Young Women and the Fast Fashion Industry
The fast fashion industry is a relatively new branch of the fashion world. Fast fashion is the rapid production of clothes that sample from the latest trends and luxury/catwalk designs. These clothes are produced in high volumes and sold at low prices; they are also most often of low quality.
The fast fashion industry began to build momentum in the early 2000s, with featured brands such as ZARA, H&M, SHEIN, and Urban Outfitters becoming household names for young women. This industry feeds the habits of buying and throwing away, gaining profit from society’s quickly changing trends, and targeting young women.
The article “ Just Use What You Have: Ethical Fashion Discourse and the Feminisation of Responsibility” by Kathleen Horton creates a detailed description of this dilemma.
Horton describes how the gender stereotypes between women and shopping have created a perfect target for the fast fashion industry. Horton describes a report from IBISWorld (2017), Horton explains, “ The report states, ‘people aged between 15 and 34 are the primary target market of fast fashion retailers’ currently making up 66% of the market” (Horton, 2018). This statement describes that more than half of the consumer market is targeted by fast-fashion retailers and it’s working in their favor. These young, malleable consumers are preyed upon by the fast fashion industry.
Compared to around 30 or 40 years ago women have become increasingly influenced by fast fashion, no longer looking for quality, timeless pieces of clothing. Instead, this influence has created the belief that when a piece of clothes has been worn for a certain amount of time, generally a short time period, it no longer is worth anything and shouldn’t be worn any longer. To display this the author states, “The report also explains that ‘fast fashion generally holds greater appeal to women’ (and presumably ‘girls’) who also apparently ‘generally wear items of clothing less times than men’ ” (Horton, 2018). In other words, clothing is quickly thrown away after only being used a few times. This leads these women right back to fast-fashion retailers to buy more clothing. This is the constant cycle that women in these age ranges fall into due to fast fashion targeting.
This is a disturbing concept, as the children born into this era have been targeted by these brands since the moment they learned of fashion and trends. This cycle could live on into their later years if women are not properly educated on the issues fast fashion creates.
Not only does the cheap production of fast fashion cause environmental issues, but the cycle of buy and discard builds on these environmental issues. Making the fast fashion industry one of the biggest players in climate change.
Though young women are the main contributors to this issue, they are also the people creating the solutions and movements for solving these dilemmas. Horton describes that young women are often the creators of blogs and social platforms that aim to be fashion influencers while also informing on ethical fashion. Social media platforms have made informing on ethical fashion more accessible and interesting to young women.
There is no shortage of information on how to switch to slow fashion on the internet. Horton describes one option derived from a fashion vlog “The tips cover alternative sites of provision — with ‘thrifting’ or ‘charity shopping’ featuring frequently as the number one ethical option” (Horton, 2018). These methods of sustainability, often called sustainable shopping, are some of the most welcoming ways in building a circular economy and reducing textile waste in the environment. Thrift shopping and buying second hand has become increasingly popular over the last few years.
Though, in reality, thrifting has only become a popular trend, so sadly it’s mostly not young women aiming to be ethically fashionable. However, it is building habits for young women to become sustainable shoppers without even realizing it, which is a big win for the sustainable fashion movement.
Horton also follows with describing some other ways in which women can be more ethically fashionable, stating “Other suggestions feature more programmatic (or quantitative) approaches — including downsizing, working with a capsule wardrobe, or becoming a minimalist” (Horton, 2018). In other words, there are many options that bring sustainable fashion into our lives that create healthy habits. Minimalism, mentioned above, is an excellent form of sustainable fashion
Minimalism is characterized by simplicity; it means to only own what you need. This is an incredibly difficult concept for human beings, as we tend to become overly attached to inanimate objects such as pictures, toys, and, in this case, clothing.
The memories we have with a certain dress or pair of shoes gives us the excuse to keep them even if we never wear them again in our entire lifetime. Instead of letting our clothes collect dust, minimalism instructs that we downsize our possessions and our closets so that we utilize the clothes we own to the fullest extent. Horton persuasively describes the relationship between fast fashion and young women, and if this relationship was left unsaid people may never realize how much of an influence fast fashion has made on the latest generation’s women.
Minimalism in my perspective is one of the best ways to enter into the ethical fashion world. A few years ago, I began trying to downsize and become a minimalist. However, it’s incredibly difficult for a person like me, who grew up on fast fashion, to downsize while trying to keep up with the latest trends. Though much of this issue can relate to my personal attachment to my clothing, I believe that most of it has to do with fast fashion’s influence on me and my generation.
For a long time now one of my goals has been to donate all of the fast fashion in my closet and completely start over. The COVID-19 pandemic has made me, as well as my family, realize just how little we need in comparison to how much we actually own. This fact, as well as the article I have just analyzed, has invigorated this goal of mine.
I plan for my closet to be filled with timeless, good-quality clothing that is easily matched with any piece I own. Slow fashion is expensive, so it will take time and money but the classic fashion styles that minimalism tends to lean towards only require a few articles of clothing.
To really begin my journey in becoming a fashion minimalist, I plan on doing the 10x10 challenge. This challenge is to pick only 10 articles of clothing for 10 days, I plan on beginning this challenge on March 11th, 2021, documenting my progress and posting about this in a later blog post.
As I continue to research ethical fashion, I realize just how much of an issue I am to the environmental issues that the fashion industry creates. From textile waste to fast fashion, I am just as much a contributor as anyone else. It makes me really question my tastes and morals, as well as my knowledge about good quality in clothing.
I hope this blog is helping readers consider these issues as well and realize that little things like donating our clothing, downsizing, and thrifting can make just as much of a difference as any large company’s sustainable actions.
Works Cited
Horton, K. (2018). Just Use What You Have: Ethical Fashion Discourse and the Feminisation of Responsibility. Australian Feminist Studies, 33(98), 515–529.
