Sustainability and Fast Fashion

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Sustainability and Fast Fashion Introduction In general, the global fashion industry is young compared to many other goods-producing industries. Before the 18th century, many things in the fashion industry were being made for individuals, and mass marketing could not be heard of. Designers tended to craft clothing on an individual basis, and it used to take a long time to create the garments. The things that were being made were very durable and of high quality. This was because everything was handcrafted for the consumer. The sewing machines were later invented in the 1830s by Barthelemy Thimonnier. Due to the rise of global capitalism in the 1900s, a system of production that included many workers, large factories, and advanced sewing machines came into existence (McNeill & Moore, 2015). Fashion was now becoming a mass-produced commodity that no longer customized products at fixed sizes and flat prices. Across the global level, the industry has become very big, valued at $1.2 trillion.

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Over $250 billion is said to be spent annually in the United States only. In the U.S., the industry employs over 2,000,000 people in Los Angeles and New York City (BBC, 2017).

However, the industry is still structurally diverse, and it has suppliers across the world.

Currently, the fast-fashion model revolves around high-speed productions, just-in-time manufacturing, short lead times, and long and secretive supply chains, leading to high consumption levels. This has implications for sustainability.

Objectives 

To unveil some of the implications that fast fashion bears on sustainability.

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Unveil some of the pillars that will instill sustainability in fast fashion.

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Consider a case from the perspective of how fast fashion has implications on sustainability.

Findings The fast-fashion business model has taken over the industry and has placed ethics, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility on the back burner to retail trend-sensitive fashion that is easily affordable. Initially, the clothing retailers would release between two and four collections in a year, one for each season, i.e., spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Firms eventually started offering new collections of products once every month or in peak times of fashion trends. As a result, the popular trends could be reflected in these changing collections to keep up (Adams, 2014). The lead ties had to be made shorter, which led to a general decrease in quality.

The urge to make huge profits and compete with the demands of the industry has grown the appetite of players in the industry at the expense of business ethics. This trend cuts across all

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industries, but the fashion industry is the most affected. This can be attributed to the unique characteristics of the industry. There is also a sense that fast-fashion retailers are well known for the exploitative practices in their supply chains. They are said to rip off intellectual property from the other fashion houses and fuel the desire to buy more and more. Most fast-fashion retailers market towards young adults and teenagers, but many also cater to consumers of all ages, economic backgrounds, and social backgrounds (BBC, 2017). Companies include different lines and collections of clothing that range in price to appeal to everyone. In addition, fast fashion places a demand on retailers and designers that businesses are supposed to maximize all costs. This tends to put at risk every link in the supply chain and leads to exploitative practices and intellectual property infringement (Li, Zhao, Shi & Li, 2014).

Conversely, it has also been argued that fast fashion can have some positive connotations as far as sustainability is concerned. The next three factors that will be explained are more related to the production process of sustainable fashion. Under normal circumstances, sustainable products are sometimes locally made to minimize the transportation cost as well as contribute to the local economy. Also, they are fair trade certified in many cases, which touches on various aspects that are part and parcel of sustainability, such as the respect for human rights in the production process and labor conditions that are very acceptable by all standards (Brewer, 2019).

Furthermore, artisan technics are also embraced in the production of fast fashion. Fashion designers and manufacturers are embracing the artisan approach, referring to traditional ways of producing fashion with new ways of consumption. Finally, the last two factors are connected to the tendency to embrace longer usage of fashion items to encourage less consumption.

Upcycling clothes or buying fashion second-hand has been a trend for sustainabilityconscious consumers, which is why vintage is the first factor related to consumption patterns of

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sustainable fashion. Secondly, custom-made fashion is a way to decrease the number of massproduced disposable fashion and ensure a better quality of the garments, leading to a longer clothing utilization by the consumers (BBC, 2017). In total, these aspects of a sustainable fashion can be summarized in three main consideration points, which are the utilized raw materials incorporating recycled, organic and vegan materials, the production process that empowers workers throughout the supply chain, and the fact that there is long-lasting consumption through upcycling and a higher quality of the fashion item.

There are around four pillars that define sustainability in fast fashion. These include the product, customer interface, the business's financial aspect, and infrastructure management. The product is increasingly playing a pivotal role in creating a value proposition. This refers to the belief that a customer has about the product in terms of its ability to meet their desire in the acquisition, experience, and deliverability, among other aspects. There is an increasing need for high-quality garments supplied by sustainable-certified suppliers in fast fashion. The value proposition for fast fashion tends to be on-trend clothing at low prices. As much as the low prices may be good for the customers, there is a sense that the externalized costs put the workers and the environment at risk. When it comes to the consumers' interface, the manner in which a company is performing from the perspective of the customers should be a priority for the top management. Things such as the distribution channels are of the essence here.

Sometimes, fast fashion uses the internet to hear straight from the consumers about what they want when they place their orders. Both brick and mortar stores and online stores have become important in distribution. The pillar becomes important when it comes to the aspect of keeping a healthy relationship with the customers, which is also very important for fast fashion firms. As for infrastructure management, this is more concerned with value configuration. This

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demands that beyond the quality of products, companies are expected to be passionate about sustainability and go the extra mile in building brand identity and awareness among the consumers. The financial aspect has to do with the revenue model, the cost structure, and the business model's sustainability (Balch, 2013).

Taking a real-world case into perspective, Bangladesh is said to be one of the largest manufacturers and producers of fashion across the world. Most of the garments produced in the factories are a part of a supply chain that sells clothes in the United States. First, the Rana Plaza catastrophe greatly affected the supply chains. The building was eight stories high and comprised shops, offices, banks, and garment factories manufacturing as subcontractors in long and secretive supply chains. The collapse of the building is said not to have been sudden, as there were signs and a buildup. After the collapse, labels were discovered in the wreckage that suggests the factory was producing garments for brands such as Mango, Primark, and Walmart (Brewer, 2019). These inexpensive stores were said to rely on lower-quality items and cheap labor to sell at high quantities and low prices. Competitiveness and the drive to make huge profits have made the fast-fashion industry overlook corporate social responsibility and sustainability on a larger scale. A brand can no longer afford to ignore the sustainability standards, starting from the in-house stores to the entire supply chain (McNeill & Moore, 2015).

Conclusion and recommendations The fashion industry has a lot of diversity with its supply chain spread across the world.

At the moment, the fast-fashion model is anchored on high-speed productions, just-in-time manufacturing, short lead times, and long and secretive supply chains, leading to high consumption levels. This has had far-reaching effects on sustainability. Sustainability has to do with meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations.

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Fast fashion is innovative because it tends to rely on trends, profit margins can be high, and the life cycles of products are relatively short. This implies that fast-fashion retailers are supposed to use the market-responsive supply chain. On the other hand, slow fashions are said to have longer product life cycles, low-profit margins, and demand that happens to be more accurate to forecast.

One of the implications of the fast fashion model is that it sabotages sustainability in many ways, e.g., fast-fashion retailers are well known for the exploitative practices in their supply chains.

However, if well leveraged, the four pillars will redefine fast fashion as a sustainable way of doing things. These include the product, customer interface, the business's financial aspect, and infrastructure management. The case of Rana plaza points towards a situation where sustainability practices, starting from infrastructure to supply chain to social responsibility, were not observed. Therefore, stakeholders in the fast-fashion industry can embrace hybrid supply chain elements of both efficient and responsive supply chains.

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References Adams, R. (2014, October 17). Millennials Can’t Sew Or Do Laundry As Well As Their Parents & Grandparents, Study Says. Huffington Post. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/17/millennials-laundry_n_6002244.html Balch, O. (2013). H&M: can fast fashion and sustainability ever really mix. The Guardian, 3.

BBC. (2017, January 16). Ikea sustainability report reveals the firm sent zero waste to landfill in 2016. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/38636272/ikea-sustainability-reportreveals-the-firm-sent-zero-waste-to-landfill-in-2016 Brewer, M.K. (2019). Slow fashion in a fast-fashion world: Promoting sustainability and responsibility. Laws, 8(4), 24.

Li, Y., Zhao, X., Shi, D., & Li, X. (2014). Governance of sustainable supply chains in the fast fashion industry. European Management Journal, 32(5), 823-836.

McNeill, L., & Moore, R. (2015). Sustainable fashion consumption and the fast-fashion conundrum: fashionable consumers and attitudes to sustainability in clothing choice.

International Journal of Consumer Studies, 39(3), 212-222.