Last year I wrote my dissertation on the environmental impact of fast fashion and the growth of sustainable marketing. Since then this 'trend' of ethical consumption has grown further still. Slow fashion is defined as "a concept describing the opposite to fast fashion and part of the "slow movement", which advocates for manufacturing in respect to people, environment and animals." Fast fashion in contrast is defined as "inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends."
Whilst fast fashion was a smart business response to the demand of inexpensive clothing, meaning people of all classes could afford to follow the latest trends, there are many negative aspects to it, and more and more people are turning away from fast fashion. The production of fast fashion has a huge impact on the environment, producing huge amounts of greenhouse emissions, using large amounts of water, as well as often polluting local areas around factories with toxic waste. In addition, many companies have caught on and use 'greenwashing' - a tactic that involves using specific buzzwords to market their products as sustainable when they are still causing huge damage.
In addition, even sustainable brands cause at least some environmental damage, as the production of cotton, organic or otherwise, using up to 2000 litres of water to produce just one t-shirt. The best alternative, is to shop second hand, as this will decrease the demand of new products, and thus the supply chain. Although many clothes produced for fast fashion brands is created to not last, many older clothes that can be found in charity shops have sturdier fabrics and production value, meaning you could keep and wear them for a long time, before donating them to second hand stores again to give them a new home, rather than just throwing clothes away to sit in a landfill for years.
As a child who grew up poor, I was often found wearing second hand clothes, either hand me downs from relatives, or items from charity shops. As a child this was highly embarrassing, and I would be jealous of my friends who got new clothes every few weeks. People would even make fun of people for shopping in charity shops and I'd be embarrassed to even walk into one. Now, however, especially with the introduction of depop, it seems to be considered trendy to shop second hand.
COVID and lockdown seem to have even lent themselves to this trend. Whilst many high street stores had to close down, online resellers have thrived. In addition to the environmental benefits being a drive to shop second hand, many people are interested in the vintage aspect, as Y2K and 90's fashion trends come back, people are interested in buying genuine articles from the era. In addition, with the rise of social media, people often want to show off their outfits, with fashion or outfit of the day (ootd) instagrams, and buying second hand could help ensure you aren't wearing the same thing as everyone else.
I recently created a fashion instagram to show off my outfits, as I go through the journey into slow fashion and collect more and more second hand finds. I try, for the most part to buy second hand, but my wardrobe still includes fast fashion and highstreet brands, why? Because these items may have been something I searched for weeks for in charity shops and alternate places before finally resorting to high street, it may have been urgent for me to replace an item, or I may have already had them before I started thrifting, and in which case, the best thing I can do is to keep them and continue to use them for as long as possible.
Honestly, the best thing about slow fashion is the price. Many people think fast fashion is the cheapest alternative to designer products, but this isn't true. My local charity shop (a Cancer Research UK shop) almost all items are £3 or less. I bagged a pair of jeans for only £3, some necklaces for only £1 each and I even grabbed 2 books for only 50p each. So maybe next time you are searching for something, just check in a few charity shops before heading toward any high street stores, the environment and your bank account will be thankful for it.
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