Dress to Depress

For the people. For the planet. For the culture.

Category: Environmental Truths

 

  • Quality to Quantity: The History of Fast Fashion

    Quality to Quantity: The History of Fast Fashion

    Dress to Depress Founder

    Yashvi Patel

    For decades, fast fashion has ruled the fashion industry. This constant cycle of new, trendy, and incredibly inexpensive clothing has fundamentally changed how we shop, how we dress, and the massive impact our closets have on the planet.

    This phenomenon is the result of decades of technological advances, global trade shifts, and evolving consumer behavior. To truly understand the environmental and social cost of our five-dollar t-shirt, we have to look back at the history that laid the groundwork for this rapid-fire industry.

    Fashion Before Speed

    Before speed and mass production made their way into lives, the cycle of fashion was slower and much slower-deliberate.

    Throughout the 20th century, industry was strictly seasonal, operating on four collection launches in a year: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Trends were started by high-fashion houses, but now they are dictated by ready-to-wear manufacturers. The next vital difference lies in the clothing value. Most garments are made of good-quality natural fibers that could withstand regular wear and professional cleaning. 

    Clothing was considered an investment. Consumers often had smaller wardrobes but expected each piece to last for years, and the skill of tailoring and mending was common, extending the life of a garment well beyond a single season. We can see how dramatically this mindset has shifted when we look at consumption today: the number of times a garment is worn has declined by around 40% in just 15 years, clearly illustrating the rapid shift toward a throwaway culture (Ellen MacArthur Foundation). This decline highlights how modern practices have minimized the perceived value of clothing.

    The Beginning Threads of Fast Fashion

    We can track down the seeds of fast fashion to the rise of the fashion brand Zara in the late 20th century. Zara’s genius wasn’t just in designs, but in fundamentally reimagining the supply chain. Before Zara, the traditional fashion calendar required six to nine months from design to store; Zara reduced this “concept-to-consumer” timeline to as little as three weeks.

    Zara achieved this revolutionary speed through vertical integration, controlling key stages of production internally. While competitors outsourced nearly everything, Zara kept design, complex dying, and cutting largely in Spain, allowing them to respond instantly to consumer demand. They employed a “Test and Repeat” Model, releasing small batches of many styles. If a style sold out, they would rapidly replenish it; if it didn’t, they moved on quickly. This created a powerful sense of scarcity and urgency, training shoppers to buy now or risk missing out. This innovative, speed-focused approach was the genesis of fast fashion.

    (ModernRetail)

    Popularization of the Industry

    Zara’s strategy set a trend that countless other powerful retailers, including H&M, Topshop, and Forever 21, were quick to adopt and scale globally. However, unlike Zara’s initial focus on local production, these followers focused heavily on aggressive global outsourcing.

    The economic pressure to produce vast quantities of clothing at ever-decreasing prices necessitated finding the cheapest labor and materials available, sparking the Race to the Bottom. Manufacturing was increasingly outsourced to countries in South and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, which offered lower wages and minimal enforcement of labor and environmental regulations.

    This disparity reveals the enormous human cost hidden in the price tag: today, the global garment industry employs approximately 60 million factory workers worldwide, yet less than 2% of them earn a living wage (EarthDay.org). Furthermore, to keep costs down, the industry massively shifted away from cotton and linen toward inexpensive, oil-based materials like polyester and nylon. This is reflected in the market: about 70% of clothing materials are now made from synthetic fibers. These materials are cheap to produce, but they shed microplastics and do not biodegrade (UniformMarket).

    Our Current Day

    Today, fast fashion is everywhere. The rise of e-commerce and social media in the 21st century has injected jet fuel into the fast fashion engine. Algorithms and influencers drive unprecedented demand, accelerating the cycle from a few seasons to dozens of “micro-seasons” per year. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram have turned wearing the same outfit twice into a social faux pas, promoting a culture where newness is prioritized above all else. Brands are able to identify a trend on a Monday and have a viable product in stores by Friday.

    This hyper-consumption comes with a devastating, quantifiable price tag. The environmental disaster is stark: fast fashion production comprises 10% of total global carbon emissions, more than the emissions from international flights and maritime shipping combined. Furthermore, 92 million tonnes of textile waste are produced globally every year. That is the equivalent of a garbage truck full of clothes being dumped in a landfill or incinerated every second (UNEP).

    (The Week)

    In addition to emissions, the industry is the world’s second-largest consumer of water, requiring about 2,700 litres of water to produce one cotton t-shirt, enough to meet one person’s drinking needs for 2.5 years. This production often occurs in water-stressed regions, contributing to drought and pollution from chemical dyes (World Resources Institute).

    Learn more about the impact fast fashion has on our planet here…

    Final Thoughts

    The history of fast fashion is a complex story of market ingenuity and global exploitation. What began as a clever strategy to bring runway trends to the masses has evolved into a global crisis of consumption and waste.

    Understanding this history is the critical first step toward changing the future of our wardrobes. It’s time for us to slow down, demand transparency from brands, and remember that true style is about durability, not disposability.

    Top image from InStyle

  • Greenwashing in Fashion: What It Is and How to Spot It

    Greenwashing in Fashion: What It Is and How to Spot It

    Dress to Depress Founder

    Yashvi Patel

    Fast fashion is inescapable in our current day, from social media hauls to the $10 dresses arriving at your door in two days. But behind the cheap prices and quick deliveries are detrimental environmental costs: textile waste, toxic dye pollution, and carbon emissions that can make up a lifetime’s worth of output.

    As more and more people start to become environmentally conscious, fashion brands have responded with “sustainable” lines and “eco-friendly” marketing campaigns, which can be deemed as progressive and promoting sustainability. But do brands truly give up the low-grade, non-biodegradable but easily accessible materials that make up half of their collections, or are they just saying what we want to hear?

    Enter greenwashing: one of the fast fashion industry’s favorite tricks.

    What Is Greenwashing?

    Greenwashing is a business model where a company’s products, services, or overall operations are presented as environmentally friendly, while behind the scenes, harmful practices are still pursued. Rather than using their funds to make meaningful changes to reduce their environmental impact, companies spend money to paint a picture of themselves as being eco-conscious, using marketing language, labels, and imagery that suggest it even in the absence of proper proof (British Vogue).

    Focusing on fashion specifically, greenwashing often comes in the form of environmentally friendly fashion lines or ‘recycled’ packaging (Ethical Sustainable Clothing) despite the mass production many fashion brands participate in.

    This practice ultimately deceives and confuses customers who are trying to practice sustainability, weakens trust, and disrupts genuine sustainability efforts. Torrens University Australia notes:

     […] 63% of consumers think fashion brands are making misleading claims about how environmentally-friendly their business is at least some of the time, and 29% think this happens regularly.

    (Fordham University)

    Examples of Greenwashing in Fashion

    Greenwashing is subtle and difficult to find, which is what fashion brands are aiming to achieve. That is why recognizing clear signs of greenwashing is important. Some common tactics and real-life examples of this method include:

    Use of Buzzwords

    The use of ambiguous, vague terms without any verifiable data to back these titles up is a major red flag for greenwashing. Terms like “eco-friendly”, “sustainable”, “natural”, and “conscious” often fall into this category. They sound good, but they lack a standardized definition, making it easy for brands to exaggerate the truth.

    Example

    The brand H&M heavily advertised its “Conscious Collection”, implying a shift towards sustainability. The marketing claimed that garments were made with at least 50% recycled content. However, according to The Sustainable Fashion Forum, a lawsuit filed against the brand revealed startling contradictions. The “conscious” line actually contained materials like 100% virgin polyester with zero recycled content, directly undermining the core sustainability claim and deceiving environmentally conscious shoppers. While the lawsuit was eventually dropped, this represents a common scenario where positive buzzwords are used to mask the reality of what our clothes are truly made out of.

    ‘Environmentally Respectful’ Brands

    Fast fashion thrives on high volume and rapid turnover. One way brands boost sales is by launching small “sustainable” lines to appear environmentally viable, all while secretly maintaining their usual practice of overproducing cheap and low-quality clothes. These sustainable collections are red herrings for the massive environmental and ethical impact of the other collections these brands put out.

    Example

    Zara’s “Join Life” collection is marketed as using recycled or sustainably sourced materials, such as organic cotton, which is a step up from their usual materials. But the collection’s actual environmental impact is dwarfed by the brand’s business model, fast fashion. In fact, this relentless cycle of introducing new collections weekly fuels overconsumption, as Zara is notorious for its ultra-fast business model, releasing an estimated 20,000 or more new designs per year. The “Join Life” label is a token effort that attempts to justify an unsustainable business model (Marley’s Monsters).

    Limited or Selective Transparency

    In this form of greenwashing, brands selectively disclose positive environmental practices while remaining silent on the less flattering aspects of their operation. They will boast about minor water-saving initiatives for their singular small capsule collection, but conveniently keep quiet on critical information regarding their massive carbon footprint, widespread production waste, or unethical labor conditions in their supply chain.

    Example

    The ultra-fast fashion giant SHEIN has been under fire for putting out sweeping sustainability statements. The brand put out statements about their usage of recycled materials, but investigative sources suggested that the fabrics of their textile products were found to have 64% polyester instead (The Wellness Feed). Furthermore, while making these vague eco-claims, brands like SHEIN have faced severe allegations of exploitative labor conditions and wage theft. Using a ‘green’ collection to distract from underlying human rights abuses is one of the most egregious forms of selective transparency.

    Greenwashing Hurts Real Sustainability

    The problem with greenwashing isn’t only misleading advertisements; it is also a key contributor to the lack of progress on recovery from climate change.

    Every time a company labels itself as being ‘green’ while practicing non-eco-friendly standards, customers get misled. If shoppers believe they’re truly making sustainable choices when they are in fact not, then the potential positive impacts of their consumption decisions are reduced or negated. Even from a brand’s viewpoint, once they are caught lying to their consumers, the trust between the two begins to crumble.

    Furthermore, greenwashing allows brands to channel resources and focus on appearing more green in advertising, rather than on creating real change. Investment is diverted away from meaningful efforts, such as implementing waste reduction programs and ensuring labor practices are up to standard, and onto having a respectable public reputation.

    This means that this mode of advertisement allows companies to maintain their usual method of production. The destructive business model that is fast fashion is allowed to persist with this green filter on. Systemic issues of overproduction, short product life cycles, the use of poor-quality materials, and low-cost labor are thus left untouched.

    For real, impactful sustainability to improve in fashion, the entire industry needs genuine transparency, accountability, and systemic change that is not just clever PR. Greenwashing is the most prominent obstacle standing in the way of that.

    How to Not Fall Victim to Greenwashing

    (Prime Biopolymers)

    Thinking critically about where you spend your money is something everyone should do, and it is an effective way to prevent yourself from making meaningless purchases. Next time you find a brand that claims to be eco-friendly, ask yourself some questions about the legitimacy of that claim.

    • Where is the proof? Do some research and look for outside sources or detailed reports. Don’t solely rely on pretty marketing slogans or what the brand’s page tells you!
    • Do they have third-party certifications? Brands with certifications from organizations like GOTS (organic cotton), OEKO-TEX (chemical safety), and Fair Trade are usually good signs.
      • Some companies, like H&M, have certifications such as these. However, they are still not safe brands to shop from due to their handling of unethical labor standards and promotion of overconsumption (Good On You).
    • Do they disclose necessary information about their supply chain? Eco-friendly fabrics are the main part of practicing sustainability, but fair wages, safe working conditions, and emission reduction are all crucial aspects, too.

    How to Shop More Sustainably

    If you are looking for ways to shop more sustainably, without worries about being misled, here are some ways to avoid greenwashing and shop with impact:

    • Buy less, choose well, make it last. The words of fashion mogul Vivienne Westwood are the ones everyone should keep in mind. Make your purchases have a purpose by choosing items that are designed to last and making the most out of them.
    • Shop secondhand. Thrifting, vintage shops, and resale apps like Depop or Poshmark give clothes a second life and reduce demand for new production. Not to mention, many of these alternatives are more cost-friendly than these larger corporations.
    • Support truly transparent brands. While you shouldn’t rely solely on brand-given information, you should look for brands that aren’t afraid to tell the truth. Companies that consistently publish sustainability reports, share factory information, and have clear goals towards protecting the planet are examples of these.

    Learn more about safe and sustainable clothing brands here…

    Final Thoughts

    Increasing pressure from consumers has rightfully led the fashion industry to become more sustainable, and that is a positive trend. But as we’ve seen, not all green claims are equal to one another. Greenwashing poses serious challenges, preventing real change and misleading consumers, but once you know what to look for, it becomes easier to see through.

    The future of not only our planet, but the means of fashion, depends on us as consumers staying informed, asking questions, and prioritizing brands that are truly committed to healing and protecting our world.

    That being said, we shouldn’t completely villainize companies that are attempting to make eco-friendly choices. H&M making efforts to become more sustainable shouldn’t be brushed aside, but neither should actively and purposefully misleading your customers. Accountability is what will make change happen, and holding brands accountable is up to us as consumers.

    Because at the end of the day, we shouldn’t just want trendy clothes.

    We should want a fashion industry that respects us and the planet.

    Top image is credited to Pinterest!

  • Fashion’s Dirty Secret: The Real Cost of Cheap Clothes

    Fashion’s Dirty Secret: The Real Cost of Cheap Clothes

    Dress to Depress Founder

    Yashvi Patel

    You’re scrolling through TikTok, and see this girl on your feed with the cutest cardigan that could fit any outfit you put together, so you ask where she got it from. It is only a couple of minutes until you get a notification saying, “Oh, it’s from SHEIN!”. 

    The fast fashion industry has taken the world by storm, offering trendy clothes at incredibly low prices, with just a click away. The convenience of it has revolutionized the way we consume clothes. Major fast fashion brands, such as Zara, H&M, and Shein, churn out new collections at breakneck speed to keep up with rapidly changing trends, making it easy to stay on top of them without breaking bank. Yet, as the industry allows consumers to buy without worrying about draining their wallets, it comes at the expense of our planet and our people.

    What is fast fashion?

    Fast fashion refers to the rapid production of inexpensive, trendy clothes. The term was first coined in the early 1990s, with one of the most prominent fast fashion brands, Zara, making waves globally by aiming to get articles of clothing from the initial stages of development to their customers’ hands in just a few days.

    That’s the mission of fast fashion retailers: to get consumers the trendiest clothes as quickly and as cheaply as possible, even at the expense of sustainability, quality, and, to a greater extent, morality. This priority of speed and affordability only promotes overconsumption, allowing for more clothes to be wasted, and for more damage to be done to our environment through that waste and pollution. 

    Mountains of Waste

    Impakter, 2023

    A key issue with fast fashion is how disposable it has become. With brands rapidly producing clothes for consumers, it encourages them to buy more, wear less, and discard quickly.

    Out of all the clothes produced, 92 million tonnes of textiles are wasted (Copenhagen Fashion Summit). In the United States alone, the average person discards 81.5 pounds of clothing. 

    On top of that, the David Suzuki Foundation found that 25% of new clothes remain unsold in factories. These discarded garments often end up in landfills, overflowing them and releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere during decomposition. And only a small fraction of the clothes decomposes quickly. The majority of non-biodegradable garments decompose over long periods, releasing microplastics into our oceans and air.  

    Many articles don’t get recycled or donated, either. Furthermore, the very few that do get donated end up being shipped to developing countries, overflowing their local markets and causing economic issues within.

    Water and Air Pollution

    During the years it takes fast fashion textiles to biodegrade, pieces of non-biodegradable textiles – coming from the garments in landfills – end up in our oceans, harming aquatic wildlife. In fact, 35% of microplastics in the oceans come from such clothes (International Union for Conservation of Nature). But this is only one of the ways the fast fashion industry pollutes our waterways. 

    The most damage derives from inside the factories, where chemical and textile dyes are present. According to The George Washington University, the second-largest polluter of water is textile dyes, as factory workers often dispose of leftover remains into bodies of water. This method of disposal can be attributed to the fact that many fast fashion factories are built in developing countries, where strict environmental regulations are not present. 

    The fashion industry is the second biggest consumer of water after agriculture, followed by the energy, meat, beverage, construction, mining, and car industries. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), it is also responsible for producing 20% of wastewater worldwide.

    What’s even more shocking is that when combining the annual carbon emissions coming from international flights and commercial shipping, the fast fashion industry manages to exceed that number. This can be attributed to the fact that many articles of clothing end up in landfills, where they are then incinerated, releasing countless poisonous gases into the atmosphere. The University of Pennsylvania even states in an article that the fast fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions. 

    The Human Cost

    The New York Times, 2013

    The ethics of fast fashion are also controversial. As stated, factories are usually built in developing countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, and many others. This is because larger corporations would be more likely to exploit factory workers in third-world countries, allowing them to underpay and overwork them. 

    In 2013, around 1,134 workers were killed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, when an 8-story factory building, the Rana Plaza, came crashing down. The day before the devastating collapse, cracks were found in the Rana Plaza building, but when expressing their concerns, the factory workers were ordered to return to work, highlighting the clear disregard for human lives.

    How Can I Make a Difference?

    Studies have predicted that in the upcoming years, the fast fashion industry is going to face a decline in revenue. While a comforting prediction, it does not diminish the harm our environment is currently facing.

    Chances are that if you speak to someone on the street and ask them where they got their accessories from, they will most likely say TEMU. Online, when you see others asking influencers where they got their clothes from, another commenter will be saying how they found something similar on SHEIN.

    Fast fashion is revolutionary, and it is difficult to erase a revolution. However, as individuals, we have the power to make a difference. Here’s how:

    • Shop Second-Hand: Go to your local boutique, thrift store, or even a neighborhood garage sale! There are hidden gems everywhere, and this is a way to find those gems without spending too much.

    • Buy Less, Choose Well: Next time you buy something, ask yourself questions on WHY you want that item or HOW OFTEN you would use it.

    • Care for Your Clothes: Accidents happen, but even basic steps, such as properly washing and storing your clothes, can significantly increase the lifespan of your garments.

    • Educate Yourself and Others: By reading this post, you’re already making a difference. Awareness is a huge step to meaningful change, and educating yourself and others, even if they may not listen, spreads the word and allows you to feel better.

    Learn more about finding alternatives to fast fashion here…

    Final Thoughts

    The short-term satisfaction brought by fast fashion is overshadowed by the long-term damage caused by the practice. It is time that we, the consumers, start thinking about the quality of our clothes over the quantity, as well as the true cost of them. Our choices may seem small, but collectively, they can steer the fashion industry in a new direction: one where people and the planet come before profit.

    As stated by Vivienne Westwood, one of the most prominent fashion designers of the century, and a true environmentalist: Buy less. Choose Well. Make it last.

    Top image is credited to Pinterest!