Slow-Fashion vs Fast-Fashion, Who Wins?
Sustainable fashion is part of the slow-fashion industry, which seeks to slow down the pace of the fashion life cycle by focusing on quality over quantity and eradicating mass production (Lai, Henninger & Alevizou 2017). What determines sustainable fashion is that it incorporates 3 fundamental elements:
Environmental factor: Earth-friendly materials
Social factor: Safe working conditions and a healthy working environment
Economic factor: Healthy financial viability of the business
Basically, sustainable fashion is the goods that respond to our basic needs and improve our quality of life, including minimizing toxic materials and the emission of waste products that are detrimental to future generations (Lai, Henninger & Alevizou 2017).
However, fast fashion is the opposite and, unfortunately, is widely spread across the globe. It is mass-produced using cheap, toxic and low-quality materials that change every fortnight and cost the employees’ wages (Lai, Henninger & Alevizou 2017). The fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters globally, contributing to our landfills and garbage covered with large volumes of garments made of toxic materials. All the garment wastes increase carbon emissions and water usage, which is harmful to our environment (Bown 2021).
“More than 60% of fabric fibres are now synthetics, derived from fossil fuels, so if and when our clothing ends up in a landfill (about 85% of textile waste in the United States goes to landfills or is incinerated), it will not decay.” - Tatiana Schlossberg, New York Times
Social Media Influencers & Fast-Fashion Industry Got Married!
I hate to break it to you that this information is becoming worse when the fast-fashion industry is actively collaborating with social media influencers. These people are well-known and have huge followers on their social media pages. When their sponsored posts become viral, they can reach millions of people online (Jakobsson 2022), and we know that people like us look up to celebrities. Upon seeing this type of content, we subconsciously want to look like them, and many would purchase without giving it any second thought. According to Cure Media, 83% of young people look for fashion inspiration on Instagram, the most popular platform for fashion and lifestyle advertising (Jakobsson 2022).
Example of how social media influencers promote a brand through haul and try-on videos.
Here are why a lot of fast-fashion brands build their presence online and collaborate with influencers:
Consumer Behaviour
Their target audience exists on social media platforms, and they spend more than 3 hours on it. Plus, they highly trust their favourite influencers, which encourages them to purchase their products.
Peer-to-Peer Pressure
Social media provides an instant gratification factor. Those who buy the products will feel satisfied with owning clothes that are considered trendy. Plus, 72% of consumers are more likely to trust a recommendation from their favourite influencers because they provide a sense of trust and relatability.
Niche Audience
Influencers have their own speciality, some are known for fitness, body positivity, makeup, and more. Hence, brands can easily target their audience through influencers with similar interests.
H&M is one of the biggest players in the fashion industry that is famous among all consumers. They introduced a more sustainable garment through the ‘Conscious’ line where their clothes are made of eco-friendly materials.
However, this brand is not necessarily known as a sustainable brand (Lai, Henninger & Alevizou 2017), as they mass produce clothes and introduce new collections every now and then. However, this line leaves a positive impression on many consumers, which boosts their purchase motivation. Due to the outlets that exist in most countries, it is very accessible for people to pay a visit, which allows people to shop easily. This supports a respondent's answer from a study, as she said it is not easy to look for sustainable-driven brands because of the lack of accessibility, and shopping at fast-fashion retailers is easier because it is everywhere (Lai, Henninger & Alevizou 2017).
Malaysians are in Love with Second-hand Clothing
Sora Bundle in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is one of many secondhand stores in the country (Marcus 2022). Picture by Ian Teh for The New York Times.
Lately, people are doing a lot of thrifting, or Malaysians call it second-hand shopping or bundle shopping. It is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the global fashion industry. According to New York Times, this is growing popular and has a greater number of consumers in South Asia, specifically Malaysia. The reason is that this sector offers far more affordable and eco-friendly options that they are looking for. Second-hand clothing retailers range from tiny roadside stalls to warehouses to retail shops, such as Jalan-Jalan Japan, 2nd Street and more (Marcus 2022).
“There’s been a tremendous rise in doing this kind of shopping, and it’s quite fascinating,” - Naim Azhar
Naim Azhar, a consumer from Malaysia, went viral locally because of the luxury clothes that he thrifted for such a cheap price. He spent hours and hours diving into a pile of unwanted clothes and found all the luxury gems, such as a Burberry trench coat, which he bought for only RM1 despite its original price of RM5000 (Marcus 2022).
Apart from that, thrift shopping has become a source of income for those selling used clothes due to high demand (Marcus 2022). An example of that is Refash, a Singaporean brand with multiple outlets in Kuala Lumpur, where they sell trendy used clothes for cheap prices. They give new life to used clothing while saving the environment. They have helped save $31.22 million for consumers and combat 324 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions through their business (Refash 2022).
So, it is obvious that thrift shopping is beneficial for the environment, and our wallet too! I, myself enjoy thrift shopping a lot because you will never know what goods you can find there. It's like treasure hunting! However, it is still a long way to go to create a globally sustainable fashion consumption, especially with the efforts from big organizations. Don’t fret! We as consumers must make the right choices for our life, others and the environment, so head to the nearest thrift shop and start shopping!
References
Bown, I 2021, The Promotion of Fast Fashion from Influencers Is Problematic and Unsustainable, The Daily Utah Chronicle, viewed 4 May 2023, <https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2021/06/18/the-promotion-of-fast-fashion-from-influencers-is-problematic-and-unsustainable/>.
Jakobsson, S 2022, WHY DO FASHION BRANDS USE INFLUENCERS?, Cure Media, Cure Media, viewed 4 May 2023, <https://www.curemedia.com/why-do-fashion-brands-use-influencers/>.
Lai, Z, Henninger, CE, Alevizou, PJ ‘An Exploration of Consumers’ Perceptions Towards Sustainable Fashion – A Qualitative Study in the UK’, in Sustainability in Fashion A Cradle to Upcycle Approach, edited by Henninger, C.E., Alevizou, P., Goworek, H., Ryding, D. (Palgrave: 2017).
Marcus, E 2022, ‘How Malaysia Got in on the Secondhand Clothing Boom (Published 2022)’, The New York Times, 3 February, viewed 4 May 2023, <https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/style/malaysia-secondhand-clothing-grailed-etsy-ebay.html>.
Refash 2022, About Us, REFASH Malaysia, viewed 4 May 2023, <https://refash.my/pages/about-us>.