Roberts-IslamFast, Brooke (2023, October 12) Fashion Is The Industry’s Sustainability Scapegoat. Here’s Why That’s Wrong, And What Should Happen. Forbes.
This article highlights the downside of focusing on Fast Fashion instead of other fashion sustainability issues. The author argues that high volume and low price do not automatically mean a product is unsustainable. The author argues the blame on “fast fashion” is ignoring various factors determining price, quantity, and quality, allowing luxury brands to evade responsibility for their environmental impacts. The article also mentions that Bangladesh fabric manufacturing is unfairly recognized as fast fashion despite making various environmental advancements. Bangladesh’s manufacturing is seen in this article as making unique advancements that puts it ahead of other manufactures and makes it one of the most sustainable manufacturers.
I appreciate this article’s alternative take on the focus on getting rid of fast fashion. I agree with most of its points, as fast fashion is honestly just a descriptor of bad environmental practices in fabric manufacturing. There are tons of other factors that should also be focused on to help reduce fashion’s environmental impact. In addition, we need to help create a different consumer environment to help stop a repeat of fast fashion, as setting certain laws will only create limits up to a certain point, and companies may soon find a workaround if the demand is there.
It’s true that I don’t usually think of luxury brands as fast fashion when they should be held accountable for their emissions. Often the more expensive something is means that it could be more environmentally friendly, and that is reflected in its price. That’s not always the case, and people should be mindful of that and do their research before buying clothing. Is there a specific reason these luxury brands are getting off the hook?