The fast fashion movement would not have been possible without the advent of offshoring. Indeed, offshoring allows manufacturers to minimize their production budget.
The Price Problem
The main problem with fast fashion is the price. The textile industry is an extremely lucrative industry. Over the last thirty years, fashion has gone from a turnover of 500 billion dollars with domestic production to a turnover of 2400 billion dollars per year. Therefore, in view of its meteoric success, almost the entire industry has been rethought. But this growth is as meteoric as the repercussions are terrible.
The Victims Of Fast Fashion
Employees:
Textile workers are the first victims of this industry. According to Thomas Dana in Fashionopolis: the true price of fashion and what can save it: “in 1991, 56,2% of all clothing purchased in the US was American-made. By 2012, that share had fallen to 2,5%.”. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 1990 and 2012, the US textile and apparel industry lost 1,2 million jobs.
Human Rights:
Another major victim if fast fashion is human rights in developing countries. The textile industry is the largest employer on earth, more than agriculture, more than defense. And what is even more outrageous is the fact that only 2% of these people are paid more than the living wage.
The Planet:
A third victim, and not the least, is the planet. The textile industry releases 10% of carbon emissions into the air and 1 kilogram of fabric generates 23 kilograms of greenhouse gases. The fashion industry devours a quarter of the chemicals produced in the world.
The entire production cycle of fast fashion clothing is polluting. And that includes unsold goods. These are often burnt, buried, or incinerated.
Most of the clothes are sent to African countries, with the underlying idea that these countries need free clothes.
Polluting is therefore the cheapest way to do business.
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