3 Alternatives to the Fast Fashion Frenzy

About the Author

Jeffrey Blotter was born in Centerville, Utah. He is a freshman studying Biology. For fun, Blotter likes to snowboard and hang out with friends.

This essay was composed in April 2022 and uses MLA documentation.

WITH THE RISE IN POPULARITY of the musical genre K-pop, famous members of the industry have become idols to youth. These K-pop stars are influencers that are looked up to by the young audience of the world. While the actions of these celebrities are mimicked by their followers, the clothing of these celebrities is, likewise, mimicked. In fact, some clothing pieces worn in K-pop music videos experience sell-outs quickly because the popularity of such items skyrockets just after the videos are posted. One such K-pop group, BTS, has risen to this level of influence. However, instead of supporting the typical trend of selling and advertising clothing brands, BTS speaks out against some fashion trends. In their music video “Spring Day,” BTS shows the negative in the overproduction and waste of clothing as they are seen performing atop a ginormous pile of clothing waste (Kim). These influencers raise this issue, which to many activists has a primary cause: fast fashion.

Fast fashion is cheap, trendy clothing that takes ideas from celebrities and runways and is put into stores to reach consumers quickly. This rapid spread helps new styles get to the market as soon as possible while still popular. However, consumers often discard articles of these styles after a few wears once the popularity dies down. This practice causes a large consumption of resources and results in fashion being a significant polluter. However, fast fashion has not been around forever. As technology improved, clothing became faster and easier to produce. This easy production opened the doors of fashion to more consumers. By the 1960s, clothing had become a form of self-expression (Rauturier). One major reason that clothing has become faster and cheaper for companies is the movement of production to be large-scale and offshore (Marriott). In the 1990s and 2000s, low-cost fashion climaxed. This era is when fast fashion took over. Companies like H&M started stealing looks and designs from high fashion and reproducing them quicker and cheaper than their competitors, making these styles available to almost anyone. Soon, this methodology caught on (Rauturier).

The methodology of fast fashion has become especially supported by college students. Fast fashion is an easy option for students to dress in the latest styles without overburdening a tight budget. Overall, college students tend to be poor. A study by the American Psychological Association was performed on 43,000 students at various colleges across the U.S. This study showed that 36% of college students have food and housing insecurity as of 2019 (Reppond). While these students do not have enough for these aspects of life, they also may not have enough to wear designer clothes. Meanwhile, fast fashion offers these similar styles at a budgeted cost for these poor students. So, it would be reasonable to buy from and support this industry as a college student.

It has been proven that many college students shop from these fast fashion retailers. In a survey carried out in 2018 by the Deloitte Center for Industry Insights, fast fashion and mass merchants, another form of quick and cheap production, were quite popular amongst families preparing for college. This online survey polled 1,025 U.S. parents preparing their children for college. Though the parents were paying and being polled, the survey showed that students strongly influenced what the parents bought (U.S.). Surveyors asked families from low-, middle-, and high-income households to participate. Each parent was asked in the survey where they preferred to do their back-to-college shopping for their students’ clothing. The results of this survey show that just about half of the parents preferred the quick and cheap production of fast fashion and mass merchants, with 22% preferring fast fashion specifically (U.S.). This survey shows that fast fashion is popular, even for college students who have parental support. It does not show, however, the popularity of fast fashion amongst the students that do not have the luxury of this support. Without extra monetary support, the cheap cost of fast fashion may become ever more appealing to the college student. Either way, the fast fashion industry has become a popular choice for college students who tend to need cheaper alternatives for clothing due to money insecurity.

Though fast fashion seems like a logical industry for college students, it should not be supported because it is unethical. With the rise of this method of producing clothing, there has been an increase in clothing consumption, waste, pollution, and worker exploitation. Thus, it is bad for the environment and those working to produce these materials.

Many studies show a significant increase in clothing consumption and waste, proving how unethical fast fashion can be. According to The Guardian, consumers buy 60% more clothes than they did fifteen years ago. Shoppers are buying more of this cheap clothing that has half the lifespan (Marriott). With this increase in consumption comes the increase in waste. As styles quickly come in and out, these seemingly new clothes can get thrown out by those trying to keep up with the fashion industry. Even in college, one hears students complain of not being able to wear a shirt or pants because it is out of style now. Once those clothes stop getting worn, they can end up attributing to the waste on the planet.

A lot of this clothing ends up as waste. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, clothing waste more than doubled from 6.47 million tons to 12.97 million tons between 2000 and 2018 (“Textiles: Material-Specific Data”). This data shows that the increase in clothing production and consumption has occurred at the same time as a great increase in waste, as well. Of the 12.97 million tons of clothing waste in 2018, only 1.69 million tons were recycled. Meanwhile, 9.07 million tons ended up in landfills (“Textiles: Material-Specific Data”). The U.S. alone added this much to landfills in just one year. Fast fashion continues to add to the growth of waste within landfills because it supports the overconsumption of clothes. However, the growing landfills are not the only problem that comes with the production, consumption, and waste of fast fashion clothing.

In addition to the growth of waste, the companies involved in fast fashion are polluting the environment. With clothing filling landfills, these growing landfills produce more greenhouse gases, significantly contributing to climate change (Vasarhelyi). However, this negative impact of growing landfills is not the only issue with fast fashion companies. To speed up production, said companies are cutting environmental corners, including using toxic textile dyes that pollute clean water globally. They also use polyester from fossil fuels, which means that polyester production is another player in global warming (Rauturier). Quick production of all these clothes pollutes more and more water and air. Worse, it contributes more to global warming. While being harsh on the environment, the fast fashion industry has other problems.

The next issue with fast fashion is the worker exploitation that it entails. Many fast fashion companies have moved to offshore production, where they can take advantage of cheaper labor costs and looser regulations (Marriott). Here, companies force production workers to work in dangerous environments, with low wages and without many human rights (Rauturier). These crowded work environments risk the lives of employees. Doing this allows fast fashion apparel companies to still profit from selling their products at such low costs. These businesses have ensured that the cheaper prices don’t hurt them but their laborers. However, something must be done to stop these adverse effects of fast fashion.

On a larger scale, some governments are acting to regulate the fashion industry. According to the news agency NPR, The European Union is producing regulations against fast fashion. The union has claimed that the manufacturing process involved in this business model uses increasing amounts of fossil fuels, contributing to the worsening of the environment. To slow this, the E.U. aims to establish standards for the durability and reusability of clothing. Moreover, bans would be put in place against the destruction of unsold articles of clothing (Hernandez). Though these ideas are still in the proposal stage, the European Union is at least making headway. This progress will hopefully make the fashion industry more ethical and better for the environment. Moreover, the E.U. is not the only group working against the poor ethics of fast fashion.

Another group of individuals taking a stand against fast fashion are celebrities and influencers. For many fast fashion companies, youth make up the largest demographic of consumers. So, these companies have been making advertisements to appeal to this group. While fast fashion companies target young adults, many influencers and celebrities are fighting back. Some of these influencers even take to social media to post about ethical fashion ideas, hoping to inspire their followers to break away from the fast fashion industry (Horton). Celebrities are trying to encourage alternatives to fast fashion as role models for young and college-aged adults. In their same music video, BTS supports the idea of recycling goods when the member Jimin picks up a used pair of sneakers on the beach. Jimin then brings these sneakers with him to the laundromat to clean used clothes, hinting that these sneakers were being saved for further use (Horton). By joining BTS, many performers also push these alternatives, producing music and videos to publicize their messages. Due to this publicity about the poor ethics of fast fashion, youth are starting to understand this. However, they continue to buy from fast fashion companies despite believing against the companies’ ethics (Horton).

This continued purchasing of fast fashion raises the issue that some young adults, especially those in college, might not know of good alternatives to fast fashion. Nevertheless, the website “Good on You” offers one solution. According to the website, shoppers can buy from sustainable brands, one of which is the company MUD. MUD jeans are a product that comes from recycled and organic cotton. These jeans can also be recycled back to the company once the wearers are done with them. Also, the company strives to have fair working conditions for its workers (Wolfe). However, the side effect of all this is higher prices. When bought new, many articles of clothing from sustainable brands can be considerably more expensive when compared to those of fast fashion, meaning that the average college student may not be able to afford to buy from these brands directly. Fortunately, there are other options for those who cannot afford to buy from sustainable brands.

The next option to explore is the community of buy-sell-trade groups. These groups have websites where you can buy quality used clothes from others (Fang). The community helps prevent the unnecessary throwing out of quality clothing while providing this clothing at an affordable price to the consumer. A quick search on Google will pull up some websites that offer this. A college student or anyone looking to save money could participate in these groups.

Like buy-sell-trade groups, thrift stores, flea markets, and garage sales are good options for buying used clothing. Common thrift stores in Utah, like Goodwill or Deseret Industries, take donated clothing and other goods. These stores quality check their donations to ensure that they do not sell anything unwearable. Flea markets and garage sales also exhibit these cheaper prices, making all three locations good possibilities for finding affordable clothing.

The next alternatives to fast fashion do not involve buying clothing at all. Besides buying clothing, one can borrow or swap clothes, fix or upcycling clothes, or double-check the closet. Borrowing and swapping clothes with friends or relatives can be a quick solution to change one’s style. When looking for a piece to go with one’s outfit, borrowing from someone else is a free but temporary fix (Fang). Working with what one already has is also a good practice. Sometimes, a favorite t-shirt or pants might get a rip. Instead of replacing it, a wearer can fix it. If they do not know how to sew, then going to a sewist can be cheaper than buying a new piece altogether. Finally, double-checking the closet can keep one from doing any added work. Awareness of and using all the clothing in the closet or dresser will reduce the need to buy new styles (Fang). Often, wearing what one likes instead of what is trendy will keep them from unneeded additions to the wardrobe. Altogether, these all can be alternatives to buying from the fast fashion industry.

Although fast fashion provides trendy clothing at an affordable price to college students who otherwise may not be able to afford trendy clothing, the industry proves to be unethical. The rise in fast fashion has also caused an increase in clothing consumption, waste, pollution, and worker exploitation. Luckily, governments and celebrities are speaking out against these poor ethics. To avoid contributing to the problems associated with this industry, we, as college students, can buy from more sustainable brands. We can participate in buy-sell-trade groups. We can practice thrifting, go to flea markets and garage sales, and fix or upcycle clothing. We can borrow or swap and double-check the closet for items we already have. By doing so, we can slow the fast fashion frenzy.

Works Cited

Fang, Lily. “9 Affordable or Free Alternatives to Fast Fashion.” Imperfect Idealist – Travel & Running Blog, 13 Feb. 2022, https://imperfectidealist.com/fast-fashion-alternatives/.

Hernandez, Joe. “Europe Has Designs on Making the ‘Fast Fashion’ Industry More Sustainable.” NPR, NPR, 31 Mar. 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1089819609/fast-fashion-sustainability-european-commission.

Horton, Kathleen. “Just Use What You Have: Ethical Fashion Discourse and the Feminisation of Responsibility.” Australian Feminist Studies, vol. 33, no. 98, Dec. 2018, pp. 515–29. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.dist.lib.usu.edu/10.1080/08164649.2019.1567255.

Kim, Suk-Young. “Beauty and the Waste: Fashioning Idols and the Ethics of Recycling in Korean Pop Music Videos.” Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, vol. 25, no. 1, Jan. 2021, pp. 53–73. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.dist.lib.usu.edu/10.1080/1362704X.2019.1581001.

Marriott, Hannah. “The Truth about Fast Fashion: Can You Tell How Ethical Your Clothing Is by Its Price?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 29 July 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2021/jul/29/the-truth-about-fast-fashion-can-you-tell-how-ethical-your-clothing-is-by-its-price.

Rauturier, Solene. “What Is Fast Fashion and Why Is It so Bad?” Good on You, 26 July 2021, https://goodonyou.eco/what-is-fast-fashion/.

Reppond, Harmony. “Many College Students Struggle to Have Their Basic Needs Met.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, Dec. 2019, https://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/indicator/2019/12/college-students-needs.

“Textiles: Material-Specific Data.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/textiles-material-specific-data.

US Consumer 2018 Back-to-College Survey, Deloitte Center for Industry Insights, 2018.

Vasarhelyi, Kayla. “The Hidden Damage of Landfills.” Environmental Center, University of Colorado, 15 Apr. 2021, https://www.colorado.edu.

Wolfe, Isobella. “Mud Jeans: Embodying the Circular Economy.” Good on You, 25 May 2021, https://goodonyou.eco/mud-jeans-embodying-the-circular-economy/.