dressing up when I was little. I would rather wear something comfortable and not too weird. Only at Luna r N ew Yea r woul d we go to d e par tme n t store s to pick up some really nice clothes. Mom always said that “new clothes for new year!” along with a smile. There weren’t Fa s t Fa s hi on bran d s at that time . T he re were onl y Luxur y g oods or We ste rn classic bran d s as I rememb ered. W h e n I g r e w a b i t o l d e r, I r e a l i z e d t h a t i n e v e r y depar tment stores there were those same brands, with pure white mannequins wearing trendiest clothes, standing behind the windows of the shops. T h e p r i c e o n t h e t a g s w e r e u n b e l i e v a b l y l o w. E v e r y few weeks t he ma nnequi ns we re d re sse d 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 l a t es t t rend. A f t e r a w h i l e I n o t i c e d t h a t t h o s e b ra n d s a r e c a l l e d FastFashion, or McFashion. Mass production, long working hours, low wage, low-cost commodities, t hes e a re rea s ons why t hey are so che ap. Some time s when I passed by I would walk into one of those flagship stores and looked at those clothes, but a feel i ng of unea s i nes s jus t c ame up on my min d .
To b an e h w on on ds of de at e s t, r t ha t h fo o s if he H rm o w e th r p ow e o pe on f co er e o e e p t o ly i ver nv o p uld sid l e , e iro l e m ev e o lik lik f e , a v n ge e en er f t e m or e s en th l b u n fe he u s a d an th is t e As sc w h a d t w o der l t al o w t ay a b so th s t he e o u or wha ce e a c r a d pa , I ra ta ny ie t t n s d , d ev i w i i m g r t h e t y, th n o r t . T i t ’s e s n a a el r e. hi fa aw rea e in o w go nd opm ng ir du t w s. en e s st h a f o i n c a nou as ry n d r f thi t o n’ as s gh in f t de e w i t be th or ndu ed x p l a a s d is n n t on s i o a n t h a r i a liz e t y n of o f els wo ed th u e, ld f e t ra a s h he pi de i o st n . st
Clothes being thrown away after worn a couple of times. Even clothes in a d r o p b o x m i g h t n o t b e w o r n a g a i n a t a l l . M o r e p o s s i b l y, a l l t h o s e n e a r l y n e w but second-handed clothes might become massive trash and impact on the e n v i ro n m e n t . S p e a k i n g o f e n v i ro n m e n t , c o t to n f i b e r i s e x t ra c t e d f ro m v a r i o u s plants grown in China, Albania, or Zimbabwe, which means that a single p i e c e o f c l o t h e s m i g h t i n c l u d e s c o t t o n f r o m a l l o v e r t h e w o r l d . H o w e v e r, c o t t o n r e q u i r e s a l o t o f w a t e r a n d c h e m i c a l t o g r o w. W o r l d B a n k i n d i c a t e d that 1/5 of industrial effluent and 10% of carbon dioxide emissions are from g a r m e n t i n d u s t r y. M o s t o f t h e s e f a c to r i e s a re b a s e d i n C h i n a , I n d i a , a n d o t h e r d e v e l o p i n g c o u n t r i e s . T h e re a re o n l y 2 . 4 % o f c ro p l a n d t h a t p l a n t s c o t to n , b u t 10% o f a gro c h e mi c a l s a nd 25% of p es t i ci de a re us ed.
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, h a p p e n e d b e c a u s e t h a t t h e b u i l d i n g ’s owners ignored warnings to avoid u s i n g t h e b u i l d i n g a f t e r c ra c k e d h a d a p p ea red t he day b efore . T he build in g contained several garment factories and shops. 1,134 people died and 2, 500 p eop l e i njured.
M o r e o v e r, F a s t F a s h i o n c o m p a n i e s s t e a l i n g ar tists’ original designs have been repor ted several times. Justice is still not done, but people more or less understand the w h o l e s t o r y. B e f o r e t h e s e “a r t t h e f t � c a s e s being repor ted, is there any possibility that people think the thefts are actually the original artists? As these cases eventually being reported, how many people would a c t u a l l y c a t c h u p t h e n e w s a n d c o r re c t t h e i r m is c o nc ept ion ?
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. Bu t is i t re a l l y “be t t e r ? ” Purs ui ng ma s s p roduct i on a nd l ow cost is impossible to main tain q u a lity. B o t h t h e f i ne s s e of t a i l ori ng a nd t he qua l i t y of mate rial are obv iously lack in g. But I wonder if they do care. These low quality and low price clothes are continuously and m a ssi ve l y be i n g pro d u c e d. Peop l e b uy a nd t hrow a way, a nd ke e p d oin g the same thin g. For t h o s e a b a n d o n e d c l o t h e s , i t eve n t u a l l y b e i n g t h ro w n a w ay to t h i rd w o r l d c o u n t r i e s . L o c a l g a r m e n t i n d u s t r i e s i n t h o s e c o u n t r i e s , u s u a l l y w i t h m u c h s m a l l e r s c a l e t h a n Fa s t Fa s h i o n com p a n i e s , a re h avi n g d i ffi cul t i es s el l i ng t hei r own p roducts sin ce local re sid e n ce s pre fe r c h e a p e r a n d “ t r e n d i e r,” b u t s e c o n d - h a n d e d Fa s t Fa s h i o n c l o t h e s . I t h a s b e c o m e a v i c i o u s c i rc l e , f o r l o c a l g a r m e n t i n d u s t r i e s , f o r o v e ra l l e n v i ro n m e n t , a n d f o r e v e r y s i n g l e p e r s o n . H ow eve r, t h e re s h o u l d b e a b et t er way to l i ve.
For young people living in this world, the b i g g e s t c o n c e r n w o u l d b e s a l a r y. I f l i v i n g i s hard enough, not to mention buying those e x p ens i ve cl ot hes . Who coul d a fford it? T hat is way fa r from us . O f c o u r s e I ’d e x p e r i e n c e d t h ro u g h t h a t c ra z i l y shopping period of time, but I star ted to feel t i red of b ei ng ens l aved by t rend, a nd fe e l bore d w i t h t h o s e m a s s i ve , va r i o u s c l o t h e s . I re a l i ze d t h a t “s l o w ” i s a k i n d o f r o m a n c e , a n a d d i c t i v e k i n d o f ro m a n c e . I w o u l d p re fe r t a k i n g t i m e i n a vintage shop searching for a classic made decades ago, or looking for a piece diligently made by des i g ners wi t h s ens e a nd good id e as. I w oul d ra t her t a ke t i me fi ndi ng t he “right on e” t h a t I us ed to p a s s by. Honestly I could not wear that many clothes. What I like to wear are always those good or c l as s i c ones . M ayb e wha t we ca n do is to slow down, take time selecting a few that really fit and coul d b e worn for a l ong t i me. N o t s a y i n g t h a t Fa s t Fa s h i o n i s n o t t o u c h a b l e , o r i t s houl d b e b a nned. B ut we cer t ain ly should find a balance between fast and slow, a balance that would be gentle to the environment, to o thers , a nd to s el f.
A b out t he wri t er : Og u l i i s a Ta i wa n e se write r, f ocusin g 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 c a l l e d “ b u o y ” a n d c re a t e s a c a n v a s b a g b ra nd ca l l ed “a zure .” A b out t he i l l us t rator : A e e m i i s a n i l l u s t r a t o r a n d a n i m a t o r. S h e h a d s t u d i e d i l l u s t ra t i o n i n t h e U . S . , n o w l i v e s i n Ta i w a n . H e r s t y l e h a s changed a lot along with her thought r e c e n t l y. N o w s h e i s v e r y i n t e r e s t e d i n Ta i w a n e s e c u l t u r e a n d s o c i a l i s s u e s . She hopes to create more interesting, bizarre, and personal works, or create works that can trigger discussions on i s s ues s he ca res about.
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Source：
https://buzzorange.com/2017/01/10/fast-fasion-produce great-amount-of-waste/
https://www.gvm.com.tw/article.html?id=36959 https://www.thene wslens.com/article/36679