Sustainable Fashion vs. Fast Fashion: What Should You Choose

Sustainable Fashion vs. Fast Fashion: What Should You Choose The fashion industry occupies such a large portion of our economy and considering millions of garments end up in landfills each year, it’s important to discuss fast fashion – a major challenge in today’s world. The advent of fast fashion has lead to lower prices for new clothes. The latest trends are no longer limited to the sale sections of your favourite clothing store, neither are they difficult to access. However, while fast fashion offers convenience, it comes at a price: it causes severe damage to the environment and natural resources, which in turn is destroying our eco – system.

Despite fast fashion's ability to provide consumers with an affordable wardrobe that is fashionable, it all comes at a price. Fast fashion refers to a business model that mass-produces low-cost products which are brought to retain stores when demand is at an all – time high, while mimicking recent catwalk trends and high-fashion designs. Some famous fast fashion brands include but are not limited to Shein, Mango, H&M, Forever 21, Primark, and Missguided. The adverse effect these brands have on the environment and animals is a major cause for concern. Approximately 100 to 150 billion garments are produced each year by the fashion industry. 80% of the waste produced each year ends up in landfills, consuming a great deal of raw materials and energy. As a result of fast fashion's production methods, toxic chemicals are used in excess, which creates toxic waste and a great deal of pollution in the environment. Additionally, more microplastics are being washed into the ocean as a result of the increasing use of synthetic materials. It must also be noted that factories that produce the clothing are known for terrible conditions and lack of care for their workers, consistently breaching health and safety guidelines.

Sustainable Fashion, on the other hand, refers to clothing that is designed, manufactured, distributed, and used in a manner that is considerate of the environment. There are many ways to create a sustainable wardrobe, including thrifting, swapping, and sharing.

Human health has been threatened by fast fashion in an ecological context. Sustainable fashion aims to address these threats by analyzing every level of garment creation. It aims to achieve environmental justice by strengthening eco-friendliness at every single level. A key goal of fashion that is sustainable is to use efficient and minimal natural resources in production as well as to reduce, reuse, recycle, and repair clothing.

Fast fashion is slowly but surely losing its grip on society. As ethical shopping brands increase in popularity, people are becoming more aware of the dangers to the environment of buying new clothes all the time, and are turning to more sustainable shopping methods instead. So, if you’re wondering what to choose, Sustainable Fashion is your pick!