Fast Fashion: Considering the Economic Impact

April 30, 2022

Word Count: 1258

Introduction

The controversy of fast fashion has gone unnoticed for decades, and the amount of rapidly produced volumes of clothing is increasing at a rate of 20% each year (Sardar & Lee 4). However, the rising concerns of overproduction waste, unhealthy labor, and company investments to advance businesses, distract citizens from realizing that the fast fashion industry is the primary cause of these issues. According to Keyu HOU and her colleagues of Sichuan University, fast fashion brands such as ZARA, GAP, and UNIQLO are featured as having highly fashionable product designs and short distribution rates, applying the word “fast”in not only their design and distribution but also their marketing (HOU et al. 2). Manufacturers implemented this concept of fast fashion in order to “maintain [a] competitive advantage in the global marketing,” and gain financial benefits (Sardar & Lee 1). Overall, manufacturers expected that by introducing fast fashion in manufacturing, more products would be purchased, increasing the profits of the company. Since the 1990’s, when fast fashion was introduced, the production strived to fulfill the fast shifting appeals of consumers with the assumption that many would prefer clothing at a lower cost. Unfortunately, the positively desired outcomes were only present when factories produced a reasonable amount of clothing that met society’s demands as consumers, and when leftover textiles were utilized to make clothing for younger children (Soares 3). As a whole, fast fashion is a controversial apparel-production method in our society because it involves investing in manufactured clothes that ends up as waste (too much inventory), supports low wage youth labor, and costs billions of dollars to produce. Yet, this concept can lead manufacturers to have a large amount of disposable income, and is the only source of attire for some less fortunate regions of the world.  

Overproduction and Outsourcing 

Because fast fashion involves mass overproduction and outsourcing, it has failed to reach its initial goal as of today, which is to produce “quality and low-cost” products that will appeal to the people (Soares 1). Rachel Monroe, a member of the Atlantic Monthly Group, provides examples of the effects caused by speeding up the clothing production process through the financial outcomes of unsuccessful fast fashion companies. Many described fast fashion as the reason why economic systems are struggling to develop alongside the evolving community, and explained how this new process left many popular fast fashion companies at risk of losing market share. One industry observer stated that “brands like Primark were saddled with…an ‘inventory crisis’— billions of dollars of merchandise intended for now-closed shops” (Monroe 4). Quick clothing manufacturing causes instability in the economy and leads to financial setbacks because the money spent on producing items can no longer be regained due to the lack of selling locations. Shaheen Sardar and Young Hae Lee, members of the Department of Industrial and Management Engineering at Hanyang University, directly relate the economic status of a country to the outsourcing of fashion products: “Zara has extended its supply chain to outsource to Turkey”...causing them to lack supply chain visibility and proper tracking of distribution (Sardar & Lee 2). Thus, their study supports the concept that companies further expand their supply chain to generate more profit yet struggle to keep up with the “rapid increase in the production and consumption of textiles” as well as importing and exporting systems (Stenton et al. 2). The complications in fast fashion caused by overproduction and externalization (sharing resources with partner suppliers) results in money being wasted on unwanted clothing and difficulty in tracking consumption and distribution of products. 

Inhumane Labor/Production Cost

The fast fashion industry often is controlled by high powers or wealthy nations, who employ low-wage labor and forceful clothing ideals that pinpoint certain members of society (low income citizens), all to gain the highest possible profit. Arisha Yoshiuchi of Ochanomizu University explains that in the production of blue jeans,  teenage girls worked over 18 hours every day for low wages, which was the introduction to issues in the global economic system (Yoshiuchi 4). Oftentimes, these working facilities are overcrowded and emit harmful substances that the workers ingest. In a survey conducted by Marie Stenton of the London College of Fashion and the School of Design, and her collaborators, it was found that the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of worldwide carbon emissions. In addition, the victims of these emissions are not necessarily adults, but young children as well. China, the largest manufacturing output in modern society, forced migrant children into fast-fashion manufacturing, which led psychologists to develop the great concern of “children's pain” (Stenton 6). Rather than spending money to create humane working facilities, fast fashion companies do not consider how harmful the environment is in which they place adolescents to work in. To correlate  Stentons claims, Elizabeth L. Krause and Massimo Bressan of the Wenner--Gren Foundation argue that the “circulation of children underwrites capitalism, with specific advantages supporting the global supply chains involved in fast fashion.” Therefore, capitalist societies are allowing companies to further destroy the environment and the lives of children for the economic motive of amassing substantial wealth. Overall, factories are implementing inhumane labor in order to meet economic desires.

Fast fashion requires billions of dollars to produce, which is quite wasteful compared to smaller industries and slow fashion brands. According to Marie Stenton and her associates at the London College of Fashion, fast fashion involves 400 billion clothing items being wasted annually, which is not cost effective (Stenton 2). Moreover, Kendall S. of Design Time argues that our economy is “fast and furious,” meaning that fast-paced fashion is a brutal, complicated force (Stenton 2). Nebahat Tokatli of New School University and his colleagues support Stenton’s claims by explaining how the brand M&S experienced its stock-market value plummet, as it was “becoming harder and harder to satisfy [customers],” which is why rapid production of items without consumer feedback is complex (Tokatli 7). Tokatli continues to give examples of retailer situations that refute the fast fashion industry, specifically when exploring how M&S recovered from the money lost from initially designing clothes rapidly. In this case, M&S slowly offered fashionable garments of high quality, which led the group’s operating profits to go up 34% (Tokatli 8). Ultimately, fast fashion prospers by constantly appealing to the wishes of consumers, while simultaneously concealing the fact that mistakes are made when deciding on what items to produce, meaning that money can easily be spent on items that quickly become “unpopular.”

Conclusion 

Despite the efficient intent of fast fashion, the implementation of fast fashion displayed many negative effects for manufacturers. To prevent further economic damage from fast fashion, there should be an increase in public awareness concerning which brands and companies utilize fast fashion. As a solution to the limited space on the market and inability to keep up with fashion trends, Arisa Yoshiuchi offers the solution of supporting small businesses that are not fast fashion brands and practice sustainable methods of merchandise production. Similarly, Stenton proposed that “a mixed economy of both slow and fast fashion” can create “an inclusive fashion system capable of reflecting the genuine needs of consumers” (Stenton 2). Today, fast fashion is dominating small boutiques and high-end designer clothing, and shows little signs of reforming to better suit society. This plan of supporting smaller companies must be implemented slowly, as some consumers may initially disapprove of higher-priced items, despite the high quality. Thus, the responsibility of lessening the globalized fast fashion industry is in the hands of consumers, as they are the ones that decide what they want to wear and which brands they want to support.

Works Cited

Arisa Yoshiuchi. "Learning about Ethical Fashion in Home Economics Classes: Experiences, Lectures, and Information Technology as Tools for Consumer Education." International Journal of Home Economics, vol. 10, no. 2, July 2017, pp. 64–76. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=133029169&site=ehost-live.

da Costa Soares, Paula. "Portuguese Fashion Design Emerging Between Dictatorship and Fast Fashion." Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, vol. 15, no. 2, June 2011, pp. 225–238. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2752/175174111X12954359478762.

Keyu HOU, et al. "Bass-Modeling for Fast Fashion Lady's Shoes Based on Consumer Behavior." Leather & Footwear Journal / Revista de Pielarie Incaltaminte, vol. 19, no. 3, Sept. 2019, pp. 167–176. EBSCOhost, doi:10.24264/lfj.19.3.1.

Krause, Elizabeth L., and Massimo Bressan. "Circulating Children, Underwriting Capitalism: Chinese Global Households and Fast Fashion in Italy." Current Anthropology, vol. 59, no. 5, Oct. 2018, pp. 572–595. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1086/699826..

Monroe, Rachel. "Ultra-Fast Fashion Is Eating the World." Atlantic, vol. 327, no. 2, Mar. 2021, pp. 76–84. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=148607124&site=ehost-live.

Sardar, Shaheen, and Young Hae Lee. "Analysis of Product Complexity Considering Disruption Cost in Fast Fashion Supply Chain." Mathematical Problems in Engineering, vol. 2015, July 2015, pp. 1–15. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1155/2015/670831.

Stenton, Marie, et al. "From Clothing Rations to Fast Fashion: Utilising Regenerated Protein Fibres to Alleviate Pressures on Mass Production." Energies (19961073), vol. 14, no. 18, Sept. 2021, p. 5654. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3390/en14185654.

TOKATLI, NEBAHAT, et al. "Shifting Global Supply Networks and Fast Fashion: Made in Turkey for Marks & Spencer." Global Networks, vol. 8, no. 3, July 2008, pp. 261–280. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/j.1471-0374.2008.00195.x.