4 hard statistics of fast fashion
Fast fashion. You’ve probably heard of it, but may not know what it actually is. Fast fashion is, at least to me, more popular than ever since it’s so convenient, cheap and attainable. From advertisements in the mail to daily Instagram influencer ads in your feed, purchasing the latest trend is so tempting. However there is another alternative and that’s 1. reusing and repurposing what you already have 2. purchasing recycled or secondhand clothes (I’ve heard great things about Thred Up) and 3. investing in pieces that are sustainable and will last for years. If you’re not convinced, Good On You, a platform that rates brands across the world in terms of their ethical values, put together a list of 20 facts about fast fashion. I’ve highlighted a few below. Check out all 20 hard facts Good On You collected here.
“93% of brands surveyed by the Fashion Checker aren’t paying garment workers a living wage” (Fashion Checker, 2020)
Large brands make millions of dollars every year, yet they don’t pay their garment workers a living wage. During COVID-19, some workers have faced even more difficult times because select stores and brands have left wages unpaid from completed orders.
According to Good On You, “The 2020 Fashion Transparency Index found that only 5 of the 250 large brands surveyed (2%) ‘publish a time-bound, measurable roadmap or strategy for how they will achieve a living wage for all workers across their supply chains’.”
“Fast fashion brands use open-loop production cycles that pollute water and land” (The New York Times, 2019)
Per Good On You: “A vast majority of fashion retailers do not clean and reuse water from production facilities, using a so-called ‘open-loop cycle’ method. It means that all of the waste goes straight outside to pollute waters and lands.”
“The effort that fast fashion brands put into sustainable production measures is decreasing” (Global Fashion Agenda, 2019)
According to Good On You, “In reality, little to no retailers focus on making production transparent and eco-friendly,” aka greenwashing.
“Less than 11% of brands are implementing recycling strategies for their items” (Peppermint Magazine, 2019)
Good On You makes a good point when they acknowledge that, “Some fast fashion retailers have introduced recycling programs that give customers a store discount in exchange for their old clothing. Most of these items never get recycled. But, offering discounts does act as a stimulus to drive more sales …”
Images are from Unsplash
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