Week 3 - Fashion Fashion Consequences

Week 3
Fara Suiza
ASA141
April 13, 2019


The world has changed so drastically within the past few decades that the environmental, ethical, and moral impact of "Fast Fashion" has concluded in severe toxic, dangerous, and tragic consequences. Within fashion, luxury brands will often seek to set the newest trend or exploit a current trend that is on the rise, however, with fashion being at the center of pop culture, other non-luxury brands will often imitate the look and aesthetic of what people consider luxury but offer the products for a much cheaper price.

Consumers benefit from globalization and the rise of "Fast Fashion", not only financially but to be able to physically obtain material clothing that allow them to imitate the current trends. However, as the article "Fast Fashion, Sustainability, and the Ethical appeal of Luxury Brands" says, most brands do not have sustainability in mind. They also overlook the moral and ethical implications of their actions in pursuit of fashion and lower prices.

A real world example of fast fashion's devastating consequence happened on April 24, 2013 when the Rana Plaza, a garment company in Bangladesh collapsed, killing over 1,000 workers. Although it was very clear that the building was built with substandard materials and violated several safety codes, thee owners continued to send their employees to work, ignoring the warnings until thee building collapsed, all within 90 seconds. The practice of putting profit over people in the developing countries where fast fashion brands like Forever 21 and Top Shop is not uncommon. Although I am focusing on the Rana Plaza in particular, other garment/textile companies who work to supply cheap brands with clothing continue to put their employees at risk for the sake of saving money and maximizing their profit margins. Therefore, when speaking of fast fashion, one must not only be aware of the environmental impact, but the social and ethical cost as well.

After reading this article, it made me question: "Would knowing about the detrimental effects of fast fashion be enough for consumers to be willing to pay more $$$ for clothing if it means supporting a more ethical work environment for textile workers and becoming more sustainable?"