From Fast Fashion to Slow Fashion!

Aug 12, 2022

By STEAMRS By Dreamers

Van Fast Fashion naar Slow Fashion! - STEAMRS

What is fast fashion?

Fast fashion (literally translated as “fast fashion”) is a phenomenon of our time. Whereas we used to wear a winter coat or pair of jeans for years, fashion now changes several times per season. We get bored of what we buy more quickly and continue wanting to buy more clothes. In short, the characteristics of fast fashion are:

Clothing is produced as cheaply as possible
A high turnover rate: multiple fashion trends per season
Production in low-wage countries
Often environmentally unfriendly production
Even expensive clothing can be fast fashion!

This fast fashion industry has created a new standard of very cheap clothing. This is of course good for our wallets, but this industry has more negative consequences than we may realize.

How did the current fast fashion industry come about?

We earn more and spend more money on clothing
The percentage of income spent on clothing in Europe has risen from 2 - 5% of disposable income to 10 - 15% of disposable income.

A continuous, rapid stream of new clothing trends

The rise of fast fashion companies such as H&M and Zara since the 1990s has accustomed consumers to a continuous stream of new clothing trends.

We are constantly tempted and influenced to make purchases online

Through social media and the power of influencers, consumers can be constantly influenced through the timelines on their accounts by increasingly rapidly successive clothing trends.

More frequent sales and bargain prices in stores
Until 1984, the Netherlands had a law restricting sales that stipulated that there could be a sale of no more than 19 days, a maximum of twice a year, following the summer and winter collections. Since the abolition of the 'law restricting sales' (maximum of 2 sales per year) in 1984, stores have been allowed to offer bargain prices all year round, and consumers have become accustomed to low clothing prices.

The current fashion industry

Currently, the majority of fashion products on offer consist of fast fashion products. Trends follow one another at lightning speed, and fashion brands change their (cheap) collections very frequently. Since 2000, our clothing consumption has more than doubled. On average, a single piece of clothing is worn only seven times. The rapidly changing fashion industry fuels our desire as consumers to wear 'something new' all the time and keep up with the latest fashion trends.

Fast fashion clothing is often of poor quality
The large fashion chains are concerned with only one thing: profit! This profit depends on our desire to wear new clothes. So why not encourage this desire a little? Large chains produce hundreds of millions of garments every year. The sooner these clothes wear out, the sooner we return to the store to buy new ones. Because textiles have to be made increasingly cheaply, quality is the first thing we compromise on.

The conditions under which fast fashion clothing is produced are often problematic. Approximately 47 million people worldwide work in the clothing industry, 85% of whom are women. Much of the clothing is produced in sweatshops in low-wage countries under appalling conditions. Most seamstresses do not earn a living wage, resulting in inhumane working weeks. In Asian clothing factories, seamstresses often work 60 to 90 hours per week.

The environmental impact of fast fashion is enormous
Producing 1 cotton T-shirt requires 2,500 litres of water and 20 cl of chemicals. A pair of jeans requires 7,000 litres of water. Global cotton production uses 22.5% of insecticides and 10% of pesticides of the total amounts used worldwide. Production therefore takes place on a gigantic scale and at a rapid pace. Unfortunately, much of this production remains unsold. Of the 950 million garments that entered the Dutch market in 2020, 790 million were sold. That means 160 million garments remained unsold, which effectively means wasted resources. This figure is expected to rise further because of fast fashion.

This fast fashion clothing is often thrown away afterwards
In the Netherlands, we throw away 235 million kilos of textiles every year, of which only 28 kg (2018) ends up in charity shops. Of the 40 garments every Dutch person discards each year, 24 end up as waste.

All of this comes at a heavy price. A price largely paid behind the scenes by people in developing countries and by our environment. A price that was previously invisible to consumers, but is now fortunately becoming increasingly clear.

Slow fashion is on the rise!

How can you become a more conscious consumer? It starts with educating yourself, reading up on the subject and mainly being open to change. Buy sustainable and fair clothing! Buy locally, buy second-hand and buy from independent designers. If we do this, we can make a difference together. Slow fashion is on the rise, and its 'frumpy' image is outdated.

As more attention is being paid to this subject, the fast fashion industry has faced increasing criticism in recent years. Consumers are becoming more conscious and buying more fair clothing. In response, companies in this industry spend millions on campaigns to present themselves in a better light. They launch “conscious collections” or donate part of their proceeds to charities.

But despite these deceptive marketing techniques, we cannot ignore the truth: fast fashion is one of the dirtiest and most harmful industries in the world! More specifically, the fashion industry is, after the oil industry, the most polluting industry in the world.

Moving towards slow fashion together

Fortunately, the movement of producers and consumers who want to change this damaging fashion system is growing. No more mass production, but sustainable fashion that lasts a long time, places little strain on the environment and is produced under humane conditions.

More and more initiatives are emerging that each contribute in their own way to making the clothing industry more sustainable. We have listed a number of fashion alternatives for you. Vintage, fair, green or vegan fashion - what matters most to you?

Vintage fashion is a sustainable alternative to fast fashion. If you reuse someone else's clothing, no new resources need to be used and the clothing does not have to be produced (under poor working conditions). Fortunately, the range of vintage clothing has grown considerably in recent years.

Green fashion is another alternative that contributes to the movement towards slow fashion. The main goal of green fashion is to reduce the burden the fashion industry places on the environment. There are various ways to make fashion more sustainable. The quality of the clothing, the materials used, the energy consumption for production and its transport all play a determining role.

If you would still like to buy something new, you can focus on fashion brands that sell Fair Trade fashion. Fair Fashion focuses on fair clothing produced under humane conditions. This may be in a developing country, but also, for example, in the Netherlands by people who are distanced from the labour market.

Choose the clothing container, not the rubbish bin!

Have you grown tired of a garment or has it become worn out? Then certainly do not throw it away with the rubbish, because there are still plenty of useful purposes for it! Unfortunately, every year in the Netherlands, we throw away around 135 million kilos of textiles. Unfortunately, only about a quarter of this is recycled. And that is despite the fact that even damaged clothing can still be reused. Find a container near you, or take your bag of old clothes to an H&M store. In short, complete the slow fashion cycle!