Fast Fashion with Maria Carton

Hi everyone, Spring is my favourite Season full of promise and optimism. Updating our wardrobes, shopping the latest trends in the plan but before we go online or race to the shops I want to reflect very briefly on “Fast Fashion”.

Zara who specialise in “Fast Fashion” is undoubtedly the most talked-about high street shop for its ability (lightning speed) to copy and reproduce clothes created by the world’s top designers. The clever use of marketing and social media of Zara’s owner Amancio Ortega (worth $70.6 billion) has resulted in his business model being copied the world over.

The problem with Fast Fashion is it is not serving anyone, not you the consumer, the planet or the little fingers and hearts that make our clothes.

The consumer is bombarded via social media constantly and consistently to buy the latest trends based on price. “Due to low prices we buy easily, we buy more, accumulating vast quantities of clothes that we don’t really need resulting in constant clear outs to start all over again!” which is not sustainable.

The fashion industry is the 2nd largest polluting industry in the world after fossil fuel energy production. It’s hard to understand why but if I told you it requires 13sq metres of land to grow the cotton for 1 pair of jeans, between 10,000 to 15,0000 litres of fresh water for growing the cotton and the chemical and dying processes of producing 1 pair of jeans then a picture begins to emerge the drain the fashion industry is having on all our natural resources including oil, trees which are used in the production of polyester and viscose. Producing 100 billion garments a year is no longer sustainable. Fact, it would take 12years to recycle what H&M sell in 48hours worldwide.

Lastly the human cost. The men, women and children who make our clothes working an average 15hours in terrible conditions for as little as $100 per month. THIS IS THE REASON CLOTHES ARE SO CHEAP. There are no easy solutions for this behemoth of an industry. The challenge is changing the mindset in how we produce, how we consume (shop) and how we dispose because planet earth can no longer continue absorbing our waste.

I believe Covid-19 has probably helped us to appreciate that we can live with less, that quality is more important than quantity and to be mindful and sustainable in our purchases. We can no longer accept wearing an item only a couple of times and then discarding it. This is a vast topic of conversation and if you are interested in learning more I recommend watching the 3-minute trailer called “True Cost” on YouTube for an insight, or watch the “The True Cost” documentary in full.

Remember we don’t save money buying cheap clothes we just buy more!!

My top tips:

1. Buy less buy better

2. Don’t be seduced by low prices

3. Shop intentionally and be excited about your purchases.