Fast fashion - long term devastation
Article originally published in Issue 4 of Rupture, Ireland’s eco-socialist quarterly, buy the print issue:
by Nicole McCarthy
We are all searching for happiness in this life, and there is one form of factitious happiness that we all know too well: that unexpected tapping on the door during your work Zoom meeting, followed by the rustling of a package as you gleefully take it from the hands of a delivery person. The thrill of ripping open the plastic wrapping. The dopamine is positively surging as you examine the new outfit that you may never even wear. (One poll of 18–35-year-olds showed that 83 per cent bought clothes they never wore.)[1]
Let us be honest here. We have all done it. We have all chased a flash of fleeting happiness through a moment of utter consumerism. Rarely do we consider the wider effects of our purchases beyond the €10 missing from our bank account. This article is not intended to be a lecture on sustainability and how you need to change your lifestyle choices - we can’t consume our way to a better world - but rather to highlight some disturbing facts about the cheap fashion industry as yet another facet of capitalist production built on manufactured needs and desires, hyper-exploitation and out-of-sight, out-of-mind pollution.
What is fast fashion?
““[Fast fashion is] built on manufactured needs and desires, hyper-exploitation and out-of-sight, out-of-mind pollution.””
In recent years, more and more light has been shed on the dark world behind our €5 H&M crop tops, so a lot of you will already be familiar with the term ‘fast fashion’. For those who do not know, ‘fast fashion’ refers to the ever-growing industry which ensures fashionable clothing is produced and sold as quickly and cheaply as possible, regardless of the negative effects on garment factory workers and the environment. In 2019, there was even a mainstream movie called ‘Greed’ which depicts the life of a successful British high street fashion retail owner, and while the film shows some truths about the industry, a lot of the reality is glossed over. Originally, the movie ended with some facts on wages of workers in Myanmar and Bangladesh, who earn €3.30 and €2.60 a day making profits for Stefan Persson, the owner of H&M, who is worth about €16 billion,[2] and Amancio Ortega, chairman of Inditex fashion group, who as of April 2021 was worth $71 billion.[3] However, the head of Sony Pictures International pulled the plug on the eye-opening ending, which had proved popular with audiences during the initial screening, for fear of ‘potential damage to Sony’s corporate relations with these brands’.[4] Isn’t it remarkable how the billionaires are willing to stick together to defend their interests, ensuring we stay ignorant and keeping the chain of consumption fully intact?
Hyper-exploitation
Textile workers from Lawrence, Massachusetts on strike.
Throughout history, fashion has always found itself the centre of the bleak side of capitalism. Factories in England were well known for child labour, among other horror stories. In the US, factory fires were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of workers such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, where 146 mostly women workers were killed. And, don’t forget that up until the turn of the 20th-century, textile factories were supplied with cotton produced by slave labour in the US south.[5] In fact, cheap cotton produced by enslaved Africans fueled the growth of textile mills and capitalism in England.
In the mills and on the pickets
Textile workers were not only some of the most exploited workers, they were also highly militant and organised against their horrific conditions. Women workers in the linen mills in Belfast went on strike in 1911 against a "system of fines [whereby]...any worker who laughed, sang, talked to, even adjusted their hair during working hours was liable for a fine".[18] The famous Bread and Roses strike in 1912 involved more than 20,000 mostly women workers who fought for two months in the bitter cold and won a 20 per cent pay rise. One of the first mass strikes, known as the Plug Plot riots, took place in 1842, mostly among the cotton mills and coal mines, where upwards of half a million workers were involved in shutting down factories by pulling the plug on the steam engines.[19] The struggles of these workers, and the gains they won, impacted the whole of the working class. Today the garment workers in Myanmar continue to be in the vanguard, taking the first strike action against the military coup in February of this year, inspiring workers across the country to use the power of withdrawing their labour to stand up for democracy.[20]
Race to the bottom
The globalisation of the world’s economy over the last 40 years has strengthened the hand of fast-fashion retailers. Factory owners fear that the brands will go elsewhere, so they continue to offer cheaper prices on production, squeezing the workers through extremely low wages and long working hours. The figures for the 2015 documentary ‘The True Cost’ reveal that in Dhaka, Bangladesh, over 85% of the garment factory workers are women making less than 3 dollars a day.[6] In other words, they are among some of the lowest-paid workers in the world. Why won’t a massively profitable industry protect its most vulnerable workers?
A gross disregard for safety standards, in a bid to cut costs further, has, unfortunately, become the normal practice in the garment factories of the developing world. In Dhaka, the Rana Plaza building collapsed, killing 1,132 workers in 2013. This is, alarmingly, not an isolated incident for the industry. In 2012, the Tazreen Fashion factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh saw the tragic loss of 111 lives. That same year, factory fires in Pakistan led to the death of more than 300 workers. The workers were trapped inside as the owners had bars on the windows and locked the exits.[7] In the case of the Rana Plaza building collapse, the workers had previously raised on several occasions that there were cracks in the walls and that the building was not safe. Needless to say, these reports were ignored by owners. The Rana Plaza building collapse story was widely reported in the mainstream media and yet, in the year following the incident, the fashion industry had the most profitable year to that date.[8]
The pandemic has had devastating effects on the garment factory workers. Retailers have had to cancel billions of dollars worth of orders, with reports of retail buyers expecting a 15% price cut. Have we any doubt that it will be factory workers who will suffer from longer hours, less pay and worse working conditions?[9]
The race to the bottom also pressures governments in developing countries to keep the minimum wage low for fear multinational retailers will take advantage of another country’s workforce instead of their own. In 2013-14 Cambodian protestors in garment factories demanded a minimum wage increase of just 160 US dollars per month. In response, the Cambodian police fired live rounds into the crowds of protestors which tragically led to the death of 4 people.[10]
Rivers of clothes, plumes of smoke
““In Europe, we throw away two million tonnes of textiles each day”.”
Fast fashion also devastates the environment and local communities. The ‘fast’ in ‘fast fashion’ is about tossing that top after one wear. But where does it go? Somewhere else. Out of sight, out of mind. We don’t see the impact of fast fashion in rich countries because it is a problem that we export. In Europe, we throw away 2 million tonnes of textiles each day.
Seventy per cent of our donated clothes go to African countries such as Kenya, which imports over 140,000 tonnes of used clothing each year for resale in local markets. Sellers collect large bales of clothes from the ports to resell at markets. Local communities rely on these second-hand materials to clothe themselves and their families as they are so affordable. Yet, up to 50% of clothes shipped to Kenya are reportedly of poor quality - textiles that need to be thrown in the waste bin or burnt. This means we are essentially sending Kenya, and other countries, like Haiti, not only our second-hand textiles but also our waste, leaving them to deal with the burden of disposal.[11]
Lack of proper waste management often means the clothes end up on “dumpsites”’, mostly just around the roads or in local river beds. When it rains, the materials block the drains, leading to regional floods and unsanitary conditions, which in turn cause long-term health issues for the local communities.[12]
Yet, even when the clothing does make its way to a landfill - it is estimated that in Kenya's capital Nairobi alone, there is 20 million kilograms per year of textiles sent to landfill - it still causes irreparable harm. Dandora, the largest landfill site in East Africa, where clothing and other waste is burned, is a major source of respiratory disease for those living near the dumpsite, especially children (who like playing near the dumpsite or have to walk through it to get to and from school). There is even a special ward for people from Dandora in Kenyatta National Hospital.[13]
Lastly, fast fashion is a climate issue. Estimates are that the fashion industry is responsible for five per cent of global carbon emissions. Largely this is because so much of the garment industry is located in developing countries that rely on coal for energy.[14] Yet, transitioning to renewable energy will not stop the export of unusable second-hand clothes, nor the hyper-exploitation of garment workers. Ultimately, this is a problem of gross overproduction combined with a planned short lifespan for each item.
Putting the brakes on fast fashion
Alternatives to fast fashion are constantly growing as people draw their attention to the horrors created by the industry. In Dublin, there is a website called NUW Wardrobe, which enables users to share and swap their clothing rather than feeling the need to constantly buy something new. Charity shops, and apps like Thriftify that link charity shops with online shoppers, are a big help. But, if you’re shopping for specific items and lack the time to browse, it’s much easier to go where you know you can find what you need.
Over 70 per cent of buyers have said that they like the idea of sustainable clothing, but a third said they would not pay more than £5 extra for a sustainable garment.[15] And it’s no wonder with housing costs and childcare through the roof. Sure we would all shop sustainably if we could, but you need to have the money in the bank to invest in a €100 jumper. Most of us can’t afford that from week to week, so we settle for the Penneys jumpers sold for a fraction of the price, knowing it is not going to last us. The reality is sustainable clothing won’t attract the vast majority of people if it costs five times more.
““Companies know we’re more aware of their harmful practices and they will greenwash themselves accordingly.””
Also, can we even trust the “sustainable” label? Brands like H&M, Zara and Nike will advertise a voluntary code of ethics on their websites to feign an interest in being ethical. But there has been no real changes seen within the industry.[16] Companies know we’re more aware of their harmful practices and they will greenwash themselves accordingly, rebranding themselves without actually changing much in practice. In fact, a recent consumer report found that 42% of companies claiming to be ethical on their website were ‘exaggerated, false or deceptive and could potentially qualify as unfair commercial practices under EU rules.’[17] It’s far cheaper for companies to lie than to actually change their production. The more you look into it, the more you realise that no quick fix will work. The growth and profit logic of capitalism is driving down wages and safe working conditions, and causing environmental destruction.
What’s really needed is a complete transformation of the clothing industry, from top to bottom. We must support every strike against this system, in support of workers for better wages and conditions, in support of communities demanding an end to pollution, and for more scrutiny into the industry itself. Additionally, we should campaign for a dramatic reduction in advertisement. In the book Ecosocialism: A Radical Alternative to Capitalist Catastrophe, Michael Löwy asks, “How can the public be freed from the dictatorship of “fashion” that forces the speedy obsolescence of products, themselves ever more ephemeral, without taking on the head-stuffing—if not brainwashing—of advertising?”[21] Social media has captured an audience of billions and uses the data they collect on us to sell to advertisers. How many times have you seen an ad for a top that is so “you” when scrolling on Facebook? Without advertisement, these companies could not sell their unethical products, could not profit because we would never even know about that top that we just have to have (and maybe never wear!) Ridding the world of fast fashion could start with regulating advertisements - which are something I don’t think anyone would truly miss.
Notes:
More than 80 per cent of shoppers are buying clothes they never wear, study shows | London Evening Standard | Evening Standard: standard.co.uk/news/uk/more-than-80-per-cent-of-shoppers-are-buying-clothes-they-never-wear-study-shows-a4004996.html
Greed: How Sony censored Steve Coogan’s new fashion-tycoon send-up (irishtimes.com)
Greed: How Sony censored Steve Coogan’s new fashion-tycoon send-up (irishtimes.com)
How Fast Fashion Is Destroying the Planet - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
7 of the World’s Deadliest Manufacturing Disasters in the Last 20 Years | Sourcify
Cambodia Authorities Raid Protest Camp, Ban Further Demonstrations (voacambodia.com)
TEXTILE MOUNTAIN - THE HIDDEN BURDEN OF OUR FASHION WASTE - YouTube
Ibid
Ibid
Nature Clim Change 8, 1 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-017-0058-9
H&M's Greenwashing: Short-Sighted and Unethical (brandingmag.com)
Andreas Malm, 2016. “Go and stop the smoke”. Fossil Capital (pp. 223-248). London: Verso.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/04/myanmar-military-coup-massacre-workers-hlaing-tharyar
Michael Lowy, 2015. Ecology and Advertising. Ecosocialism: A Radical Alternative to Capitalist Catastrophe. Chicago: Haymarket books.