Without action, words of those who oppose fast fashion atrocities mean nothing

What is fast fashion and why is it a problem?: Fast fashion is mass production of mid clothing at a low cost. This is a problem because it relies on exploitation of human beings and resources to deliver clothing following trends as “fast fashion”  implies at an exuberant rate.

What companies are guilty of this?: Forever 21: Forever 21 has literally been around forever and has had a massive impact on the fashion industry being one of the biggest companies  popularizing fast fashion. They ended up filing for bankruptcy in 2019 while still producing mass amounts of clothing. Forever 21 also has a history of abusing workers, refusing to sign the Bangladesh accord on fire and building safety. Forever 21 is also known for their unethical practices in their LA factories, workers are denied a fair hourly wage and are paid based on how many pieces of clothing they produce. They have also been accused of body shaming plus sized customers.

Shein: Shein was founded in Nanjing by /Chris Xu and Quist Huang as a website that sold “global fashion” at very cheap prices. They now sell 20 million pieces of clothing a year. Their clothing is cheap and pointless causing people to just throw them away which is obviously ungrateful and really bad for the planet. They also use sweatshops and have had “help me” written on some of their items.

H&M: H&M is a Swedish fast fashion company that produces  trendy clothing at extremely cheap prices. They have been criticized for their environmental practices because their waste output is crazy. They didn’t pay over 850,000 workers an actually sustainable wage which is really unethical and just shitty to do, they also turned a blind eye when their workers brought up their inhumane working conditions which ended up being the cause of over 100 deaths within their factories. And although they use sustainable material they also mix it in with synthetic fabrics which means they can’t be recycled. They are one of those companies that water down their synthetic product with more sustainable products so that they look more eco-friendly then they actually are.

Urban Outfitters:Urban Outfitters is an originator of fast fashion being founded over 50 years ago. They have an (“alleged”)  history of exploiting their employees,using sweatshops for faster and cheaper production, and stealing designs. The CEO is also being accused of being Homophobic and even donating to anti-gay and anti-abortion foundations.

Victoria’s Secret: (I personally love Victoria Secrets clothes so I hope you know it nearly killed me to put their name on this list.) Victoria’s secret is an iconic designer of women’s clothing and lingerie that has been around since 1977. According to a Greenpeace report, they use toxic chemicals in their supply chain and manufacturing processes. They also have a list of allegations including formaldehyde lawsuits (formaldehyde is a highly toxic and flammable gas at room temperature), child labor, and sexual harassment towards their models. They were also non inclusive for plus sized girls and now that the clothes and lingerie are inclusive they are completely hideous, their products are made from unsustainable material, and even some executives have been accused of sexual harassment.

ZARA:ZARA is one of the most recognizable names in the world of fast fashion due to their consistently cheap prices and the fact that they produce 10,000 designs a year. But the quality is terrible, the workers aren’t even paid a living wage and their factories are said to have “Slave-like” conditions. But at the same time the owner Amanico Ortega is the 6th richest person in the world (net worth:$107.7 billion-Which means he can literally solve world hunger over 1000x), so how does that work?

Nike: Nike perhaps the biggest name on this list,however they still suck. They produce mass amounts of waste because they produce and sell more than 2 billion shoes a day (do you have any idea how much that actually is?) that volume is completely impossible to produce ethically. According to Greenpeace they use toxic chemicals in their manufacturing process which has a massive effect on the environment and their workers. Nike also has a long history of abusing sweatshops for their own gain and still paying their workers very low wages. Even though Phil Knight (the owner of Nike) Is a multibillionaire with a networth of $38.8 billion, which also means that he could feed, clothe and home every single homeless person on this planet almost 2x over. And yet these people, and these companies fail to address failures in child labor, human suffrage, people in need or even the people buying their products; otherwise, they wouldn’t be going for the worst quality just so that they have some “candy” to throw at the masses. 

So to close up this whole topic, I sincerely think people that both consume and produce these products are genuinely bad people because I refuse to believe that the human race (AKA top of the food chain, AKA the most sentient and intelligent beings to exist in our known reality) just don’t know that you can’t ethically produce anything over 100,000 pieces of clothing in a week and these brands nearly quadruple that number if not completely superseding that number. I think this is a cleancut case of selfish and willfully ignorant consumerism at the expense of LITTERAL CHILDREN. 

My point is we all know this is happening, and I’m so so tired of celebrities and even the common person (you) weaponizing their ignorance: “But their clothes are so cute.” “Even if I don’t buy their things, it’s not going to make a difference.” That is a bystander ass mentality and imagine if you spent your childhood inside a sweatshop barely making a dollar an hour while stabbing your hands repeatedly, ingesting toxic chemicals and working incredibly long hours for paltry pay just for some privileged-ass, entitled-ass, punk-ass high school kid to wear for like a week and throw away because his privileged-ass mommy will buy a new one (which you would also have to make). 

I’m just so tired of hearing people say that they care about things like this then actively participate in the very thing they claim to be soo against just because it’s convenient for them. The point is it’s easy to have strong morals when you don’t have to prove it, so if you buy from these companies or actively support any company that dehumanizes and genuinely prioritizes money over human lives, then don’t call yourself a good person, don’t tell people you care about humanitarian issues and generally zip your lips.You don’t get to say you care then not act like it it’s gross.