Our western world’s fashion industry is one which designers of the early 20th century would marvel at, yet it is one of the most dehumanizing industries on our planet. The term ‘fast fashion’ comes from the need of modern day consumers to have affordable and stylish clothing options at their disposal. This is the ideal which malls and large shopping complexes were built from. The unpleasant down side to an instant gratification and consumerism culture is the production system of such cheap products so quickly. This is where the exploitation of thousands of third world employees comes in. 

Massive factories are built in developing countries giving many people jobs to create their products and most of these workers willing to sustain dangerous, dreadful conditions for a paycheck which is less than ideal are women and children. The global north’s expansion and efficient ways of transporting manufactured goods have allowed this to be the way in which fast fashion is manageable for most clothing producers. In Kathleen Horton’s article, “Just Use What You Have: Ethical Fashion Discourse and the Feminization of Responsibility,” they describe the extent to which the fashion industry has harmed its producers. They elaborate on the downfall of our society as, “...consumption has been remoralised over the last 30 years in light of the 'systematic inequalities' brought about by globalisation. A high profile example of the ethical turn in fashion is Fashion Revolution.org, a fashion activism platform founded as a response to the Rana Plaza factory collapse of 2013, in which over 1100 garment workers lost their lives. Fashion Revolution's yearly hashtag campaign, #whomademyclothes? invites consumers to demand greater transparency in a bid to address the injustices of fashion supply chains” (Horton). Mainstream media was briefly made aware of the Rana Plaza tragedy and the causes being rooted in our own fashion consumption. The awareness of fast fashion’s real impacts brought about a new evil in the fashion world, though: green washing. This is a new craze of large clothing companies trying to disguise their unethical practices in terms of unfair wages and treatment for workers by appearing to be sustainable for the environment. According to Fashion Checker, as of 2020, “93% of brands surveyed by the Fashion Checker aren’t paying their garment workers a living wage,” (fashionchecker.org). Consumers are willing to turn a blind eye to the inhumane terms on which they purchase their clothing so long as they feel they are helping the environment and doing their part. An even more horrendous part of greenwashing is that companies will mask this all up with promises of not being detrimental to the earth and be able to lie about it. When one picks up a shirt that claims to be made of 50% recycled paper and cotton fibers, who is behind the scenes ensuring precisely half of that shirt is in fact less harmful than any other shirt? Most of the time, that answer is no one. Companies will do anything to turn a profit and if that means advertising to be sustainable while dehumanizing those giving them a business in the first place, then so be it. The fashion industry rarely takes the responsibility of the harm they are causing either. When everyone can claim to be helping the environment and in reality not be, others can be targeted for their lack of action taken to help the environment. And where does the blame fall as the targets of the commercial fashion industry? Women. The ones supposedly spending all of the money on new merchandise and a new wardrobe. 

Women are pitted against one another for what they do to be sustainable and how they endorse greenwashing companies. This is precisely what Horton is referring to as the “feminization of responsibility.” Capitalistic culture would not allow it to fall on the wealthy, powerful men creating unethical production practices and only running their business for the sake of profit instead of paying in mind the hundreds of lives being mired from a life subject to fast fashion production. Horton portrays this in the article and finds that the, “...young women's frequent characterisation as the 'unwitting' participants in what has become the poster child for the worst machinations of 'late capitalism' does not stop them from being simultaneously identified as more responsible for its ills” (Horton). However, with this responsibility, not all hope is lost, as this could motivate women to bear the blame and then take action to change the industry as a whole. Reports have found that across all consumerism platforms “... 'having women in positions of power' has been found to have a 'positive effect on the environmental and social impact' of the company (Southwell 2015, 101)” (Horton). This all ties back to a need for equality. In the end, if those supporting fast fashion keep forcing lies upon their subjects, the truth will be revealed as I have tried to delineate through my writing. Greenwashing must be stopped and replaced by tangible evidence of ethical practices being put into place by manufacturers. If products are in fact sustainable, companies must be held accountable for the accuracy of their claims. Women will no longer bear the brunt of capitalism’s detrimental effects in society and will instead be urged to become the leaders for change so that #whomademyclothes will have real significance. 

The fight for climate change and equal treatment of genders across the world are long and hard battles, but the fashion industry is one which can evolve. It has molded to trends throughout the years and will be able to continue such evolution in the direction of ethics. Next time I relent to the societal pressures of consumerism, I know I will be feeling guilty for having the privilege to purchase a piece of fast fashion instead of being forced to produce it, but the guilt is not evidence of explicit action. So we must explicitly act to prevent fast fashion products and greenwashed companies from giving all of us the burden. We must turn the tables and take control of the future of not only those working under fast fashion manufacturers, but for those lost in Rana Plaza, and all of those that should no longer be subservient to the crimes of our western world’s fashion industry. 

Works Cited

Horton, Kathleen. “Just Use What You Have: Ethical Fashion Discourse and the Feminisation of Responsibility.” Australian Feminist Studies, vol. 33, no. 98, Dec. 2018, pp. 515–529. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/08164649.2019.1567255. Accessed 7 May 2021.