Fast fashion is everywhere. Thanks
to rapid-response production systems and low-wage production in some countries,
retailers like Primark,H&M, sda and Topshop are able to sell trendy clothes
at very low prices. This encourages many consumers to dispose their clothes in
a very short time since fashion items stay in vogue only for a short duration. Now
Fashion apparel supply chain is blamed for generating high volumes of
pollutants such as dying chemicals and other toxic gases.
The cost of fast fashion is
that as Americans buy 20 billion garments a year, an average of 64 garments a
person Chinese consuming at the same rate, buy 80 billion garments a year[i]. Statistics show that Britain throws away around
2 million tons of clothes a year and the consumption of clothes has increased
by 35% from 1996 to 2005.[ii] Most
of these disposable clothes are made out of synthetic fibers and therefore are
not biodegradable.
While Walmart and other
retailers have realized it’s their time to give back to the earth it is
surprising to see clothing retailers turn a blind eye to the impact on
environment. Recently H&M world’s second largest clothing retailer (next to
Zara) announces that it can make ethics and fast fashion synonymous. H&M
also announced that this year 7.6% of its cotton was organic and by 2020 100%
will be sustainably sourced cotton.[iii]
Also Primark one of UK’s biggest promoter of
disposable fashion launched an initiative to promote ethical trading and
recycling of clothes. But, the biggest question is can these retailers bring a
revolutionary change in terms of sustainability while still clinging to fast
fashion supply chain?
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