B US I N E SS
Fast Fashion
BY HAILEY MESNIK | PHOTOS BY CELISSE JONES
22
About once a week, stores like Topshop, Forever 21 and H&M restock their merchandise with the most up-to-date trends they possibly can. A top similar to one worn by Kendall Jenner on her Instagram can be found hanging from a clothing rack just a few weeks later for about $10, a far cry from how much Jenner’s probably cost. Before trends were set online, notable new details, silhouettes, fabrics and colors worn by models at fashion week foreshadowed what will soon be for sale in traditional retail stores and worn ubiquitously in the coming months, as decided by spectating buyers who decide what and how much their customers and stores will need. But now celebrities and bloggers largely call the shots, replacing buyers in the front row at New York fashion week, posting constant photos of their ensembles
and ultimately mangling the once-rigid fashion cycle into accelerated disarray. The industry simply can’t keep up and it’s damaging both the environment and the supply chain. As the retail industry transforms, disposal of garments and other textiles is increasing fast while continuously damaging the environment. Meanwhile, sustainable alternatives of manufacturing, reusing and recycling clothing remain widely unused. An “insatiable consumer appetite” fueled by disposable fast fashion trends is what Tracey Martin, a Scottsdale-based sustainable designer and author who will speak in Tempe April 17, attributes the increasing rate in which Americans are purchasing and throwing out clothing. In 2016, every man, woman and child in the United States on average purchased 67.9 garments and 7.8 shoes, returning to
almost pre-recession levels, according to the American Apparel and Footwear association. Every year, every man, woman, and child in the United States also throws away 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles, according to the Council for Textile Recycling. At the end of a garment’s useful life, it’s normally donated to a thrift store, where according to Eric Stubin, President of the Council for Textile Recycling, only about 10-20 percent of what’s donated is kept, with the remaining 80-90 percent sold to textile recyclers who sort the material for highest use value – to either be recycled into rags or fiber for carpet padding and insulation and then sold commercially, or to be exported to third world countries as secondhand clothing. But as sustainable as recycling and ex-
67.9 garments purchased per person in 2016
70 lbs. of clothing and other textiles thrown away every year
7.8 shoes purchased per person in 2016
VOLUME 17 |
ISSUE 6