Finding the perfect style or clothing brands is difficult. Whether it is a shopping addiction, or the desire to redo a wardrobe, people look for the most affordable way. Fast fashion is one answer, but comes with many problems.
Fast fashion is inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers. Such production makes it easy to keep up with the latest trends. Making clothes at such a high rate harms the environment through greenhouse gasses and other wastes polluted on earth, according to the Action for Climate Change Emergency. Aside from this, some companies create harsh working conditions and unfair labor practices in order to fulfill their public demand. Although the prices of these brands may be appealing, there are better options.
Shein is the go to fashion brand. It was named the most popular fashion brand of 2022, according to a ranking by money.co.uk. The company was the most Googled clothing brand in 113 countries. Overpassing other famous brands like Nike and Adidas for the top spot, Shein became so popular due to large amounts of cheap clothing following popular trends.
In a perfect world, the concept of Shein seems like it would be the ideal clothing company. With insanely affordable prices, why wouldn’t everyone shop here? Especially for teens, Shein has become the staple brand for buying cheap clothes and keeping up with trends on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. When comparing a $3 Shein tank top versus the $40 name brand version, most people would choose the cheaper option. But this comes at a greater cost.
Shein has grown to become one of the largest fast fashion companies in the world. According to the CEO Molly Miao, the company releases between 700 and 1,000 new items a day. But something about that is concerning - it seems almost impossible to produce this much clothing at such a high rate. This mass production is the definition of fast fashion: distributing as much clothing as fast as possible for the public to purchase.
Manufacturing high levels of cheap clothing causes carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere. The World Economic Forum identified that the fashion industry releases 10% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions annually, contributing to 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year.
These results are due to clothing degrading in landfills. Fast fashion companies make clothing from synthetic materials and textiles. According to the Action for Climate Change Emergency, the production of synthetic fibers uses large amounts of water and a variety of toxic chemicals. The fashion industry consumes one-tenth of the world’s industrial water, which could fill two million Olympic size pools just from dyeing fabrics alone. These numbers are expected to increase with the growth of fast fashion production.
Harming the Earth is not the only damage fast fashion companies are doing. Human rights issues are often a concern within the industry, specifically when producing and manufacturing clothing. At the high rate clothes are distributed, companies outsource their work to other countries such as India, Vietnam, and Indonesia to grow a cheap workforce. Workers, mostly consisting of women and children, are paid unlivable wages in poor conditions. The factories often have poor lighting, poor ventilation with the toxic chemicals and dyes used in production, and structural discrepancies, according to an article in The Cut, “Shein is even worse than you thought.”
But there are always solutions and alternatives for places to shop that will not cause harm to the planet. Within Brevard County, there are various thrift store options to shop from. Holy Trinity Thrift Shop, Goodwill, and Salvation Army, to name a few, are located throughout Melbourne that sell secondhand items. By shopping at thrift stores or sustainable clothing companies, it will help reduce the effect that fast fashion companies have on the planet.
Shein might seem like a dream store: cheap prices, stylish clothes. What more could someone want? But harmful working conditions and destroying the environment makes fast fashion companies like Shein awful to buy from. However, the consumers contribute to this problem by buying and supporting fast fashion. So, when amping up your wardrobe, consider how it can affect not only the workers making the clothes, but also how it is hurting the planet we live on.
