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From Fashion to Shein

Exposed ankles, baggy clothes, and the same oversized sweatshirt. Every single day of

freshman to junior year my outfit consisted of these elements. I always felt embarrassed about

my 6”1 stature, and my clothing pieces seemed to reflect these insecurities as I always wore

jeans that were too short, never finding my size. I was so unhappy with the way I dressed, but I

wholeheartedly believed no clothes would ever fit me properly or look good on me. That is until

the wide-leg Zara jean slid into my life on a silver platter. The moment I tried them on, I fell in

love with how they fit me. This sparked a revelation in me of how vast the world of fashion

actually is and I was introduced to a whole new world. In retrospect, it feels silly that a pair of

jeans began such a love for fashion, but it truly changed my perspective on not only how I

dressed but also became an outlet for expression and creativity.

However, what originated as a revelation turned into a shopping habit. I became addicted

to adding to my clothing collection, and continually justified my habits by telling myself “other

people spend way more money than me” or “This jacket is on sale though!” It became normal for

me to go out every single weekend to spend money on yet another white button-up shirt that had

a different neckline than the other five I owned.

One day, as I was showing my mom the haul I brought home from an H&M sale, she

warned me about my shopping habits. She told me about how in her youth, shopping was a rare

privilege and she would only buy a new piece if she was absolutely in love with it. The next day

I went through her closet and picked out a couple of my favorite items. They were unique, unlike

all the clothes I saw at the mall, sporting the same pattern and style that was popular that month.

I asked her how her clothes were still such good quality, given the fact that my clothes often

already were losing buttons by the third wash. She was more confused about why my clothes

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were falling apart so easily, so we decided to start researching the differences between how our

clothes were produced.

I began seeing the phrase “fast fashion” repeated on every website we visited. The

difference between my clothes and my mom’s clothes was due to this phenomenon. Over the last

couple of decades, fast fashion companies managed to completely change America’s

consumerism and shopping habits, snuffing out smaller businesses in the meantime. What

brought about this sudden change? Why was fast fashion so enticing to consumers that it

changed the fashion culture completely in such a short amount of time? What originated as my

exploring fashion turned into my senior project question: How does growing consumerism in the

American fashion industry devalue clothing?

Fast fashion clothing companies will outsource in countries like Bangladesh where the

lack of enforced labor laws commonly subjects workers to long hours under unethical and

dangerous conditions. This has only been amplified due to the ever-increasing consumer demand

for clothing at decreasing prices. The Rana Plaza factory tragedy highlights the social costs of

fast fashion when “1,100 garment workers were killed and at least 2,000 [were] injured in the

collapse [of the factory]” (Drennan). After careful inspection, it was revealed that the building

was constructed without a permit and was not up to code. This huge incident finally shed global

attention on the dark side of the garment industry and the social impacts of fast fashion. The

Rana Plaza factory tragedy shed light on how clothing companies prioritized large profit margins

over the safety of workers. People started to pay attention to the labor laws and supported the

people in asking for equal pay. Labor unions in Bangladesh formed in favor of equal pay, against

unfair working conditions, and better hours. In light of the tragedy, the Bangladesh government

has tried to raise wages from $38 to $68 a month and placed stricter employment codes,

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however, 40% of factories still do not follow these new guidelines (Drennan). To put things in

perspective, the average American makes $190 a day. Fast fashion companies that outsource to

overseas nations pay their workers $1-3 a day. “A top corporate CEO in the United States earns

as much as 10,000 garment workers in Bangladesh” (Fellows). Although there has been some

progress made in the right direction, there is still much to do for fair worker rights in countries

like Bangladesh.

Over the last decade, more than a quarter-million Indian cotton farmers committed

suicide due to debt and the inability to keep up with demands from an exponentially growing

demand for cotton (Fellows). As with any company, the clothing industry aims to maximize

profit, so to save on labor, companies will outsource to cheaper nations such as Bangladesh,

Mexico, China, and others. Other than the lower workers’ wages, companies will also outsource

as these countries do not carefully regulate safety protocols (as seen by the Rana Plaza factory

tragedy) and workers’ rights. “With one of the lowest minimum wages in the world, the

Bangladeshi government has been hesitant to raise wages or enforce too many regulations, out of

fear that fashion brands will move production elsewhere as part of the global race to the bottom”

(Adams). Even if workers were to demand a regulated minimum wage and the government

raised the minimum wage, clothing companies would just move factories to another country

where production costs are cheaper. So, many of these textile-producing countries are caught in a

predicament: They can either raise the minimum wage and lose a huge portion of their economy,

causing millions to lose jobs, or continue to work in unsafe conditions at an unlivable wage.

Many countries have opted for the latter, as although there are serious detriments to the fast

fashion industry, there is no denying that the clothing industry has helped millions gain

employment and lowered the poverty rate (Adams).

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Although outsourcing to cheaper nations with unequal labor laws put workers at risk, it is

due to the fashion industry that these countries' economies are seeing growth. However, even if

the garment industry has improved the overall economy of textile-producing nations, does this

come at the expense of individual families and children? Many children have to drop out of

school to work full time and support their families. Child labor in the garment industry is

commonly found in cotton production. Due to the unlivable worker's wages, families often turn

to children to help support the family, pulling them out of school and putting them to work.

Children are put in hazardous environments and exposed to harmful chemicals, high

temperatures, etc. (Borras). For example, denim is made with toxic indigo dye. Children working

in denim factories are exposed to these toxins and many are not given masks, leading to

long-term effects on their health. In addition, children are also often taken advantage of due to

child labor laws prohibiting them to work legally, meaning companies force them to work for

even lesser wages. This causes a cycle of children needing to work to support their families,

them making lower wages and having to work longer hours, and communities staying in poverty

(Goria). The wage gap and long hours are a clear violation of articles 23 and 24 of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights as “everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal

pay for equal work… [and] everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable

limitation of working hours…” (United Nations). Countries that depend so heavily on a

cheap-textile industry often do not protect their workers, perpetuating fast fashion and leading to

workers being taken advantage of. During an interview, Pokey Bolton, the founder of Quilting

Arts and a believer in sustainable fashion, when asked about how companies can reform their

system and help uplift communities with ethical outsourcing said “A viable step for clothing

companies to take from here is to follow a minimum wage requirement and pay their workers a

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livable wage. Children will have the ability to continue school instead of dropping out to support

their families, and workers will be shown that these companies see them as human beings”

(Bolton). However, this is only in a perfect world, as if companies were to participate in this,

they would be lowering their profit and supply. Establishing a wage that satisfies workers and

stopping such a high quota for clothing, will reduce fast fashion. However, the price of clothing

will go up and consumers will simply turn to another company to buy clothes. Hence why this

can only exist in a perfect world, where all fashion brands are willing to set an international

minimum wage. Fast fashion companies exploit unethical labor to produce the cheapest clothing

to maximize profit.

Fast fashion also contributes to global warming and has serious environmental impacts.

To produce such mass amounts of clothing, the garment industry uses excessive water and leaves

a tremendous carbon footprint. Ngan Lee, a graduate student at the University of Princeton

delves deeper into the environmental impact of mass-producing clothes. To think in terms of

clothing, “it takes approximately 3,000 liters of water for one cotton t-shirt” (Lee). In addition to

the water wastage of producing clothes, the process of dying clothes will leave toxic, untreated

water to run off into the ocean. Textile dying is responsible for 20% of all industrial water

pollution. The general carbon footprint the textile industry leaves has gotten significantly higher

over the last decade as “the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of the world’s carbon

footprint” (Fellows). Livia Firth, a UN leader of change and co-founder of eco-age is well versed

in sustainability and the environmental impacts of fashion. When asked about the launch of her

Green Carpet Challenge and why it is so important to advocate for sustainability, she replied:

The Green Carpet Challenge is an initiative that ultimately brings together sustainability

and high fashion into the worldview. Red carpet looks became green carpet looks due to

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the sustainable method of production. I think the GCC project has spread awareness of

eco-friendly clothes and pushed people to research more about their own clothes, and

how it was produced. It is so important to share the message of sustainability, especially

to our youth, because of the dangerous track we are already on. We must begin to reduce

our carbon footprint and be more eco-friendly for the future of your generation.

Firth continues to advocate for sustainability literacy through her projects and pursuit to lessen

humanity's carbon footprint and climate change. In combination with wasting water and a carbon

footprint, the fashion industry is a huge contributor to climate change.

The material clothing is made of has also recently shifted from cotton to polyester. Due to

polyester being easily accessible and cheap, it is used in the production of 60% of clothing

nowadays. However, the quality is far worse than cotton, as it leaves 3 times the amount of

carbon dioxide emissions as cotton, and the waste it leaves behind is non-biodegradable.

Polyester is plastic, so when heated, will release those plastics and toxins into the skin.

Microfibers are another issue that stems from polyester. Microfibers occur when clothes are put

in the washing machine. Because polyester uses synthetic fibers, when stressed they leave behind

microfibers, or small pieces of plastic. In a single washing cycle, 700,000 fibers are flushed

down the drain, traveling to oceans. Fish swallow these microfibers and following the food

cycle, those plastics end up on dinner plates. The damaging effects of polyester do not just

impact the garment industry, but also the health of humans (Brodde).

Fast fashion has led to an increase in American consumerism culture. Elizabeth Cline is

an author, writing to bring awareness to the fast fashion industry and the ethical fashion

movement. She is an advocate for apparel sustainability and labor rights. Overdressed, one of

Clines's best-sellers, demonstrates how shocking the rate of fast fashion has increased over the

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last decade. Much of this can be attributed to how companies feed on psychological and set

societal norms to make people buy more clothes. One of the ways to track how fast fashion has

impacted the American lifestyle is to observe the changes from the late 1900s to now. Cline

states that in the early stages of emerging fashion, there were no big brands that mass-produced

clothes. Consumers did not have many items in their wardrobe due to the expense of textiles, so

every piece was taken care of treasured. As the average consumer’s income began to rise in

tandem with the fashion industry, Americans began buying more clothes. The first big brands

such as GAP emerged and capitalized on mass-producing clothes, marketing themselves as

clothes “every American needs” (Cline). The mass production of these clothes allowed the

increase in quantity while lowering costs. The scales began to tip away from small businesses to

the new era of big brands. Instead of shopping being a once in a while family activity, Americans

began going out shopping every week. The use of psychology began to trickle into the fashion

industry by use of sales and trends. By the 2000s, the quality of clothing had taken a nosedive,

and to accommodate for fast fashion, clothes became homogenous and generic, made up of

simple designs. Cline expresses how Americans no longer have a relationship with their clothing,

only buying into the next microtrend and letting it collect dust in their wardrobe the month after

(Cline). Cline describes having a relationship with clothing in her other book: The Conscious

Closet. She explains that a couple of decades ago, it was normal to have a smaller closet with

clothes a consumer treasured. Clothes would be more expensive, tailored, and cared for. Due to

the care put into the piece, the consumer would get a lot of utility out of the piece of clothing.

Now, with the emergence of fast fashion, there is no more care and tailoring happening to

clothes. The relationship between the consumer and clothes is severed because a cheap

investment of a large number of clothes has overtaken curated, individualistic closets.

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Recently, the connection between fast fashion and social media has quickly grown. Fast

fashion is increasingly spurred on by the youth by means of social media such as TikTok which

perpetuate the idea of microtrends. The term “microtrend” is used to describe a trend that is

essentially a fad, or a trend that lasts for a short amount of time. “According to a 2021 survey,

61% of consumers under 24 of age follow clothing brands on social media and half say they’ve

bought clothes based on a recommendation from a social media influencer.” (Bansal) The impact

social media influencers have on teenagers extends to fashion. In addition, social media is used

by brands to market their products. As they collect data on what type of clothing ad someone

clicks on, they will shove more clothing that they believe will fit that person's demographic. This

has led to the previous statistic on how so many people buy clothing based on targeted ads.

Another popular type of video on social media platforms like TikTok are hauls. These videos

entail an influencer buying lots of clothes and showing them to their audience, which perpetuates

the idea that buying these sorts of hauls is common and what the average American spends on

fashion. Influencers posting these hauls encourage their viewers to also buy new clothes, leading

to overconsumption. As influencers keep buying into new microtrends and expanding their

wardrobe, so does their audience. The deeply rooted connection between social media and fast

fashion impacts the youth of America.

Growing consumerism in the American fashion industry has devalued the price, quality,

and the relationship one has with their clothes. The increasing urge Americans have to buy cheap

and low-quality clothes has led to the birth of the booming fast fashion industry. Fast fashion has

completely changed the outlook of American fashion in a short amount of time. The reason for

its success is based on its unethical labor methods, cheap materials, and marketing strategies. In

addition to the physical repercussions of fast fashion, emotionally, it separates clothes from the

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consumer. Instead of clothes being a way to express yourself, it has turned into fitting into the

next introduced trend.

Fast fashion has led to increasing consumerism due to the fast turnover rate of micro

trends. Companies race to design these trends, making unoriginal pieces and quickly outsourcing

to other nations. Oftentimes these nations will use unethical methods of production that put

workers at risk. Eventually, these clothes end up on racks, in stores from Zara to H&M, with

insanely low prices and poor quality. Then, the cycle restarts, and restarts, and restarts.

As consumers, the best way to combat the negative impacts of fast fashion are to research

and be educated on where clothes come from. Fast fashion is damaging in many aspects of

society; from ethics to environmental concerns. Shopping sustainably such as giving new life to

resale items in thrift stores and buying from ethical small businesses can lessen the impact fast

fashion already has on Earth. Although it is impossible to cut fast fashion out of our lives

completely, another way to repair our relationship with clothes is to be thoughtful in our

purchases. Invest in timeless pieces, that you will treasure and wear. By making these small

changes to our lifestyle, we can dismantle the American consumeristic culture and cycle of fast

fashion, finding meaning in our clothes.

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