Fast fashion: the hole in humanity that must be fixed

Abstract

Clothing has long since been an integral part of the human experience. On a basic level, clothes provide protection from the elements and the environment. However, as time has progressed, clothes have evolved from a simple necessity to symbols of culture, job status, sacred moments and artistic choice. More recently, with the rise of industrialization, has come a society less concerned with the necessity of clothes, and more enamored with their marketability and capitalist yield. With the birth of fast fashion came a linear business model focused on quick product turnover, and low quality garments in favor of maximizing profit. Although this model works well, in part, by advertising new and exciting trends towards women in the global north, it leeches off of the labor and energy of women in and/or from socio-economically disadvantaged regions. This paper aims to explore the implications of such processes on garment and second-hand trade working women from financially disadvantaged locations. In addition, I provide possible solutions for how business and governments can rectify their part in this corrupted system. Finally, I provide ways that individuals in the global north can do their part to elicit change.