PR Persuasive Column Workshop

Thesis: Fast Fashion is a bad form of consumption and is causing harm to our planet and our minds. 

Fashion and Its Newfound Addiction: Cheap, Polyester, Trendy Clothing

Cheaply made, micro-trend items are flooding our stores and wastelands, and an intervention is needed.

Clothing is not made the same way it was in the past. The focus on quality goods that will hold up with each wear is gone. Fashion is experiencing a new addiction–a new drug in the form of fast fashion.

The rush consumers experience after ordering from fast-fashion brands is addictive. For example, Shein is an online ordering platform based in China that offers trendy items, all at an affordable price. While this can make Shein a more accessible option for the everyday person, with low prices and vast availability, the durability of the pieces reflects the cost.

Consumers of fast-fashion brands know this–they recognize that these products will not last a lifetime, but the price and style outweigh the qualities. It is not uncommon to be scrolling through media and stumble upon a clothing haul, showing bags upon bags of clothing. The thrill of ordering a whole new wardrobe for a couple of hundred dollars draws consumers in. They know the specific styles and cuts won’t last through the trend cycles, and fast-fashion pricing allows them to keep purchasing the newest trends for less.

• “Fast fashion is now a $150.82 billion industry… although more people are advocating for sustainable fashion, the majority don’t want to give up fast fashion. This is the reason the industry will keep growing at a 10.7% CAGR from 2024 to 2032.” (Uniform Market by Sellers Commerce)

  
  

With every high, however, there’s always an inevitable crash. Factories like Shein’s construct garments out of low-quality fabrics with messy and rushed stitching. The majority of these pieces will only last a couple of wears until the threads start unraveling, the fabric starts pilling and the fit is just not the same as when it was first purchased. This leads to pieces ending up in the trash, where they will spend the rest of their life in the wastelands or thrift stores. 

• “11.3 megatons of textile waste end up in the landfills every year since 2017, that is 80% more waste than in the year 2000. This can be attributed to the rapidly increasing population, especially of Gen Z.” (Uniform Market by Sellers Commerce)

While donating fast-fashion items to places like thrift stores is a good idea in theory, these stores are usually overrun with items of this sort. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), only 15% of the clothes that are donated can be reused or recycled, with 10 million other donations heading straight to the landfill, due to the difficulty of recycling.

Fast fashion is harming our planet and our minds. Perceptions of consumption as a whole have changed because of it, and the demeanor needs to switch. Sustainable shopping options can involve thrifting, reworking old clothing into new pieces, and straying away from micro-trends presented by the media.