Himangshu Dutta, Animekh Hazarika & Rimpi Sonowal
Photo source: Pixabay
Fashion! and dreams!
The famous fashion designer Ralph Lauren once said "I don't design clothes, I design dreams".
Fashion is a way of life and every piece of clothing represents our personal choices. The fashion industry is one of the largest industrial sectors in the world and become an inseparable part of human society.
The American fashion photographer William John Cunningham Jr. said "Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life".
What is the untold reality of fashion?
Though conventionally there have been four seasons for presenting collections, the fashion industry has increased it to more than four as a part of their business strategy to yield more profits. Fashion brands are no longer confined to the conventional number of seasons, but instead, as a new normal put forward numerous 'micro-seasons'. As published in an article by McKinsey Sustainability, Zara launches a new design every two weeks and a total of 24 collections every year, whereas H & M releases 16 collections every year and sticks to five clothing seasons. Smaller and frequent seasons triggers more shopping, and simultaneously quicken the pace at which clothing goes out of style.
The Cambridge English Dictionary refers to fast fashion as “clothes that are made and sold cheaply so that people can buy new clothes often”. Clothing produced in massive quantities is affordable at lower costs which ultimately incites the customers to buy clothes beyond requirement. In this way, customers get the satisfaction of procuring products at lower prices, whereas the industries are benefitted because they have to invest less on materials. Thus, people end up spending more on clothing. In other words, fast fashion gracefully enters outlets with a catwalk and excites the fashion industry to generate low-cost products and speed up marketing strategies to increase profits in an increasingly demanding market.
Can fast fashion ever be sustainable?
According to the United Nations, the fashion industry is the second most polluting of all industries and accounts for 20% of the overall industrial water pollution across the world1,2. The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of water, and the extent of consumption can be exemplified by the fact that it takes about 700 gallons of water to produce one cotton shirt because the cotton crop is highly water-intensive1. In Central Asia, large-scalecotton cultivation resulted in the disappearance of the Aral Sea3.
On the other hand, annually five trillion liters of water are used only for fabric dyeing3. Textile manufacturing releases heavy metals and formaldehyde into water bodies and soil, as well as suspended particulate matter and sulphurdioxide into the atmosphere4. Dyes are extensively released as effluents from textile industries and have mutagenic and carcinogenic effects. Dyes elevate biochemical and chemical oxygen demand, obstruct photosynthesis and plantgrowth, and bio-accumulate in food chains5. Annually, washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean which is equivalent to 50 billion plastic bottles. Polyester is a kind of plastic fibres used in about 60% of garments and retains for a long period in the environment6. The decomposition of synthetic fibers might take even 200years and possess a serious threat to the oceanic ecosystem. This microplastic comes out to the plates in restaurants asseafood through the process of biomagnification and has a severe impact on human health. Water and soil contamination also occurs due to the extensive use of chemicals in cotton cultivation and related run-off2. About 24% of insecticides and 11% of pesticides utilized worldwide are only applied to the cotton crop, which is grown inthree percent of the arable land of the world3. The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of carbon emissions worldwide1.
Apparel production in China, Bangladesh, and India is primarily powered by coal, resulting in widespread carbon emissions. The production of synthetic fibres used in 72% of apparel is a highly energy-intensive process dependent on fossil fuels2. Additionally, the grassland ecosystems are damaged due to overgrazing by wool-bearing animals such as cashmere goats and sheep reared for raw materials. Natural forests are cleared and replaced byplantations yielding wood-based fabrics such as rayon, viscose, and modal2.
Currently, three-fifths of all garments are disposed of within one year of manufacture6. In 2014, people bought 60% more clothing compared with 2000, but they used the clothes for half as long1. At the current rate of consumption, by 2050, the apparel industry would require three times the quantity of natural resources utilized in 2000 3. Fashion brands try to increase their profits through carefully designed business models that attractively bombard discounts in shopping malls, and online platforms that elevate consumer interest in restocking or over- stocking wardrobes. On top of that, societal norms of not repeating clothes in social/public gatherings; social media trends such as ‘Outfit of the day (OOTD)’ and not repeating clothes in uploaded pictures as well as paid promotion of fashion brands and online platforms for apparel sales by social media influencers contribute to increased consumer excitement about fast fashion.
In this context, Insider Business states that developed nations donate millions of pounds of used apparels to theunder-developed countries in order to get rid of their own stock of used clothes. In the under-developed countries, the portion of such clothing which is in better condition is sold. The remaining portion which is damaged or not in wearable condition, end up as mountains of textiles in landfills. In course of time, these landfills of dumped clothing serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and accelerate the spread of malaria and cholera.
In recent times, guilt-free, vegan, ethical, recycled, organic and eco-friendly products often hit the fashion market. The irony of it all is that, there is no complete degree of certainty about whether such products are actually sustainable or it is just green washing. However, the relevance of such aspects concerning the impacts of the already unsustainable fashion industry is not prominently discussed.
What is the way forward?
The Governments of France and Canada have taken the initiative of slapping carbon tax on unsustainable fashion products and regulating the exaggerated manufacturing of fashion goods. Despite this, there is an urgent need for strategic speed bumps to regulate the pace of fashion houses in the race of fast fashion. Simultaneously, there is also the problem of managing huge enormous quantities of used textiles and fashion products, which needs to be addressed. Investment in research and development of eco-friendly apparels can play a promising role in decreasing the environmental impacts of fast fashion. Application of indigenous techniques of dying and producing dyed material also has considerable potential in this regard, especially in conserving and preventing pollution of water resources. However, above all there is the necessity to spread public awareness about the environmental aspects of fashion, so that consumers can realize that it is actually the environment that pays for their fashion choices.
Sources
McFall-Johensen M. These facts show how unsustainable the fashion industry is. World Economic Forum. 2020.https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/fashion-industry- carbon-unsustainable-environment-pollution/
Charpail M. 2017. Fashion's Environmental Impact. Sustain your style. 2017. https://www.sustainyourstyle.org/old-environmental-impacts
Drew, D. The apparel industry's environmental impact in 6 graphics. World Resources Institute. 2017.https://www.wri.org/insights/apparel-industrys-environmental-impact- 6-graphics
Aldalbahi, A., El-Naggar, M. E., El-Newehy, M.H., and others. Effects of technical textiles and syntheticnanofibers on environmental pollution. Polymers, 2012, 13, 155
Lellis, B., Fávaro-Polonio, C. Z., Pamphile, J. A. and Polonio, J. C. Effects of textile dyes on health and theenvironment and bioremediation potential of living organisms. Biotech Res Innovation 2019, 3, 275-290
Chatham House. Reinventing Fashion. 2018.https://www.chathamhouse.org/events/all/research-event/reinventing-fashion
Article republished from विज्ञानम् २०२३ (volume 1)
About the Author :
Himangshu Dutta is from Dibrugarh, Assam, India
Animekh Hazarika is working as a researcher in the department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam University, India
Rimpi Sonowal is from the department of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
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