Fast Fashion & Privilege: Sustainable Shopping and Who It’s For
As the conversation around fast fashion becomes louder, marketing teams start to wise up. The word ‘sustainable’ becomes the accessory of the year. It glosses the lips of influencers, gets splashed across ad campaigns and reassures us as we click ‘checkout’. Yet, the authentic world of sustainable fashion- where that word is not just an adjective but a policy, a core value, a process- remains shut out of the mainstream. You can name the bad guys (Pretty Little Thing, Boohoo, Topshop- they pop up between Instagram stories and TV shows, after all), but the other side of that coin remains a niche that requires research and careful thought- no contender against the convenience of a few minutes on ASOS.
“There remains a misconception surrounding the economic accessibility of ethical consumption that serves only to fuel the greed of low-quality mass producers”
Loudly and clearly- the ability to shop selectively is a privilege, dependent on money and freedom. For those who lack this privilege, these issues and solutions are a distant concern. For the rest, however, there remains a misconception surrounding the economic accessibility of ethical consumption that serves only to fuel the greed of low-quality mass producers. Many believe that fast fashion can be spotted in bargain prices, whilst ethically-made items occupy the higher end. In truth, expensive clothes can be sewn in sweatshops and organic fibers can be more affordable than you think- when prices aren’t inflated to squeeze high profit margins out of consumers who have the economic means to be choosy.
“Cheap clothes become expensive when you factor in the environmental and human cost to producing them. The price is just as high except you’re not paying it, you’re living it.”
Investing in high-quality items that outlive trend cycles is certainly a sustainable way to shop, but such quality can be found outside of exclusive price ranges. We must realise that where cheaper alternatives for a sustainable purchase exist, the fact is not that the cost of a conscious supply chain is too high but that anything lower is criminally so. Cheap clothes become expensive when you factor in the environmental and human cost to producing them. The price is just as high except you’re not paying it, you’re living it — in the 80% of all produced garments sent to landfills or incinerators; in the industry’s 6.7% contribution to global climate impacts; in the 90% of garment workers without the power to negotiate their wages or improve their working conditions.
Skipping out on staff well being, quality textiles and a cohesively responsible supply chain can make clothes cheap and cheap clothes can make fashion accessible. Yet the notion that relative poverty is a fair justification for supply-chain poverty is thinking that will keep society divided and exploitative. Clothes should never be so cheap that they cost the safety of people and the vitality of ecosystems- this is a market failure, a scandal, something that we should reject vocally and in our shopping habits.
So, what is the antidote? We can learn to shop smarter, supporting transparency in small businesses and larger companies who have a strong environmental and ethical framework in place. Where this means passing up on a dirt cheap alternative, we can reject the kind of thinking that causes us to want exponentially and settle for less, for clothes that can be reworked and re-worn. We can shop more intentionally, embrace the second-hand market, become content with what we have, realise that last summer’s swimwear works just as well this year, buy one £40 top instead of four for £10. However, individual action must be complemented by systemic shifts- greater supply chain transparency and living wages mandated by law, strong environmental policies that protect the most vulnerable. We must take these issues with us when we vote, introduce them into our conversations and carry them in our shopping baskets. Consumers have the power to choose where our money goes and who it harms or helps; opening up the sustainable fashion industry beyond £100 linen t-shirts will help us all to use this power better.
