This is the first top I found when I clicked on the “women’s section” of Shein.com, the biggest fast fashion brand in the United States. 

“INAWLY Women’s Spring/Summer Button-Front Letter Print Long Sleeve Slim Fit T-Shirt Graphic Tees Women Tops for Spring Outfits in 5 sizes: 2 (XL), 4 (S), 6 (M), 8/10 (L), 12 (XL).”

Fast Fashion is “inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends,” according to Google.

In 2024, the global apparel market was worth $1.79 trillion dollars, with fast fashion accounting for $150.32 billion dollars. The clothing is cheaply produced, yet the market is incredibly lucrative. Despite the revolution that fast fashion has triggered, it has caused more environmental and labor damage than people can possibly fathom. 

A normal trend cycle takes about 20 years from its introduction before it becomes “out of style.”

However, social media and fast fashion have decreased the trend cycle from years, to months, to now weeks.

Fast fashion has caused insurmountable damage to the earth, yet we consume and consume until our closets are made of cheap polyester and child labor. 

Environmental Effects

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Although some climate change is natural, from the 1800s onwards, it has primarily resulted from human intervention. 

Although these problems reflect throughout the fashion industry, they are exacerbated in fast fashion. 

Fast fashion’s impact on climate change has been expansive and unequivocal. Most garments are made with cheap synthetic fabrics such as polyester to keep costs down. Fossil fuels (non-renewable energy sources) are extracted to create these synthetic fabrics. As these fossil fuels are burned, they release greenhouse gas emissions– molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere that trap heat– thus heating up the planet to unbearable temperatures. Additionally, extracting fossil fuels requires destroying land to build drilling sites and facilities. Polyester alone uses 70 million barrels of oil yearly. 

The clothing industry also uses a monumental amount of water to produce clothing. Water is utilized for dyeing, softening, bleaching, producing textiles, and more.

To produce textiles, irrigation systems are set up to water the plant fibres. This can take water from communities. Then, chemicals like dyes or softening agents are added into the water and dumped back into community water sources. This makes the water undrinkable and uninhabitable for other organisms. Additionally, irrigation can deplete underground water sources. Around 20% of industrial wastewater pollution worldwide originates from the fashion industry.

Animal-based textiles can also be detrimental to the environment. Animals need to be bred and fed on farms, which requires the deforestation of habitats. These animals also need water to survive, contributing to the fashion industry’s overall water usage. Wastewater (which contains animal feces) can also pollute waterways with pathogens. 

Additionally, clothing is cut out from pieces of fabric. When those pieces cannot be used any further, large swaths of fabric are wasted and discarded. About 60% of 150 million garments produced globally in 2012 were discarded a few years post-production. 

Although many claim that fast fashion items can be recycled or given to charity shops (such as Goodwill), these are not realistic solutions. Only about 10-30% of clothes donated to these shops will actually be sold. Additionally, these clothing pieces are often low-quality, ensuring that people will either not buy these products or throw them away too quickly.  So many people are donating their fast-fashion pieces to clothing stores that cannot store them. So, these charity stores will sell many of these pieces to private textile merchants, who will resell the same pieces abroad. Meanwhile, less than 1% of clothes are recycled to make new clothes. 

Additionally, the microfibers in these articles of clothing can cause a slew of damage. Microfibers are tiny fibers that break from longer fibers and shed from fast-fashion clothing. Synthetic fibers are made of little plastic bits that can leak into the environment anytime they are washed, tossed, or simply worn. 500,000 tons of microfibers are released into the ocean each year from just washing clothes — the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles. However, they are near impossible to remove since they aren’t biodegradable.

While many companies have started “green initiatives,” these programs can’t curb the fast-growing environmental crisis. Microplastics will still break off from these clothing items. Most of the “recycled polyester” used in these clothing pieces are sourced from water bottles, not polyester clothing. This can cause greater damage, as removing plastic bottles from their closed loop shape could harm their ability to be recycled. And when these clothing pieces are bought, there is no guarantee they will not end up in a landfill. Many companies will also claim that a clothing piece was produced more ethically than it actually was, in a habit called “greenwashing,” to encourage customers to buy their items. 

Labor Laws

Fast fashion also harms thousands of workers. 

The fast fashion industry employs nearly 70 million people worldwide. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (USDL), there are reports of forced and child labor in numerous countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam. Exploitation is most common in Bangladesh (supplies clothes for H&M, Gap, and Zara) and China (supplies clothes for Shein). Exploitation can take on many forms. 

Less than 2% of garment workers make a livable wage, despite many working 16 hours a day for 7 days a week. Most garment workers make barely one-fifth to one-half of the amount needed to reach an alright standard of living. Workers in Bangladesh make an average of 0.33 cents per hour, while workers in India barely make 0.58 cents per hour. 

There are also potential health risks to working in these clothing factories. Around 8000 synthetic chemicals are used in the production of fast fashion– some of these chemicals have been linked to health problems like cancer. 

Additionally, the demographics of the garment workers have been questioned. 

It is estimated that millions of children are forced into the industry because children are much easier to exploit, especially if they are in poverty. Many children might be forced (or even lied to get) into these jobs because of their economic situation. Children can also be paid less, so employers prefer to hire minors over grown adults who can actually negotiate. Children do various tasks, from farm labor, to hand looming, to sewing buttons; but most of the child labor is prevalent in the farm labor sector. In India alone, 60% of mill workers were under 18 when they started working in clothing factories. 

Around 80-85% of garment workers are women, compounding the violence and poverty women are especially vulnerable to. Women are physically, emotionally, and sexually harassed in garment shops, especially when employers are under pressure to meet production targets. Around 50% of women in the garment industry have reportedly endured some form of sexual harassment. That is an increase of 12% from the percentage of women who have reported that they have been sexually harassed in the workplace in America. When some women spoke up to their human resources departments, their claims were swept under the rug.

These issues were all compounded by COVID-19 in 2020. Brands canceled 40 billion dollars worth of clothing, leading to mass layoffs. The average salary dropped by 11%, furthering garment workers’ poverty. 

Potential Solutions

Although this issue looks daunting, many solutions are available to the public. 

• The first step is to buy less clothing. While it is appealing to buy more clothing, determine if you need more clothing and if you actually want that clothing by waiting before purchasing.
• Second, keep and wear the clothes you currently own. Make sure they are worn and maintained regularly.
• Third, DIY and repair old clothes.
• Fourth, buy from thrift stores and peruse through second-hand stores to find more sustainable (and potentially cheaper) options.
• Fifth, rent clothes for events instead of buying a new outfit whenever an event arises.
• Sixth, buy more sustainable clothing from “slow” fashion brands.
• Seventh, don’t just donate clothes to a thrift store– ask your friends, family, and associates if they want your old clothes. 

Although fast fashion will always exist, and may be especially attractive for buyers who are plus-sized or cannot afford other options– we can reduce the impact of fast fashion if we think more about the larger impact of the practice on the earth and the people who are involved in its production.