What is Fast Fashion?
Today we are living in a time of consumerism. We want what we want when we want it! How many of us would rather order something from Amazon with next day delivery than to have to order something that would take much longer to arrive to us? This has become a collective mindset and applies to fashion as well.
We also want to get the “best price” for what we purchase. Which is why many consumers turn to places like Temu and Shein. However, there’s a caviate to those quickly mass produced products. While they may look beautiful on the website they don’t always look the same in real life. Not to mention on closer look you may notice hanging threads, unsecure seams or thin synthetic fabrics that look like they’ll fall apart with the slightest breeze. But why?
I won’t get into the politics of fast fashion as that would go down a very deep rabbit hole! Rather I’ll just explain to the best of my understandings what fast fashion means.
The first word is fast. Fast fashion means garments that are mass produced as quickly as possible. Often times skimping and cutting corners to save on cost and time. Fast fashion garments are not made to last a lifetime, but rather a season.
They are meant to fill the latest trend. That’s why when you purchase socks or other clothing they seem to wear out within months. They tend to be poorly constructed. There’s no reason to create long lasting clothing when the next new trend is right around the corner.
Cheaper fabrics, usually synthetics like polyester, are used. Why does that make a difference and why should we care? Stay tuned for more when I will answer those questions and more.