What is fast fashion & why is it bad? 👗

Hey MAD Fam, 

The other day we got a question on our tik tok that said “what does fast fashion mean?” 

Whilst we throw the term around a lot, it made us realise that some people may not actually know what ‘fast fashion’ is and why it is inherently bad…

So let’s break it down! 

In short, fast fashion is inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends.  

It is an extremely profitable & exploitative business model that has an enormous environmental footprint in both its production and disposal. 

To keep up with the latest trends and demands of consumers, fast fashion brands see high product turnover which leads to a lot of waste! 

Did you know that one in three young women, the biggest segment of consumers, consider garments worn once or twice to be old? That means every time they go out they are likely to buy something brand new.

But why is fast fashion bad?

Besides the impact it is having on our environment, fast fashion brands often have unfair and unsafe working conditions for their employees. 

They work on miserable wages, endless working hours and in unacceptable health & safety conditions. 

Did you know garment workers are often forced to work 14 to 16 hours a day, 7 days a week? Sometimes they may be forced to work until 3am to meet the fashion brand's deadline. Their basic wages are so low that they cannot refuse overtime - aside from the fact that many would be fired if they refused to work overtime. Sadly, a lot of the time, they don’t even get paid overtime. 

The collapse of the Rana Plaza in 2013, killing 1134 garment workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has revealed the unacceptable working conditions of the whole fashion industry to the world. 

It highlighted the conditions that they work in. Quite often they will work with no ventilation, breathing in toxic substances, inhaling fiber dust or blasted sand in unsafe buildings. 

Accidents, fires, injuries, and disease are so common in these conditions and it breaks our hearts to know this is their reality. 

On top of that, clothing workers regularly face verbal and physical abuse. 

In some cases, when they fail to meet their (unreachable) daily target, they are insulted, denied breaks, or not allowed to drink water.   

In most cases, this is their only option, they have to deal with it in order to survive. 

There is so much heartbreaking info out there on this topic, we implore you to educate yourselves & then make informed decisions. 

This is why we are so grateful for your support with each purchase, like, share or comment, because at the end of the day, you are putting your money towards the slow fashion industry, an industry that is so needed. 

If you do want to know more, please let us know. 

We would love to write on this topic more. 

Love always,

Mads & Jayme x