% sugar.

Both are classic examples of corporate giants pretending to address an issue without actually doing anything.

As well as this, many companies will put the onus on you, the buyer, to recycle even if they’re producing items that cannot be recycled. By doing this, they transfer the blame and guilt onto you if you can’t figure out how to recycle something you’ve bought, instead of taking steps to stop producing cheap products that aren’t recyclable.

So, let’s cut to the chase and see who are some of the worst companies for fast fashion.

Worst companies for Fast Fashion

Shein

The Chinese brand has 20 million followers on Instagram and adds 500 incredibly cheap products to its website each day. Shein keeps its cards close to the chest, providing little to no information on its supply chain or where it makes its products. The only thing the company does say is that it doesn’t use forced or child labour and it offers its workers above-average wages. Awkward then when the company’s 2023 Sustainability Report found two cases of child labour in its supply chain. The company has also produced offensive items, including a Swastika necklace and a phone case with a black person outlined in chalk.

Zara

Zara puts out 12,000 designs a year and runs factories in Brazil that have been accused of hosting ‘slave-like’ conditions and not paying its garment workers living wage.

H&M

A Fair Action report found the Swedish brand failed to pay 850 thousand garment workers a living wage. It also found that many female workers were physically and sexually abused. On top of this, H&M has been accused of ignoring garment workers who spoke up about inhumane working conditions, which led to the deaths of more than 100 people.

The brand has also been accused of Greenwashing, using window displays saying, ‘climate crusader’ and ‘eco warrior’ based off vague sustainability claims. Meanwhile, only 35% of their clothing gets recycled.

Amazon

Amazon is far from ethical or eco-friendly. Its in-house fashion brands do not use sustainable fabrics to make their clothes, nor do they do much to minimize their waste and use of water or hazardous chemicals. Amazon frequently uses excessive packaging when shipping its products and thousands of products that aren’t sold are sent to a landfill.

It’s been reported that many employees work under inhumane conditions - former workers revealed they were forced to pee in bottles and were placed under surveillance. And, because of the company’s next-day delivery service, employees have to work at a pace that is highly stressful and unhealthy. It’s not known whether Amazon pays all its workers a living wage and some of its suppliers in China were accused of using forced labour.

Nike

Nike has been accused multiple times of using sweatshops, child labour, paying employees under minimum wages, and providing terrible working conditions. Back in 2017, Nike prevented labour rights experts from assessing its factories and a year later, a report by the Clean Clothes Campaign highlighted the company was still failing to provide garment workers with decent, living wages. On top of this, two former female employees have sued Nike for creating a toxic culture of gender discrimination and sexual harassment. And in 2023, it faced a lawsuit over greenwashing claims.

Other notable mentions for a lack of ethical and environmental practice include Adidas, Primark, Uniqlo, Victoria’s Secret, and ASOS. Although, the majority of brands are now promoting cheap, disposable fashion, encouraging people to buy more and bin more, which is having a huge negative impact on the environment and the lives of garment workers.

SO. What to do? I mean you still need to wear clothes, otherwise you’ll get arrested again. And a nudist colony just isn’t realistic with your Raynaud's disease.

How to do your bit to reduce Fast Fashion

  • Buy less. The carbon footprint of fast fashion consumption in developed countries is 53% higher per capita than developing countries.
  • If you are going to buy, buy better quality. You’ll get more for your money because the product will last so much longer and likely look better. Here’s a list of eco-friendly clothing brands on-island and further afield: Renegade Vintage (IOM), Bethany Williams (IOM), Patagonia, Stella McCartney, Komodo.
  • If you can’t recycle fast fashion items, donate them to local charity shops. Avoid giving old clothes to organisations that will ship them abroad. It might seem like a thoughtful solution, but more often than not these donations are shipped to Africa, where vendors can purchase bales of clothing at a low price to sell in markets. Ghana reportedly imports about 15 million second-hand clothing items EVERY WEEK. And with the rise of fast fashion, the quality of these imports has substantially decreased, leaving almost half of them useless for resale. With nowhere else for these donated clothes to travel, they’re dumped, ending up along Ghana’s beaches. 
  • An easy way (but not an easy watch) to find out more would be to watch ‘Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy’.

At the rate we’re going, a dystopian future waits around the corner. One that means we won’t have to pay for new clothing, because we’ll be wading through mounds of it washed up on our walk to work. It’s already happening in developing countries, but it will eventually get closer to home. Alongside this, the energy consumption used by the fast fashion industry will continue to make climate change worse. And we cannot place the blame on countries where these factories operate for pumping out pollution, when we are the ones keeping them in business by continually throwing clothes away and ordering new ones.

Over and over again, we’ve seen governments prioritise the economy over its people. We saw it during the pandemic when Boris Johnson told people to go out and buy, buy, buy, which then led to a huge spike in Covid cases and many losing relatives, while the UK government went on to break lockdown rules behind their own doors with #partygate. And yet, governments need us, the people, to boost the economy.

But if we continue to buy into the societal belief that we need to always be buying stuff to make us feel good, those purchases will eventually come back to haunt us via their impact on our environment. It won’t matter how good you look when you're be surrounded by rubbish. Big corporations may lie and exploit, but the power to have a better environment and demand better treatment to humans worldwide is in our purchases. You don't need a new Shein bag to harness that, you're fabulous already.