It’s Time to Slow Down Our Fashion
How your wardrobe choices affect the world around you
I had the pleasure of escaping city life and spending the last two-ish weeks visiting my friend, Prairie, in the Northeast of Thailand where she owns a cotton village that produces sustainable fabrics. They are involved in the whole process from growing cotton seeds all the way to turning them into textiles. Through this, she creates jobs for local artisan women, uplifting the economy and helping the environment.
Being there during the lull of Covid, we got to chat more about sustainable clothing. Prior to this, the only thing I knew about the realm of sustainable clothing was limited to the True Cost documentary I watched in college, so I was eager to learn more about something that is relevant to all of us — our clothes.
Where do your clothes come from?
Dear reader, let me ask you this —do you know where your clothes are from?
And no, I don’t just mean the tag that says “Made in X, ” I mean where does the material come from? Who’s harvesting the material? How is the material pieced together to create clothes?
Chances are you’re like me; you don’t know where your clothes come from and therefore, you’re probably a supporter of fast fashion.
What’s fast fashion?
Fast fashion, according to a Google search, is “inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends”.
From our conversation, I came to understand that “fast” refers to both production and consumption. Fast fashion is produced cheaply and quickly, and it’s designed to be sold quickly so you buy more.
She explained that fast fashion is like having 52 seasons of the year — a different micro season for every week. Companies want you to be buying more and buying quicker so each week they come out with sales and ploys to draw you into fishing out your credit card.
So, what’s the problem with fast fashion?
Well, for one, fast fashion isn’t created to last. You might wear it a few times, and then it ends up in a forgotten corner of your wardrobe, only to be chucked out later.
And it’s cheap, so you can probably guess that they’re cutting costs somewhere along the production line. This means things like underpaying garment workers, subjecting them to arduous and inhumane working conditions. A well-known example is the collapse of Rana Plaza, a building housing garment factories in Bangladesh.
Because it’s mass-produced, it’s also terrible for the environment, creating millions of tons of waste and using up trillions tons of water per year.
Think about all the chemicals used to dye clothes, and then also think of all the textile waste of people throwing out their clothes when it comes time to Marie Kondo their lives.
What are the alternatives to fast fashion?
At this point, you might be thinking, okay, so fast fashion is bad, so what else is out there? I’ve heard terms like ethical fashion, sustainable fashion, and slow fashion throw around out there before but never understood the difference and nuances between them. So I asked Prairie and did a bit of research, and here’s the SparkNotes summary:
- Ethical fashion: Concerned about human and animal rights. Think: paying those involved in the textile industry a living wage, fair working conditions, and not using child labor.
- Sustainable fashion: Concerned about the environmental impacts of the textile industry. Think: organic material, recycling, using natural dyes instead of chemicals.
- Slow fashion: Slow refers to the pace of both production and consumption. Think: The production process is slow and when you buy something, it will last you a long time.
Of course, there can be overlap between these categories. For example, I’d argue that Prairie’s textiles and products embody all of these — women artisans who weave and make clothes get paid a fair wage (ethical); they use natural dyes like indigo plants and tree bark for color (sustainable), and production (from growing the cotton to create a finished fabric) can take up to six months (slow).
You can also have instances where something falls only into one of two of these. Take Everlane for example. It’s touted for its transparency and ethics, and it’s made to last. But in terms of sustainability, some are saying that they aren’t that green, as they don’t use any sustainable fabrics across their line, among other things.
Reflection questions to answer your “What’s next”
We’ve dissected fast fashion and what it is, and what the other terms you might hear are, what now? After all, we’re on Medium, so this is the point in the article where you ask me what you’re supposed to take away from this article.
And so, I deliver you some food for thought to chew on:
1) What are your values?
Everyone has different values. Some people are huge proponents of the environment, others care about human rights. There’s no right or wrong answer about what your values should be — it’s just what you care about.
I personally care deeply about gender equality and giving women voices and equal opportunity. So get clear on your values and what’s important to you. Because that leads us to —
2) Where is your money going and who/what is it supporting?
When you spend money on something, you are saying hey, I support you! As a consumer, your dollars matter. Your dollars (or pounds, Euros, rupees, etc.) are important and empowering.
So personally, when it comes to buying clothes (or anything really), I may be looking for companies who fairly employ women and give them jobs, because that’s what’s important to me.
It might seem like your decision to buy or not buy something is just a drop in the bucket, but hey, all those little drops accumulate to a full bucket of water. Every drop counts. And the more you buy, the more drops you contribute to that bucket.
So, be intentional with your purchases. Every time you’re about to buy something, ask yourself if your values are in line with your purchasing choices because you’re voting with your money.
3) What research do you need to do before buying?
I personally think we can all be consuming and buying less. If we were buying less and enough, we wouldn’t always have to declutter. But if you need to buy something, take small steps to educate yourself and become aware.
Do your research and be a conscious consumer. Who and what are you supporting, and are you okay with that? For example, there are apps out there that can show you a brand’s footprint.
Doing research also means slowing down the consumption process, so instead of buying quickly and purporting to fast fashion, the process of research already means you’re erring towards slow(er) fashion.
Your decisions make a difference, however small
All of us have different financial situations and we care about different causes. It’s also exhausting to have to question every single purchasing decision and where your money is going.
Does this company use organic cotton? What is the true cost of this product? Was this T-shirt produced ethically?
It’s draining, I know, and sometimes you don’t have the bandwidth to think twice. But I do think it’s important to carve out the space to think, do the research, and be intentional in what you consume.
You don’t have to become an expert overnight, but any small steps you take will make a difference in the world and also cement to you your values and what you stand for.
Thank you for reading.
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