(Luxury?) Fast Fashion

When we think about fashion, name brands, such as Gucci, Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Hermès, and several others, come to mind. On the other hand, the unsustainable practices of fast fashion are often associated with brands that have inferior products and prices, such as Shein and H&M. However, with their exorbitant pricing, luxury brands should not only have designs of superior quality, but also an ethical production process. Right? Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Fast fashion is multi-faceted, but when examining both its impacts and those of the companies whose practices contribute to it, the economic and social ramifications must be considered. Most are now familiar with the overall impacts of fast fashion, from environmental waste from overconsumption, to the immoral practices taking place in sweatshops. It goes without saying that designer brands are an improvement over fast fashion, due to their inherent business model. The extent of the consequences resulting from luxury brands is lower because they create fewer products. After all, the main selling point of fast fashion is mass production that is fast and affordable to keep up with trends. Certain brands, such as Chanel, which uses some eco-friendly materials, are working towards achieving sustainability, or at least improving their current practices. Other examples include Gucci, Stella McCartney, and Vivienne Westwood which use recycled materials, record their greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce chrome tanning on leather products [1]. Brands are focusing on simple actions, such as reducing carbon dioxide emissions, using renewable energy, changing the shipping process, or obtaining certifications such as Fair Trade [2].

However, these futile actions do not make brands sustainable. A key reason behind this is that consumers are paying for the mental state and societal perception of prosperity, as well as the identity of the brand itself. With this in mind, these brands do not have to work towards differentiating their quality and sustainable practices from those of fast fashion to the levels that justify the price tag, so they don’t. One of the most important concerns is that despite the revenue their products generate, luxury brands are not paying fair wages, which are in fact similar to those of workers in sweatshops. European brands are claiming that their products were created in Europe, which tries to relieve consumers that sweatshops in countries such as China, India, and Bangladesh were not involved in the production process, but labour exploitation is still taking place. These practices are even more difficult to analyze as the transparency scores of these brands are often as low as those of notorious fast fashion ones. In a similar fashion, 89% of brands have created supplier policies about child labour, but only 50% have documentation of the action they are taking. This highlights another issue: subcontracting to suppliers, since it can be difficult to monitor the working conditions throughout the supply chain [3].

With these findings, many often face climate doomism, a sense that they cannot do much to help with the occurring crises. However, for something as simple as fast fashion or unsustainable practices, there are some clear solutions. The rampant and unsustainable consumption of products, whether from luxury or fast fashion brands must be prevented. Quality clothing should last years, not thrown out after being worn once. Thrifting designer clothes is an equally good choice as well. Even within brands, the designs can greatly differ, so it is important to examine the quality and environmental-friendliness of the materials used [4].