Fast Fashion - Topic of the day 7/23/24
Let’s talk about fast fashion. What technically counts as fast fashion? What are the benefits of fast fashion? When is it okay to consume fast fashion? Do individual consumer decisions matter in a world governed by corporations?
83 Replies
uniqlo is fast fashion but I like it so it isn't, actually
uh oh
if it doesn't have a drive thru it's NOT fast fashion
the clothes may be fast but nothing is saying you have to be
if it has flames on it you go faster
Fast fashion is when i have to race to buy the thing i want when a brand drops a new line
the fastness of the fashion is determined by the speed of the wearer
ISS astronauts wear the fastest fashion I think
so by that logic shein is pretty slow fashion
ironically the one thing fast fashion is good at avoiding
and even then
Uniqlo stuff disappears, The Cos Bag, idk
ill be brave enough to say it
fast fashion = bad
tbt uniqlo suing shein for using their bag design
hmmm
fast fashion = good
fast fashion is good:
- as a way to access the types of designs you would only see on runways or by high end designers
- as a way to find inexpensive clothes without the potential stigma of wearing used clothes
- as an option if you literally need to be clothed if there is no other option
- as a way to stay on the zeitgeist of what is "trendy" if you're unwilling to open tiktok
fast fashion is bad:
- because it contributes to waste and the overall decline in the environment
- because it can rely on the unethical treatment of workers
- can be more expensive in the long run if replacing things every three months
- because it's kinda homogenous
- kinda rips off high end fashion designers
- negatively contributes to consumer culture and promotes overbuying
you get to make the choice for yourself what you value
i think we gotta change can to must rely right
:harold:
it's a good thing fashion is the only industry with that problem
This is Napster's fault
Or Google's
you wouldn't download a storm rider
i'd also tack on to the bad part that it contributes pretty negatively to consumer culture and promotes constant buying
As an individual consumer the best thing you can do is not over consume. If you must buy from fast fashion for hand waves reasons then so be it but your goal should he to contribute as little as possible to machine
is fast fashion a reason for consumerism or a response to it or something more nuanced and reasonable who can say
nope. it's super evil mega bad
idk I like consuming🥰
the fast fashion overton window has shifted so far because of Shein. Saw someone ask "is it worse to buy fast fashion than to buy clothes from walmart"
"1.5 million views"
"conclusion: yes"
:hell:
social media and content creators being sponsored to push the ideas of hauls is a consumerist nightmare
I feel like we are just gonna echo chamber in here on this topic tbh lol
give it time digs
is one contributing to the negative effects of fast fashion by buying secondhand?
yup
this is me generating discourse
I think it is important to note that alot of people dont see a viable option outside of fast fashion if they are in a lower economic status. We can point to used/vintage but that can require a significant amount of effort and isnt always super easy for people. You should NOT be seen as bad for having to buy fast fashion but you should try as hard as you can to not fall into an overconsumption cycle
i feel like this is a really annoying limbo spot lol
secondhand has been starting to get bloated and polluted with fast fashion shit but excluding those items just turns them into actual pollution
:nooooo:
I also think there's a fun lil splash of misogyny with how a lot of people bemoan and criticize fast fashion/consumerism as a greater topic
there's definitely some weirdness around how people moralize fast fashion/waste that comes from things seen as feminine vs waste from male-coded hobbies I think
"women be shopping" :hell:
i will moralize both by saying that beer should be illegal
teetotaler lookin ass
yes
This is interesting because I just noticed I haven't heard of waste from male-coded hobbies. Can you give examples?
Industry-promoted overconsumption is real. Even brands that tout themselves as slow or not fast fashion are unbelievably fast from the perspective of "how often do I need to be buying clothes". Completely new sets of clothes in brand new cuts 4x a year minimum, collaborations and special releases and seasonal sales and whatever else gets people to tune in 365 days a year. Like, none of this is normal or sustainable from a long-term perspective, even if Shein and Zara are the worst offenders.
war
war
greenhouse gases
i be fartin
Golf
Car hobbyists
Any hobby that you can imagine where “the new cool thing” comes out every year
Both industries built on fostering overconsumption thru the rapid release of newer and better and more attractive things
But the fact that you didnt even think about it points to what sam is saying
Women get put up on the cross for being into fashion but its not like its the only hobby where overconsumption is seen
Especially when the expectation is put on women to look not just presentable but beautiful every moment they're socially visible
Men can wear the shittiest chinos you've ever seen and a polo from middle school and it's all good baby
Yah they get blamed for the overconsumption but also, are the most heavily targeted for it
Oroboros or however you spell it
Theres also something to be said about the fact most of the criticisms of fast fashion apply to fashion as a whole
Like obviously fast fashion is the worst
but just cause a brand makes less shirts in a season and charges $300 for them doesn't mean it isn't contributing to the same things
Designer brands are infamous for destroying their products that don't sell as well
I heard it was only fast fashion if it's from the "fast" region of hell. Otherwise it's just sparkling Zara.
Yah god forbid the wrong kind of person gets ahold of their product
Art fuming you got to this before him
Tried and true joke form
And like said above, I feel like too often people who buy designer love to pretend they are better cause they don't buy fast fashion, when a lot of the difference is their economic situation.
Even going in the other direction, people only buying secondhand/thrift are in a similar position. Salvation Army et al are responsible for undermining & destabilizing the textile industries of multiple sub saharan African countries. Like at a point you have to be accountable and recognize that your choices are going to negatively impact someone
I agree with most of what Zeo said above. I worry we put a ton of pressure on consumers to do the right thing when gestures everything is on fire. I would hope for more regulations on importing goods / labor laws / intellectual property. People aren't off the hook, though. Gotta vote to make this happen, which comes with a million other layers of complication.
I’m fasting fashion which means i only buy things between a 4 hour period in the evening
Almost as if under the current economic system of the US, all options of consumption are ethically fraught.
If only i could say that in a more concise way
I never did like the "no ethical consumption" bit because it always felt like it blanketed over the crux of the issue, where if you live in the imperial core all of your priveleges come at the price of human suffering.
like any catchy phrase its lost its original meaning
I very much agree but i think its important to remember when people feel that they have way out of this ethical trap, is that its a result of the state
Like smiles posted above politicians and corporations have spent years trying to put the onus on the individual to obscure their much larger role in global degradation
Oh that's totally fair! I'm just generally grumbly that the focus seems to have placed the consumer as the true victim in the system
Yes i absolutely agree with that
meat
bitcoin
chatGPT
computer bullshit in general
Funko pops et al
I bought new shoes but they dont make me run faster. Fast Fashion = Scam
Don’t u own a cos bag
yea
it's ok when i do it
Is PRL fast fashion
https://open.spotify.com/track/40V9sT2iWVgRa6b6JVGEq1?si=k4cz45DoR92xYCWZ7Dld2A
Yea just remember if you’re bashing people for buying H&M and Zara, you’re still consuming Uniqlo, J Crew, Abercrombie, Levi’s, etc
It’s also not like there’s accountability in non-fast fashion companies either. Do we know the work conditions of PRL workers for example? Or brain dead or margiela?
i honestly have 0 idea what brands aren't fast fashion
who is buying current day PRL?
Most people buying PRL
That’s the thing, a lot of brands now have some sense of non-seasonality and other brands that produce cheaply have seasonality
For example banana republic is considered fast fashion but is technically seasonal
Streetwear brands like parra and pleasures are not seasonal but aren’t considered fast fashion
Why is COS considered fast fashion but APC or Kitsune aren’t?
cos being part of h&m group would contribute to that i think
related to the topic: does nike have to do yearly sneaker releases?
So being part of a large corporation would mean it’s fast fashion? Then supreme and everything else in LVMH are fast fashion
being part of a large corporation that is perceived to be contributing to the negatives of fast fashion the most is what i would imagine is contributing to the perception of cos as a fast fashion brand itself
also, for h&m group specifically, isn't arket touted as the "slow fashion" sector of their brand? (i do not actually know i swiftly walk past h&m to get to blue bottle coffee)
Basics without intention seems to be the main look of most fast fashion brands
They don't have copy about the specific looms used to make their white tees
I brought this up in the streetwear totd (i think), but I was wondering if the idea that trends move so fast in that space contributes a lot to fast fashion?
But both Abercrombie and Zara are derivative of super current trends
And both are absolutely fast fashion
The original definition of fast fashion is fashion that isn’t seasonal and can be produced in less than 2 months
And many many brands are able to do that now, include many that wouldn’t be considered fast fashion by users here now that globalism is a thing
Does Taylor Stitch or Buck Mason do seasonal releases? They might have seasonal look books but so does Zara, J Crew, H&M etc
Sure they don’t release the volume as the other brands but they are still churning out products not twice a year
And the number of products from a brand like APC or Faherty or Marine Layer rivals the number of distinct products COS sells
All of these discussions make me feel like the Judge from The Good Place
The definition I had been working with basically your original one. But it seems like there have been further changes in the responsiveness of supply chains in the last 10 years since the term became popular to effectively categorize most major producers as fast fashion? In which case, it might be useful to think of fast fashion as a mode of consumption rather than production?
Echoing what smiles said above, I think slow fashion has most of the same issues as fast fashion, but they're just more visible, since it's more attainable for more people, and can have an edge of classism. On the other side, my neoliberal ass does think that there's a lot to be said for the possibility of the garment industry providing an early rung on the global economic value ladder for many countries, often setting the stage for massive reductions in crushing poverty. Obviously, this is more addressing the issues on the producer side rather than the consumptive one.
Nature of all capitalism is getting the most for the least. Fast fashion may take that to a higher degree, but it's only part of the definition. I presumed it was the same as Fast Food: let me make something as quickly and cheaply as we can while convincing people it tastes good. I'm sure McDonald's has some seasonal changes with its menu, but it's still fast food. In either case, to me it goes to the level of problematic when labor and/or environment is exploited beyond what regulation allows, mostly (but not solely) through importation. And that doesn't mean we have enough regulation/unionization already, far from it, but I guess it's where the line would be drawn for me.
And I'm certainly guilty of it. No high horse here, just seeking a definition clarification
snossar
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