Page 52 - MASALA Vol 8 Issue 6 June-July 2017

Fashion
Fashion
Fashion

Is

Fashion

Destroying Our

Planet?

How fast is fast enough when it comes to clothes and gratifi cation? Do we really

need those shoes, skirt or clutch? These are some of the hard-hitting questions
activist blogger Nataly Elbaz Björklund delves into, as we learn the cost of

unsustainable fashion.
By Nina Narisa Phichitsingh

Maxine Bédat begins her TEDx Talk on “The High Cost of Our Cheap The Faces Behind Fast Fashion
Fashion” by telling us: “We hold the power [to make changes] with The recent collapse of Rana Plaza that killed 1,130 workers in
what we wear every day.” She further explains that the apparel Bangladesh is an example of how hazardous the working conditions
industry has become the second most polluting industry in the world, can be in such countries. For fast fashion brands to restock their
right after the oil industry. And fast fashion brands play a tremendous stores with new collections every week, factories in Bangladesh, for
role in their demand. Shocking, right? example, are pressured to produce garments more and more quickly,
often not complying with standards. Or, alternatively, sub-contract
‘shadow factories’ where workers are paid minimally and live in
Maxine is the CEO and co-founder of Zady, an
online retailer that aims to provide a sustainable dangerous conditions.
alternative to fast fashion.

The Economics
Today we purchase three times
as much as we did in the 60s. The
quantity of our clothing has increased
as the quality has decreased. Why
did this turn of events happen?
As trade barriers were removed,
nancial incentives for brands to
move production to countries such
as Bangladesh increased, creating Bangladesh garment factory
a trend for much cheaper clothing, Remember, the very brands that entice us with low prices and a new
using economical materials and collection every week may be responsible for forced child labour,
low-cost labour. Though we might devastating environmental practices and sweatshop conditions,
not realise it, cheap clothing has dire to enable these low prices and rapid production. According to the
consequences on the environment International Labour Organisation, an estimated 170 million children
and the people making the clothing. are engaged in child labour, many working within the fashion supply
chain, making textiles and garments.

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