Helena Żegnałek: In un-accordance with fast fashion

Everybody knows what fast food is. We talk about the negative effects it has on society. Yet, people still look puzzled when told about fast fashion, even though the concept is surprisingly similar.

Going to the mall to buy a new pair of socks in H&M seems like the least problematic way to spend a few spare minutes after work. You may even find the perfect dress for the upcoming party, and decide that, after all, you don’t have to eat this month. You don’t wonder where all of the clothing lying on the shelves came from. Why would you? Nobody thinks about that.

Shopping has become a big part of today’s Western culture. Clothing is easily accessible. Owning a wardrobe full of shirts, jeans, and ugly Christmas sweaters seems to be a standard for many. As a result, 80 billion items of clothing are consumed every year. The speed at which clothing articles disappear propels the companies to look for ways to accelerate production while maintaining the lowest costs possible. It turns out that using cheap materials may be one of the easiest solutions. How often do you buy a t-shirt just to find out a month later that it’s already ripped? And how often, instead of having it mended, you just go to buy a new one?

For big retailers, it’s a win-win situation. They don’t spend money on good-quality textiles, they sell at least twice as much since people are going to come back to buy again. As a result, the quality of the fast fashion products is questionable. To lower the costs even more, the supplies of major western retailers like Zara or H&M come from factories in low-income countries, where working conditions and safety of the employees are very often overlooked. In 2013, the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh collapsed killing over 1,100 people working there. It took two more years for the Bangladeshi police to charge the owner of the factory with murder.

We live fast. We want to move fast from one place to another. We need to have projects done ASAP, and don’t want to spend too much time on things not connected with our life goals. We wanted to spend less time eating, so we came up with fast food. We didn’t want to waste time sewing, so we came up with fast fashion. The quality and morality of both may be questionable, but who has time to think about it?

Helena Żegnałek

Cover illustration: Zofia Klamka