Kristin Gillman
Sustainability and the Future of
FashionBlog post 3
The movie True
Cost and the novel Overdressed really opened my eyes to many issues
in the way fast fashion is negatively impacting the environment and ethics.
Fast fashion targets a specific market in the fashion industry. Consumers are
now caring less about the quality and brand of the clothing and focusing more
on the price of the garments. Fast fashion brands are striving for lower prices
and consumers are following the lowest price. In the novel, the author talks
about in detail how the demographic of consumers that spend the most money on
clothing are consumers from teens to the age 25. This group of consumers do not
have to the most money and typically in school working low paying jobs. This is
the market that fashion brands are targeting because they are the most
spenders.
To be able to get
the cost of clothing so much lower than in the past, the brands are outsourcing
their production in developing countries. This is because they have less
intense labor laws as well as a very low minimum wage pay. This allows the
companies to sell the clothing for very cheap. In the movie True Cost,
there was footage and interviews with factory workers in these developing
countries. For example, the workers in a garment factory in Bangladesh
complained multiple times about the foundation cracking. The workers feared
going in to work that the building would collapse. When the complaints were
ignored the building eventually fell, killing over 1000 garment workers. This
is how we got to the way the fashion industry is today. The demand for fast cheap fashion has
increased immensely and that’s because of the consumers. Consumers think that
clothing can be mad cheap but that is not the case.
In order to try
and improve the negative effects of fast fashion, the mindset of the consumer
must change. More companies could move their production factories back to the
United States and supply more jobs to American people. The labor costs are
higher which will result in the increase in price of clothing. However, this
will solve many problems such as, the waste of textiles. This will reduce waste
of textiles because consumers would be buying less because of the decrease in
cheap clothing. Overall, the movie and novel is very inspiring to make a change
on consumerism and the way these fast fashion brands are operating.
Hi Kristin!
ReplyDeleteI love your insight on the movie. You are so right, we are the demographic that barely has any money to pay our rent, but we demand to always look our best. Fast fashion is the literal bane of my existence. It makes me so upset to think about, which is why I stopped shopping at fast fashion retailers all together. I refuse to give my hard earned dollars to a place that barely pays their workers anything.
Great Post Kristen! It is devastating to see the realities of the lives these garment workers have. It should be our responsibility as millennials to support brands with good working conditions and sustainable production being that our generation consume so much.
ReplyDeleteYou have clearly, concisely and creatively summed up the messages from Overdressed and The True Cost- nice work! You give us the whys and hows and that's what a good post must include. I wonder- how do you propose we can change the mindset of the consumer? How can we reverse the thinking that has allowed consumers to continue to demand and but into fast fashion? Great post Kristin!
ReplyDeleteKristin, I love the clarity with which you explain the impact that outsourcing production of cheap fashion has on the people and natural resources of developing countries. Totally agree that the first step in addressing sustainability in fashion is a shift in people's mindset.
ReplyDelete