Directed by：A ee mi / Terry
Written by： Oguli
Translated by ：A ee mi
Illustrated by：A ee mi
Designed by：Terry
This is a personal project that we simply want to talk about FastFashion, and hope to trigger more discussions on this issue.
You can also read it as an online zine format here.
I never cared about dressing up when I was little. I would rather wear something comfortable and not too weird. Only at Lunar New Year would we go to department stores to pick up some really nice clothes. Mom always said that “new clothes for new year!” along with a smile. There weren’t FastFashion brands at that time. There were only Luxury goods or Western classic brands as I remembered.
When I grew a bit older, I realized that in every department stores there were those same brands, with pure white mannequins wearing trendiest clothes, standing behind the windows of the shops. The price on the tags were unbelievably low. Every few weeks the mannequins were dressed up as totally different looks. Where did the previous outfits go? People who stepped out of the stores with bags of clothes seemed not caring about it at all. They laughed with satisfaction, saying that this is the latest trend.
After a while I noticed that those brands are called FastFashion, or McFashion. Mass production, long working hours, low wage, low-cost commodities, these are reasons why they are so cheap. Sometimes when I passed by I would walk into one of those flagship stores and looked at those clothes, but a feeling of uneasiness just came up on my mind.
To be honest, for people like us who stands at the other side of the scale, I wonder if we could ever feel the pain of those people, or understand the harm of environment to certain areas. However, even that what we saw was only images and words, it’s fair enough to feel bad about it. Things can’t be like this way anymore.
As the development of industrialized society, and in this world that would rather go for fast than any else, the growth and expansion of fashion industry indeed is one of the rapidest.
Clothes being thrown away after worn a couple of times. Even clothes in a drop box might not be worn again at all. More possibly, all those nearly new but second-handed clothes might become massive trash and impact on the environment. Speaking of environment, cotton fiber is extracted from various plants grown in China, Albania, or Zimbabwe, which means that a single piece of clothes might includes cotton from all over the world. However, cotton requires a lot of water and chemical to grow. World Bank indicated that 1/5 of industrial effluent and 10% of carbon dioxide emissions are from garment industry. Most of these factories are based in China, India, and other developing countries. There are only 2.4% of cropland that plants cotton, but 10% of agrochemicals and 25% of pesticide are used.
Low personnel cost is due to exploiting employers or even employing child laborers. The average wage of labors in garment factories is USD$10.61 in Taiwan and USD$1.12 in India. 2013 Savar building collapse, a structural failure that occurred on 24 April 2013 in Bangladesh, happened because that the building’s owners ignored warnings to avoid using the building after cracked had appeared the day before. The building contained several garment factories and shops. 1,134 people died and 2,500 people injured.
Moreover, FastFashion companies stealing artists’ original designs have been reported several times. Justice is still not done, but people more or less understand the whole story. Before these “art theft” cases being reported, is there any possibility that people think the thefts are actually the original artists? As these cases eventually being reported, how many people would actually catch up the news and correct their misconception?
For FastFashion companies nowadays who seek for even lower cost, China might not be the best option. Countries in Southeast Asia could offer a cheaper solution, for which is better. But is it really “better?” Pursuing mass production and low cost is impossible to maintain quality. Both the finesse of tailoring and the quality of material are obviously lacking. But I wonder if they do care. These low quality and low price clothes are continuously and massively being produced. People buy and throw away, and keep doing the same thing.
For those abandoned clothes, it eventually being thrown away to third world countries. Local garment industries in those countries, usually with much smaller scale than FastFashion companies, are having difficulties selling their own products since local residences prefer cheaper and “trendier,” but second-handed FastFashion clothes. It has become a vicious circle, for local garment industries, for overall environment, and for every single person. However, there should be a better way to live.
For young people living in this world, the biggest concern would be salary. If living is hard enough, not to mention buying those expensive clothes. Who could afford it? That is way far from us.
Of course I’d experienced through that crazily-shopping period of time, but I started to feel tired of being enslaved by trend, and feel bored with those massive, various clothes. I realized that “slow” is a kind of romance, an addictive kind of romance. I would prefer taking time in a vintage shop searching for a classic made decades ago, or looking for a piece diligently made by designers with sense and good ideas. I would rather take time finding the “right one” that I used to pass by.
Honestly I could not wear that many clothes. What I like to wear are always those good or classic ones. Maybe what we can do is to slow down, take time selecting a few that really fit and could be worn for a long time.
Not saying that FastFashion is not touchable, or it should be banned. But we certainly should find a balance between fast and slow, a balance that would be gentle to the environment, to others, and to self.
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About the writer :
Oguli is a Taiwanese writer, focusing on living, culture, trend, and fashion. His words are amiable and easy, penetrating, and warm. He operates his own Facebook fan page and website, and also self publishs a female magazine called “buoy” and creates a canvas bag brand called “azure.”
About the illustrator :
A ee mi is an illustrator and animator. She had studied illustration in the U.S., now lives in Taiwan. Her style has changed a lot along with her thought recently. Now she is very interested in Taiwanese culture and social issues. She hopes to create more interesting, bizarre, and personal works, or create works that can trigger discussions on issues she cares about.
Credits：
A ee mi :
IG : e.e___c
Facebook : A ee miTerry :
IG：wlofsd
Facebook : wlofsd歐古力 Oguli：
Facebook : Oguli
Website : www.oguliwei.comSource：
https://buzzorange.com/2017/01/10/fast-fasion-produce-great-amount-of-waste/
https://www.gvm.com.tw/article.html?id=36959
https://www.thenewslens.com/article/36679
If you also care about this issue, or if you simply like the illustrations or the article, please share it around! Or if you’d like to discuss with us, please do contact us! Thank you!
Some photos of the printed zine：
