How Will the Cost of Living Crisis Impact Our Relationship with Fast Fashion?
Fast fashion isn’t the first thing that springs to mind when thinking about the cost of living crisis. Access to food, fuel, and paying our energy bills are obviously more important - yet, there’s an elephant in the room: how will mass inflation change how we spend our money? Specifically, how will it impact how we shop for our clothes?
Thanks to capitalism, we’re used to filling the void in our lives by impulse buying random items we’re told will fix our lives - usually in the middle of the night when the urge to sort out all our problems kicks in, then promptly forgotten about until the parcel arrives. Whilst the government is primarily responsible for ensuring people have access to basic necessities, they also need to consider the repercussions that not offering proper financial support will have on consumers and our planet. With the climate crisis worsening and fast fashion being a primary contributor to our environmental decline, this issue is more urgent than it may seem.
Gen Z is split between £400 Shein Hauls going viral on TikTok and the slow fashion gurlies reminding us to shop second-hand. These polar opposite online spaces hide the reality of the situation: We’re still being encouraged to buy more clothes, new or second-hand. Since realising the impact textile waste and buying from fast fashion brands has on garment workers, I’ve done my best to stop buying first-hand clothing and only buy clothes that I know I will wear for years to come. It wasn’t easy, and for a while, I told myself that Zara and Topshop weren’t as bad as Pretty Little Thing and BooHoo, but eventually - along with a growing number of others - I tore myself away. Despite the groundwork people have put in to detach themselves from fast fashion, there is a worry that the cost of living crisis will leave many with little choice but to return to cheap retailers, plunging us further into environmental despair, and restricting garment workers’ freedoms even more.
___STEADY_PAYWALL___
The optimist in me wants to believe in financially trying times we will limit our consumption - although in an ideal world it wouldn’t take a national meltdown leaving people with no money to stop impulse buying. The obvious solution is ‘don’t buy more clothes’ and ‘make do with what you have’ but we can’t pretend this is a practical solution. Just because we’re forced to spend more money on bills doesn’t mean we can easily detach from the consumerist needs drilled into us since birth.
Aja Barber (stylist, consultant and author of Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism) made a valid point that when we discuss fast fashion, the conversation is often dishonest, shrouded in shame and ambiguity. People don’t like admitting they shop fast fashion because of what it says about them, so they attempt to come up with an excuse for why they do so, rather than admit they have a shopping addiction or attach too much of their self-worth to having a new outfit. (Let’s be honest, we’ve all been there.)
But, as Barber notes, the sooner we face the music that we’re looking for excuses to continue reaping the benefits of cheap retailers and ignore the reality of how these companies treat their workers, the easier it will be to make sustainable change.
Whilst I recognise people struggling to make ends meet do not have the luxury to think about sustainability, I share Barber’s fear that too many of us are quick to excuse our shopping habits rather than change our ways. If people can’t wake up to the reality of their relationship with fast fashion, breaking out of unethical shopping cycles is difficult and the cost of living crisis is about to make this a whole lot more complicated. Bubbles need to be burst, and quick.
The cost of living crisis is a completely valid reason to spend less money on clothes and look for cheaper options, which is why I believe it is the governments' responsibility to provide financial support to give people the choice not to fuel unethical businesses. Wouldn’t it be great if an elected Prime Minister represented more than an elite portion of society? Maybe then they wouldn’t make comments as tone-deaf as Boris Johnson’s ‘we just have to accept we have a tough winter ahead’ and suggestion to get a new kettle. It simply isn’t good enough. Our government's ignorance of the possible realities of this crisis that extend beyond individual households could fail us and our ecosystems.
If ministers claim they are committed to protecting women’s rights, they must make a statement about fast fashion companies and the thousands of women’s lives that are restricted due to their lack of employer rights working in clothing workshops. Additionally, if ministers are dedicated to delivering an antiracist government, speaking out on fast fashion is also important, as 80% of women who work in the garment manufacturing industry are women of colour, meaning women of colour are disproportionately impacted by our shopping habits. The governments’ refusal to acknowledge the damage of fast fashion brands demonstrates their lack of effort in supporting women and communities of colour in their policies. Now, more than ever, would be a great time to highlight that shopping sustainably can be cheaper than buying fast fashion. Not only would it protect women in vulnerable working conditions, but it would also persuade people to partake in affordable slow fashion practices that would enable them to save money and protect the planet.
Despite what capitalism would have us believe, slow fashion is more than a £400 jumper made from bamboo. The perks of sustainable fashion are becoming more widely known, causing businesses like Topshop and Missguided to crumble. The myth that sustainable fashion is expensive and inaccessible plays into the hand of money grabbing CEOs. I choose to buy affordable second hand alternatives from Depop, Vinted and charity shops - luxury vintage and expensive sustainable brands aren’t options for me. The cost of living crisis may be used as a scare tactic to make people choose between luxury ethical brands and £3 PLT dresses, but there is a sustainable middle ground right in front of us.
“Too many of us are quick to excuse our shopping habits rather than change our ways.”
Fast fashion brands also regularly abuse individuals’ financial insecurity by announcing giveaways on social media. The chance to win clothes for free, especially at a time when people have little money, encourages people to support these kinds of companies, lining the pockets of board members who think hiring Kourtney Kardashian as a sustainability ambassador is a good idea. (It’s questionable at best and a blatant attempt at saving their failing business at worst.) These companies know we need financial support more than ever before and I have no doubt they will capitalise on those of us struggling to pay bills.
Amongst the fears and concerns of how we will be affected over the coming months as we enter this crisis, there are small beacons of hope to hold on to. People will be encouraged to reevaluate their spending habits which could result in more considered purchasing. Whilst fast fashion brands may receive more business from those looking to spend less, hopefully it will see the end of the ‘spending £500 on Pretty Little Thing: Was it worth it?’ YouTube era (dark times).
As it doesn’t look like the government will face the music of how this crisis will affect our environment, it’s again up to the people to put in the effort. Whilst it is frustrating that governing bodies are not supporting us, it’s nothing that we aren’t already used to. We can find power and strength in our communities and we will find new ways to get through these times that provide us with hope for the future.
Words: Florenne Earle Ledger
